Constellation Similarity Assertions

The "Little Schools of the 400" was founded by Felix Tijerina in 1957. Tijerina became national president of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) in 1956 and under his direction LULAC inituated the "Little Schools of the 400" as a pioneer effort in Mexican American education. The program intended to teach Spanish-speaking preschool children four hundred basic English words so that they could deal adequately with the first grade. In this manner, its advocates reasoned, Mexican American children would not fall behind in their early school years, become discouraged, and ultimately drop out at the alarming rate which characterized the Texas Mexican community at that time.

The pilot projects were established in the Texas towns of Ganado and Edna in 1957, and by the following year had spread to other places in the state. The overwhelming majority of the project's preschoolers went on to sucessfully finish the first grade, a dramatic contrast to the apalling failure rate of children who did not receive such instruction.

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