Bilingual Education: Si or Non?
The truth about dual language programs.
by Vivian Manning-Schaffel
November 24, 2008
In turn, these scores reflect poorly on the schools, and administrators hedge on expanding the programs. "Our scores are horrible," Tommasi says. "It got in the paper, which created a challenge. You have to get the district to buy in, because you have to show that the kids are doing well."
"The dominance of English standardized testing has certainly created pressure in some of these programs," says Howard. "States like Texas allow testing in Spanish, and it makes a huge difference."
Lindholm-Leary says the benefits of these dual language immersion programs are measurable regardless of NCLB testing and socio-economics. "We looked at students who were in largely minority, low socio-economic schools and saw that students who were in immersion scored higher than their peers fluent in only one language, and showed sustained growth across the years," she says.
Kids this age catch on real quick.
Another challenge in expanding these programs is finding the right teachers. "Very few teachers go in the door prepared to work in dual language," says Howard. "Many of them have backgrounds in secondary level foreign language education, because it's predominant in this country, but it's an entirely different approach."
Educators from native language countries might get tangled up in American red tape. "New York State asks for certain certifications in bilingual education, and in lower primary schools, so it's very hard to attract teachers from France," says Jaumont.
In spite of these roadblocks, the popularity of dual language immersion education shows that parents feel a free way to give their kids a leg up in today's competitive global economy is worth fighting for — even if they don't know the language themselves.
I'm just happy my son's happy. He did find the first few weeks of dual language kindergarden a bit confusing, but as Lindholm-Leary and Howard both said, kids this age catch on real quick. We're only a month in and I've caught him singing to himself in French on more than one occasion. And he says Diego's catchphrase, "Al Rescate, Amigos!," with a perfect French accent.
©2008 Vivian Manning-Schaffel and Nerve Media
About the Author
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Vivian Manning-Schaffel has written for Parents, Parenting, The Advocate, The New York Post, Business Week and a variety of other publications. She lives and works in the heart of breeder Brooklyn with her husband and two kids. She's on the web at vivianmanningschaffel.com. |
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