Bilingual Kids Have an Edge
Bilingual education programs are often misunderstood.For some, "bilingual education" means teaching immigrant children English. For others, the term implies a threat to English allowing students to learn math, social studies or other subjects in another language. The confusion arises in part from the fact that bilingual education is taught in a variety of ways. Some programs stress the transition to English, while others are designed to help students remain proficient in their non-English native tongues. Rarer, unfortunately, is the bilingual program where the goal is to produce students who are truly conversant and literate in two languages. These "dual-immersion" programs benefit students in many ways. But they are harder to establish than other types of bilingual curricula. In Santa Fe, a dual-immersion program at Nava Elementary has had problems in part because it initially was mandatory instead of taking only those children whose parents wanted them to participate. But in Las Vegas, at Los Ninos Elementary, enrollment in the dual-immersion program has grown by leaps and bounds. The reasons for Los Ninos' success are worth noting: * The program is voluntary. Parents must ask to have their children enrolled. Parents also are heavily involved in planning the program, which began with 12 students in one kindergarten class. It should come as no surprise that parental commitment is essential to success study after study shows that parental involvement helps children learn all kinds of things including languages. The Los Ninos program now has nearly 100 students enrolled in five grades. And this year's kindergarten class is twice as big as the first one, with 25 students enrolled. * Teachers at Los Ninos are state-qualified to teach in both languages. Instruction is mainly in Spanish at first, but by fifth grade, instruction is half in English, half in Spanish. Math, social studies, P.E., reading students learn all subjects in both languages. * Learning two languages just like learning one takes time. At Los Ninos, proficiency in both Spanish and English begins at about the fifth grade. Parents, teachers and students in the program have been willing to invest the time five years' worth so far that is necessary to achieve results. Also worth noting: In Las Vegas, most of the students in the program are English-speaking New Mexico Hispanics whose parents want them to master the linguistic side of their cultural heritage. At Nava Elementary, many native Santa Fean parents were worried that their kids are "wasting" half a day with lessons taught in Spanish. And Spanish-speaking immigrant parents of whom there are an increasing number at Nava and other Santa Fe schools seem bent on making sure their children master English as soon as possible. The fact is that children benefit tremendously from learning more than one language. Test results from around the country suggest that dual-immersion programs produce some of the best-educated students in all subjects. Los Ninos students are no exception on standardized tests, second-graders in the bilingual program scored as high as 89 percent. The benefits of multilanguage education extend into adulthood as well, translating into a competitive edge in the increasingly globalized job market. In recent years, Santa Fe's public schools have had a very poor record when it comes to providing effective bilingual education. There are signs that the situation is changing money earmarked for bilingual programs isn't being diverted elsewhere, for example. At Nava, new principal Theresa Watson says she's committed to making the dual-immersion program a success. With that in mind, she's reorganizing the program is now optional instead of required and she is making every effort to get parents involved and win their support. That's good news in a community where language barriers just exacerbate class and other social and cultural divisions. We'd like to see more of Santa Fe's elementary schools follow the Nava example. |