by Zaidee Stavely and Betty Márques Rosales for Ed Source
The pandemic slowed down many California school districts’ expansion of bilingual education programs, putting some new bilingual programs on hold. But now, several school districts are resuming their plans and enrolling students in new bilingual immersion programs in the fall.
After years of English-only education in California, the state is now pushing to multiply the number of bilingual programs after a law that limited bilingual education in California was repealed by voters in 2016.
Under the California Department of Education’s Global California 2030 Initiative, the state now has a goal of enrolling half of all K-12 students in “programs that lead to proficiency in two or more languages” by 2030. The initiative aims to have 3 out of 4 students proficient in two or more languages by 2040. Studies have shown that dual immersion programs, which teach children both English and another language simultaneously, can improve long-term academic achievement for both English learners and native English speakers.
Read the full article from Ed Source by clicking HERE.
TRiGroup’s Advice:
If you are considering implementing or growing your bilingual education programs, you are headed in the right direction. The work is very rewarding and aligned to the CA Department of Education’s Global California 2030 Initiative.
Here are some important things to consider:
- Will these programs be housed as “schools within schools?” If so, larger schools tend to work better as both the English Only and the Language Immersion programs need to matriculate up through the grade levels.
- Are there enough teachers? If not, it is never too early to start networking with universities that offer the Bilingual Certificate of Language Acquisition as part of the teacher preparation programs.
- How do the current enrollment policies encourage students from the entire community to attend certain schools based on program offers?
There’s plenty more to consider and we’re here to help. We have direct and relevant experience implementing and supporting bilingual education.