Two-Way Immersion: Not for the faint of heart

At the suggestion of my colleague, Irma Munoz, I've decided to start a blog about my school's journey toward implementing a school-wide two-way immersion bilingual model. In just two weeks all of my teachers will be attending the official kick-off training for our two-way model, a three day summer Two-Way Immersion Institute. And in only a month, almost 300 PK, K, and 1st grade students will begin receiving core instruction in 2 languages. But getting to this point has been in the making for a very long time....

2001
I return from my LDS mission in NYC--I'm now bilingual in English and Spanish and with a new career path in mind--education. I'm particularly committed to learning more about bilingual education, immigration, inner-city education, etc. I begin considering related topics for my Honors Thesis at BYU. I discover Teach For America and become very interested.

2003
I complete and defend my thesis. (1 page thesis summary: DOWNLOAD FILE) I decided to study Dominican-American transnationalism through themes and symbols in Julia Alvarez's How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents. I walk away from the whole thesis-writing experience very passionate about making sure bilingual children have a voice both in their home language as well as their new language. I graduate from BYU with a double major in American Studies and Spanish, minor in music. I buy a car and make the long drive down to the Rio Grande Valley along the Texas-Mexico border. I join Teach For America (TFA) and prepare to teach billingual 3rd grade at Taylor Elementary in Mercedes (about 98% economically disadvantaged, 50% ELL). I learn that the entire Mercedes school district (at that time) follows a dual language immersion bilingual model. I research this approach and find it completely in line with what I believe about equity and excellence in bilingual education.   I'm very excited to begin.

2003 - 2004
I teach in a 50/50 bilingual classroom. Approximately half of the students are Spanish-dominant. The other half are English dominant. I teach the Spanish portion of the day: Spanish Language Arts, Science & Social Studies. My team teacher and mentor, Erica Munoz, teaches the English portion of the day: English Language Arts and Math. We switch homerooms at mid-day. I'm horrified by the principal's mandate that after Christmas dual language, writing, science, and social studies are "suspended," but am not completely surprised given the benchmark test scores. For several months, students only receive instruction in reading and math (and only in the language they will be assessed in). While the students in my and Erica's classes do relatively well on their 3rd Grade Reading and Math TAKS tests (math passing rates for our children are in the high 80%'s, and after the second administration in the low 90's for English Reading & 100% for Spanish Reading). As an entire grade level (8 homerooms, if I remember correctly) 83% of students met standard in Reading, 74% in Math.

2004-2005
I'm still teaching at Taylor and consider remaining at the school beyond my 2 year commitment through Teach For America. I am asked by the principal to teach a self-contained (vs. last year's team teaching placement) 90/10 dual language class. This is a class of students that received 90% Spanish 10% English in Kinder & 1st, 80/20 in 2nd grade, and were now moving into a 70/30 Spanish/English combination with me for third grade. I have only 15 students; all but 2 are highly Spanish dominant and the other 2 are English dominant children identified as gifted and talented. Their parents elected to place them in a full Spanish-immersion setting. I begin to see for myself that the students who are progressing most quickly in English are those who have the strongest oral language and literacy foundations in Spanish (exactly what the research says). I serve as our school's representative on the district dual language steering committee and for the first time I read Thomas and Collier's study comparing the effectiveness of all major bilingual education models. This is the first time I have ever seen data that appears to prove that a dual language enrichment approach to language may close and even invert the achievement gap for low-income English Language Learners. I'm hooked.

I enjoy my second year in the classroom and again am pleased when I find out that 100% of my students met standard on the Spanish Reading TAKS, with over half answering 80%+ of questions correctly. I'm excited to find that every student has progressed the equivalent of 1 grade level in reading and all but 1 have progressed over 2 grade levels. However, their math scores are not high. A little less than 70% of my students meet standard on the math TAKS--I am very disappointed in myself and set a personal goal to figure out how to better teach elementary math so I would never again shortchange my students that way (I'm happy to report that the following year 92% of my second graders met standard on their end of year math assessment). I am rocked to the core when I find out that only 68% of the school's fourth graders (our students in third grade the year before) pass Reading and only 63% pass Math. Again, however, I am not taken completely by surprise. When a school simply stops teaching certain areas of the curriculum, suspends their bilingual model, or allows their panic over scores to push ditto sheets, reading passages, and test prep questions all day for several months a year, it is no surprise to expect that within only a year or two those students will begin to fail miserably. I watch our school administration essentially self-destruct as they tell us, and I quote, "we just need to get this test out of the way and then we'll go back to teaching kids to read." It is during the last months of the 2004-05 school year that the school and district cave and decide to disband the dual language model and return to an early transition bilingual model, thinking that this will improve test results and fast. I am livid. I know very well that the only reason this model isn't working is because it isn't being implemented properly at all. I talk with our principal until I'm blue in the face but she is obsessed with improving short-term results and refuses to admit that her choices are hurting children long-term. I write to the superintendent and other key central office personnel and receive no response. I feverishly try to win over colleagues and urge them to speak up in defense of dual language but they are, understandably, tired and somewhat demoralized by this year's overall school results. I know that Taylor has some excellent teachers achieving stellar results, but I also know that--like great teachers in many other schools--they are islands of excellence in a sea of mediocrity. I realize that closing the achievement gap between rich and poor, between monolingual English speakers & English Language Learners, between white and minority students is the work of a school, not a single teacher. Are teachers the front lines? Absolutely. But the large gains students may achieve with one phenomenal teacher simply cannot and will not be sustained long term if their teacher the next year, and the next, and the next aren't also phenomenal teachers. Dual language, in spite of it's impressive track record in the research, will fail without long-term and school-wide investment in and integrity to the model. I am frustrated and, though it is a difficult decision, I decide to leave Mercedes ISD.

2005-2007
I am offered a second grade teaching position at IDEA Academy in Donna. It is a public charter school with a very clear mission--getting low-income kids to college. I am inspired by their goals and intrigued by their K - 12 campus model; it aligns to my belief it takes a school full of great teachers to close the achievement gap and really achieve deep reform.   IDEA's primary program is very young, so while there is no bilingual model yet I'm excited to help launch a new grade level and create things from scratch. I decide to suspend my obsession with bilingual education and just see what I learned at IDEA. After my final few months in Mercedes I am honestly not sure what to think about bilingual education any more, so I come to IDEA with an open mind and a willingness to suspend my judgement for a time. To be honest, my first two years of teaching have me wondering if it is even possible to implement a two-way immersion program to the degree required to really make it work. Is true program integrity realistically possible? I loop with my second graders to third grade in 2006 and become further convinced of the power of approaching instruction vertically (thinking long-term and across the grades instead of focusing only on the here and now). However, my opinions on bilingual ed are "suspended" no longer--by the end of my second year at IDEA I better understand the injustice created by a full English immersion approach to teaching young primary English Language Learners--both educationally and culturally. I initiate a few more late night online searches for the research and practice behind two-way immersion. I'm back in the game.

2007
In spring of 2007 I apply to become an IDEA school leader--to launch and lead a new expansion primary school as principal. I receive an offer and excitedly accept. I already know, however, that I cannot lead a school that doesn't fully embrace both Spanish and English and set bilingualism as a goal for all children.

2007 - 08
It is "year zero," my planning and preparing year for school launch. I am busy working on my masters degree at Sam Houston State, writing my school design plan, hiring teachers, recruiting students, writing curriculum plans, and the list goes on. I engage in several discussions with IDEA's senior leadership. Not only can I tell that I would not be permitted to launch a dual language program, but I am also honest with myself in recognizing that I'm not ready to take that kind of leap as a new school leader.   However, I still refuse to open a school that does not embrace Spanish and treat it as an asset, so I hire a Spanish teacher and create a schedule in which every student in every class receives 80 minutes of Spanish Language Arts daily. The remainder of the day will be spent in English instruction.

2008 - 09
While we agree as a school staff that our campus' model for supporting Spanish is certainly better than nothing, it is quickly evident to me that I must offer something much better to my students. I am led back to confirm what I've known for years. I see our current approach more and more as a "foot in the door" as far as organization senior leadership are concerned. My school opens with Kindergarten only--81% economically disadvantaged, 50% English Language Learners. Most come with some prior experience with Spanish, even if it isn't their dominant language. It really couldn't be a more perfect setup for two-way immersion. My staff and I begin to discuss options. I organize a book study and invite people across the district, particularly members of senior leadership. Tracy, our Chief Academic Officer, hosts one of the meetings and shares comments that evidence her growing support for dual language. While different people attended different sessions, we consistently have 5 - 8 attendees at each dinner meeting. It is a beginning.

One of my teachers sets up two local school visits. While 6 or 7 were invited, three of us go--me, my teacher, and another administrator who is a dual language supporter from IDEA's Donna campus (where I taught 2nd and 3rd grade). We visit two dual language schools in the neighboring PSJA school district and have long conversations with their principals. We get many ideas for what our model and our own classrooms can look like next year.

I speak several times with my manager and share increasingly determined plans to expand our 80 minutes of Spanish daily to a full 50/50 two-way immersion model where all children receive half of their daily instruction in English and the other half in Spanish. He is very nervous about the idea, but his concerns are normal and are the concerns typically encountered when anyone moves to launch a dual language program. Assessing in Spanish, the time spent in Spanish, staffing, budget, etc. My manager is clear on what it will take to convince him--evidence that two-way immersion will improve student achievement and, therefore, move our organization closer to our goals, one of which is to become an "exemplary" district. I ask to give a 1 hour presentation to all of IDEA's senior leadership--all the chiefs and other key stakeholders at HQ. Remarkably, I am able to schedule this. I work incredibly hard on my presentation, collaborating with Irma, Dolores (both at HQ) as well as a number of my teachers. Every single chief attends. It goes perfectly, and I get the green light to launch. (Presentation: DOWNLOAD FILE; Handout: DOWNLOAD FILE)

One of the challenges I ask the organization to take on is determining what our district's bilingual model would be. We are grossly out of compliance with state education code (TAC 89: DOWNLOAD FILE) in most of our elementary classrooms, as Texas requires a bilingual program be offered to any English Language Learner PK - 5 once the district has 20 students with the same home language in a grade level, which, of course, we do. However, several of our schools continue to offer only English immersion to English Language Learners. I also mention the recent landmark court decision in LULAC v TX in which the court ruled that the state of Texas was underserving its English Language Learners and ordered that big changes be made beginning with the 2009-10 school year (Judgment: DOWNLOAD FILE; Opinion: DOWNLOAD FILE) Luckily, the district can see in our upper elementary test results that our ELLs' passing rates are, in many exams, abyssmal, so they're open to my challenge. My manager commits to choosing a bilingual model, but it is now July 19 and while there have been many heated discussions, no real decisions have been made. Much of the trouble in gaining support internally is due to lack of understanding of the importance of early instruction in childrens' home language; here's a brief presentation (DOWNLOAD FILE) I created to try and address this. Our organization, though we support over 3,000 students here in the RGV, has no bilingual coordinator at the central office level, so I am not surprised that the effort to choose a bilingual model has not moved forward. I offer all the support I can but also decide that I have to focus on my own school and worry a little less about the entire organization for now. Eventually we'll get there.

I spend several evening hours a week drafting plans and a master schedule that capture how we want to implement two-way immersion at IDEA Mission. Children will spend half a day with their English teacher and the other half with their Spanish teacher. The will study half of their subjects in Spanish (the other half, obviously, in English) for three weeks. They will then switch the language in which they receive their classes every three weeks (we call them navy & gold blocks) (PK - 1 schedule: DOWNLOAD FILE) I look up dozens of dual language schools on the internet and email/call their principals or bilingual coordinators for information. I meet with Patty Rendon at the Region One service center; she managed a grant that helped several dual language schools become IB authorized (one of our goals), so I pick her brain for ideas to merge the two school-wide models. I go to the NABE conference in Austin and attend every session I can about two-way immersion and considerations for starting a program. I meet bilingual educators from across the country and gain valuable insights and ideas by networking with them. I also meet Dr. Sandra Mercuri, a professor at UT Brownsville and dual language expert. I am thoroughly impressed with her focus on instruction in a dual language classroom and within a few weeks following NABE, she and I agree on a consulting contract for next year.

In early May I conduct 4 parent information sessions that provide an overview of the changes we are making to next year's program (Eng Presentation: DOWNLOAD FILE; Span Presentation: DOWNLOAD FILE). Parents are even more excited than I anticipated. I collect feedback forms and find that almost all are highly invested in our plans and excited that their children will either maintain or regain the language of their heritage. A few parents of English-dominant children are nervous about possible academic lag in their students' first language, a very common concern. I am increasingly convinced that with Dr. Mercuri's help with teaching academic language and sheltered instruction to make input comprehensible to second language learners in a two-way classroom that my teachers will be well equipped in this critical and often-overlooked area.

Over half of our students' parents attend one of the two-way immersion meetings, but almost half do not. I send home letters outlining changes for next year's program (Spanish: DOWNLOAD FILE; English: DOWNLOAD FILE) and plan to hold more information sessions in the fall. An overview of our dual language philosophy and model is a key part of the information session every new student must attend to enroll at IDEA Academy Mission, so I hope that our frontloading of information and multiple attempts to invest parents in this big change will result in little to no student attrition come August.

Summer 2009
The actual launch of dual language at IDEA Academy Mission is just a few weeks away, and I must admit that I have recently had some moments of deep nervousness. To be expected. Flashbacks of Mercedes battle against the research I've read and the conversations I had with leaders of successful dual language schools. I constantly remind myself that what we are doing is difficult but must be done--very few schools in the country implement a whole-school dual language program (the majority are programs or strands within a school), let alone with the kinds of ambitious goals we have for our students given our mission to close the achievement gap and get kids to college. I firmly believe that if any school system in the country has an opinion about bilingual education, it should be IDEA Public Schools. We are dedicated to preparing children from the Rio Grande Valley for college--and over 80% of the families in the Valley reported on the last census that at home they speak a language other than English. Therefore, we can't afford to NOT find out everything we can about bilingual education and then take a definitive stand. It may still be a while before IDEA Public Schools finds a strong position on this issue, but IDEA Mission has no problem taking the first major steps in getting there.

All instructional staff will be attending our three-day two way immersion institute at the end of July. I will facilitate the first day's activities (I'll be presenting several modules from Dual U, a phenomenal resource for Dual Language professional development that I purchased online). Dr. Mercuri will facilitate the second 2 days of the institute. Many teachers volunteered time this past week to study our core resources and plot out unit and daily lesson objectives--a major feat.

While the nervousness never goes away completely, I am counting down the days until I finally launch two-way on my campus. I'm hoping that careful journaling and reflection on the process will help both us as well as other school leaders out there hoping to do something similar. We must figure out how to make two-way immersion scalable--the research is clear that this model offers tremendous hope for our children learning English and is nothing but a benefit to those who are English dominant. Our children deserve nothing less.

Here are a few more resources we've used or created during the past few months:

Thomas & Collier (full 1997 study report): DOWNLOAD FILE
Guiding Principles for a Dual Language Model: DOWNLOAD FILE (from http://www.cal.org/)
Lindholm-Leary's research review: DOWNLOAD FILE
Our school's language philosophy: DOWNLOAD FILE
(Fairly) final draft of master schedule for 2009-10: DOWNLOAD FILE