Dual language program: Will it stay or will it grow? Talk on Monday of expanding 'jewel of half the district'
By Arlene Gross	write the author
January 24, 2008 | 12:19 PM Whether to give more elementary school students the option of learning in both English and Spanish alongside one another will likely be up for discussion at Huntington's school board meeting this Monday. Carmen Kasper, the district's languages program director, plans on presenting standardized English language arts and math test scores from two cohorts — groups of students who started the district's existing "dual language program" in kindergarten — as proof of the program's enduring success. "The program is proven effective," Kasper said. "The results will show that our students are scoring a higher level in the dual language classes with the added benefit that they are learning another language." The 2002 cohort is now in fifth grade. The 2003 cohort is in fourth grade. Both attend Woodhull Intermediate School. Mike O'Brien, assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction said that because of such small numbers in the cohorts, due to attrition, it has been difficult to evaluate the program's success. "Part of the problem we had early on was trying to maintain the ELL [English language learner] population over time," O'Brien said. "It tended to be a very mobile population. A very small number actually stayed through the fifth grade." The statistics bear him out: there only three such students who remain in the 2002 cohort. Launched in 2002, the dual language program was offered only at Southdown and Jefferson primary schools. "I wanted to establish a dual language program," said Kasper, who came to the district in 2001. The district received a grant from the State Education Department in 2003-04 stipulating that the district follow state guidelines, including testing and language schedules. In 2002, both Jefferson and Southdown had at least 20 kindergartners whose native language was Spanish. Kasper said the state mandated that they to be offered some form of bilingual education. "We had to make a decision: do we offer bilingual classes or dual language classes?" Kasper said. They opted for dual language, with the program continuing until the fourth and fifth grades at Woodhull Intermediate School. When the student participants enter sixth grade, they all begin attending English-only classes. All students begin traditional foreign language classes at Finley Middle School in seventh grade. Last fall, Kasper said she proposed that foreign languages begin a year earlier. "There is a proposal to start foreign languages in sixth grade, approved by the board," she said. Board President Richard McGrath confirmed this, adding that it would aim for a September 2008 start. Although the dual language program has met with much enthusiasm from many members of the district, it is often criticized as the "jewel of half of the district" since it is available in only three of the six elementary schools. Now, Kasper said, the district needs to decide whether to open up the dual language program in the other elementary buildings. To start the program in the other schools would require 25 kindergartners — half English-speaking, half Spanish-speaking — per class per building, Kasper said. McGrath explained why the district had started with two schools. "There weren't enough English second language kids in Washington and Flower Hill," he said. But with recent zoning changes resulting in the reassignment of about 26 students from Jefferson to Flower Hill for the 2007-08 school year, he said there are now enough Spanish-speaking kindergartners in all the schools to begin the program. A dual language program differs from a bilingual program, Kasper explained. Bilingual programs include one bilingual teacher with all students whose native language is Spanish and are taught in Spanish. Those students learn English through an ESL program. Dual language, on the other hand, include two groups of students, in this case, half English speakers and half Spanish speakers. English is taught for half the week and Spanish, for the other half, to the entire linguistically mixed group. English-speaking students can join the dual language program in kindergarten or first grade while Spanish speakers can start as late as the fourth grade if they read and write in Spanish at their grade level. "This is a program that benefits not only the Spanish speakers," said Kasper, "but it also benefits the English-speaking population who would not get the chance of learning a second language if we did not have this program." Another benefit, she added, is that the parents of the both English- and Spanish-speaking students get to mingle. "Since we all live in the same community, there's a better understanding and communication," she said. "It's a win-win situation. Both groups become bilingual and we have two cultures together. We are instructing Huntington's future, who will be a more understanding group of citizens." Donna O'Beirne, the Woodhull and Flower Hill PTA representative to the school board, suggested having schools within the district that are designated as "dual language schools," which is done for certain other groups of students. Children receiving special education in the district, for example, get bused to the appropriate school offering their specific program rather than attend the school closest to their homes. "Kids are isolated anyway from other classes," she said. "I'm not saying that's the right answer, but they should look into it." McGrath offered Long Beach City School District as an example of a district with schools designated for a dual language program. Jesus Fraga, language programs director there, said that his district offers dual language programs at only one of its four elementary schools, in two classes per grade, for a total about 40 students per grade. Huntington district resident Marilyn DeSimone, whose son Anthony Puglisi is a second-grader in the dual language program at Southdown, said she is pleased with the program. "I feel that he is really thriving in that environment," said DeSimone. "It's a nice challenge for him. He's often thinking in Spanish — it's incredible." Trustee John Paci, whose children attend Flower Hill, said he wants to extend the program to the entire district. At the January 8 board meeting, he read aloud from a letter stating his thoughts on the issue. He later said, "I'd like to see my kids, and all of the kids in the district, have the opportunity. If it's a cost issue that we can't roll it out to other schools, maybe they should be allowed to go to a different school." For Carmen Kasper, the dual language program works because of the caliber of teachers. "Without them, we would not be talking about this level of success."