Bilingual school in Santa Cruz, CA

[Peter Farruggio <pfarr@cal.berkeley.edu>]

> June 22, 2007
>
>
> Santa Cruz looks to open bilingual school
>
>
>
> By MATT KING
> Sentinel staff writer
>
> SANTA CRUZ -- A fledgling program at DeLaveaga 
> Elementary that teaches kids in English and 
> Spanish is proving so popular that Santa Cruz 
> City Schools may become one of few districts in 
> the state to open a dual-language school.
>
> But to open a new kindergarten through 
> eighth-grade school, district leaders must find 
> an appropriate location and adequate financing, 
> and prove that dual-immersion works. "I think a 
> dual-language school would be really powerful," 
> DeLaveaga Principal David Freed said. "The 
> flip-side [of starting a school elsewhere] is 
> that dual-language fits in well at DeLaveaga and is a feather in our cap"
>
> Success is imperative because low test scores 
> put schools in danger of entering program 
> improvement â?" the sanctions of No Child Left 
> Behind that can result in a state takeover.
>
> Indeed, devoting a school to dual-language 
> instruction would go against a statewide trend. 
> The number of non-English speaking students in 
> California who receive some instruction in their 
> native language has fallen by 75 percent since 
> Proposition 227, which limits non-English 
> instruction, was passed in 1996, according to 
> Veronica Aguila, who oversees language policy 
> for the state Department of Education.
>
> Spanish instruction is allowed with parent 
> permission, but the fear of students performing 
> poorly on English-only state tests has prompted 
> many schools to jettison classes in Spanish and 
> other languages. Students in dual-immersion 
> typically struggle in early grades because the 
> first two years of school are 90 percent in Spanish.
>
> "If you go with a two-way program it tends not 
> to show progress in the first three years," 
> Aguila said. "Schools don't want to be in 
> program improvement so they get rid of the 
> program without evaluating whether that program actually works"
>
> Popular but untested
>
> The dual-language program started at the 
> now-closed Branciforte Elementary with a 
> kindergarten class in 2003. It has attracted 
> nearly 200 students who enroll through a 
> lottery, and has already outgrown the 
> portable-packed DeLaveaga campus, which has 
> nearly 600 students. "It's such a gift to them 
> to be able to speak two languages so well," said 
> Shannon McCord, who has two kids in the program, 
> "and a huge part of the program is to raise the 
> esteem of Spanish so children feel like it's a good thing to speak Spanish"
>
> But students in other dual-immersion schools 
> haven't always performed well. At Alianza 
> Charter School in Watsonville, where nearly all 
> the students are English-learners, not a single 
> student in grades four through six passed the 
> state English exam last year. At River Glen 
> School in San Jose, where there's Spanish- and 
> English-speaking students, results have been 
> better, but mixed. Last year, 42 percent of the 
> school's fourth-graders passed the test, but no sixth-graders did.
>
> "Parents like them, but there's not a lot of 
> evidence that Latino students benefit from the 
> program," said Ron Unz, who runs an English-only 
> advocacy group and sponsored Proposition 227. 
> Unz thinks dual-immersion programs are designed 
> for the benefit of English-speaking families. 
> "If these programs teach both groups of kids to 
> speak both languages perfectly well after five 
> or six years, why not start off 90 percent in 
> English?" he said. "The answer is that the 
> relatively affluent white parents want their kids to learn Spanish"
>
> Two recent studies by school research centers 
> WestEd and EdSource have found little definitive 
> evidence that favors one method of language 
> instruction over another. The EdSource study 
> declared that how a school operates within any 
> program is the critical factor, Executive 
> Director Trish Williams said. "Based on the 
> studies, that seems to be the case," Williams 
> said, "but the proof is in the results. The 
> question to ask when you're looking at a school 
> is, 'What are that school's [test scores]?' "
>
> So far, DeLaveaga has just one year of results 
> for students in dual-immersion. The results show 
> why critics question the program, which teaches 
> first-graders in 90 percent Spanish and doesn't 
> balance English and Spanish instruction until 
> grade five. Last year, the scores of 
> second-grade Spanish-speaking kids were barely 
> half as good as Spanish-speaking kids in English-only classes.
>
> Worth the wait
>
> But teachers say giving students a strong 
> foundation in their own language will pay off by 
> the end of elementary school. And they expect 
> dual-immersion students to outperform their 
> English-only peers in addition to reaping the 
> benefits and career opportunities of speaking a 
> second language. "There's a fear about wasting 
> time in Spanish when the goal is to speak 
> English," third-grade teacher Sharon Reeves 
> said. "There's a fear that it will take too long 
> and it won't work. In first and second grade, 
> the parents really have to trust because there's 
> going to be a delay in English"
>
> That was the case for Jessica and Pedro Corona, 
> a Ben Lomond couple who have three bilingual 
> kids in the program. "We had that experience 
> with my third-grader," Jessica Corona said. "He 
> was pretty slow in reading English but he just 
> kind of made the click this year. It's kind of a 
> leap of faith that it's all going to even out 
> eventually" The Coronas make the trip from the 
> San Lorenzo Valley to DeLaveaga every day 
> because they want their kids, who speak more 
> English than Spanish, to be close to Pedro's 
> family, some of whom live in Mexico.
>
> "When my oldest son went to school, all of a 
> sudden he wasn't speaking Spanish anymore. He 
> couldn't communicate with his grandfather," 
> Pedro Corona said. "Last summer when we went to 
> Mexico, it was a lot different"
>
> A broader goal
>
> Elevating the status of Spanish language and 
> Mexican culture and churning out students who 
> are advanced in two languages are the program's 
> ultimate goals, teachers say. "I believe that 
> being bilingual opens up amazing opportunities. 
> It teaches kids to have a greater perspective on 
> the world and use more of their brains," 
> second-grade teacher Sierra Hill said. "It's a 
> belief-shifting and we all dream that the goals 
> we have in this program can reflect the larger society at some point"
>
> A task force will make recommendations for the 
> program in the fall. It's possible 
> dual-immersion will remain at DeLaveaga and be 
> taught in later grades at Branciforte Middle 
> School because there is no obvious location for 
> a new school. The district will also consider 
> whether to charter a dual-immersion school, 
> which would give it more latitude under state and federal regulations.
>
> Contact Matt King at 
> <mailto:mking@santacruzsentinel.com?subject=Santa%20Cruz%20looks%20to%20open%20bilingual%20school>mking@santacruzsentinel.com. 
>
>
> Dual-language program
>    * Instruction is 90 percent in Spanish in 
> kindergarten and first-grade, 80 percent in 
> second-grade, and continues to drop 10 percent 
> each year until Spanish and English are used equally.
>    * DeLaveaga Elementary has 152 students in 
> dual-immersion from kindergarten through 
> third-grade, including 60 dominant Spanish speakers.
>    * The program will expand to fourth-grade next year.
>    * Santa Cruz City Schools is exploring a 
> school devoted to language immersion from kindergarten through eighth-grade.
>
> Learning English: This story is the latest in an 
> occasional series on improving English literacy 
> and fluency in native Spanish speakers. To see 
> previous stories, visit 
> <http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/news/education>www.santacruzsentinel.com/news/education. 
>
>
> You can find this story online at:
> <http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/archive/2007/June/22/local/stories/02local.htm>http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/archive/2007/June/22/local/stories/02local.htm 
>
>
>
> June 22, 2007
>
>
> DeLaveaga Elementary reaches out for more Spanish-speakers in dual-immersion
>
>
>
> By Matt King
> Sentinel staff writer
>
> SANTA CRUZ ? The bilingual program at DeLaveaga 
> Elementary is part of a broader effort to help 
> turn hundreds of Santa Cruz City Schools' 
> Spanish-speakers into literate and fluent 
> English-speakers. But in the program's first 
> four years, it's been more popular in families 
> where English is already a dominant language. 
> The program's success hinges on a better mix of 
> English and Spanish-speakers, Principal David Freed said.
>
> "We need dominant English-speakers, dominant 
> Spanish-speakers and bilingual students to act 
> as a kind of broker between the two," Freed 
> said. "In a community such as this, which is 
> English-dominant, it's critical we have [Spanish-speakers]"
>
> The school has tried to attract an equal number 
> of English- and Spanish-speakers each year, but 
> more English-speakers have enrolled in the 
> program. Of the 152 kids in dual-immersion, 92 
> are already considered proficient in English. Of 
> the 37 in this year's second-grade class, 70 
> percent were fluent English-speakers. Parents 
> and educators pin the changes on several 
> factors, including the program's move from the 
> now-closed Branciforte Elementary to DeLaveaga, 
> which is farther from Spanish-speaking 
> neighborhoods; a surprisingly large number of 
> students who come from bilingual families who 
> speak English as well as Spanish; and demand 
> from English-speaking families. When the program 
> started, the school accepted students from other 
> districts; new families must live in Santa Cruz City Schools' boundaries.
>
> "It's a school of choice and it attracts parents 
> who want something different for their children 
> and can't afford private school," said Shannon 
> McCord, a Live Oak resident with two kids in 
> dual-immersion. "It's a new program and you 
> figure out what you need to do as it grows" 
> McCord is part of a group of parents, teachers 
> and administrators charged with plotting the 
> future of the program, which will grow into the 
> fourth-grade next year with several changes 
> designed to balance English and Spanish-speaking students.
>
> This spring, school leaders visited Latino 
> neighborhoods in Beach Flats and Live Oak to 
> spread the word about dual-immersion and, for 
> the first time, gave prospective students exams 
> to test their language skills. Previously, 
> parents were allowed to assess their kids' 
> English abilities. We're trying to make a 
> personal connection with people in the 
> community," Freed said. "What we've found is 
> making a personal outreach makes a difference, 
> and word of mouth travels fast through the 
> community about the value of the program"
>
> Contact Matt King at 
> <mailto:mking@santacruzsentinel.com?subject=DeLaveaga%20Elementary%20reaches%20out%20for%20more%20Spanish-speakers%20in%20dual-immersion>mking@santacruzsentinel.com.
>
> You can find this story online at:
> <http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/archive/2007/June/22/local/stories/03local.htm>http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/archive/2007/June/22/local/stories/03local.htm