Program Description: What is Dual Language Immersion?

Dual Language Immersion is a program that provides literacy and content instruction to all students through two languages and that promotes bilingualism and biliteracy, grade level academic achievement, and multicultural competence for all students. In dual language immersion (DLI), native Spanish speakers and native English speakers maintain and develop their first language while acquiring native-like communication and literacy skills in a second language. Our existing DLI program follows the 90:10 model.

90:10 Model

This refers to the amount of time that teachers instruct in Spanish and English in bilingual (Developmental Bilingual and Dual Language Immersion) classrooms. The numbers 90:10 refer to the ratio of instructional time in Spanish and English. As you can see in the chart below, in kindergarten, students are instructed 90% of the time in Spanish and 10% of the school day in English. In a 90:10 model, the amount of time that students are instructed in Spanish decreases yearly (as instruction in English increases) until students are instructed 50% of the day in Spanish and 50% in English by fourth grade.

Spanish Instruction English Instruction

Kindergarten 90% 10%

First Grade 80% 20%

Second Grade 70% 30%

Third Grade 60% 40%

Fourth 50% 50%

Fifth 50% 50%

Program Objectives: Why choose Dual Language Immersion for your child?

Immersion education is one one of the most effective means to facilitate second language acquisition in children. According to research (Swaim and Lapkin, 1982; Genesee, 1987), has demonstrated that children in immersion programs experience no lags in achievement as a result of receiving academic instruction in a second language and at the same time attain normal levels of English language proficiency and higher levels of second language proficiency than children in other types of foreign language programs.

For English Learners

• English learners who receive considerable native language instruction eventually score much higher on literacy tests in English and in their native language than students who have been provided literacy largely or entirely in English (Lindholm-Leary & Bosato, 2006).

For Language Majority Students

• Learning literacy through a second language does not place students at risk.
• By third or fourth grade, these students on average perform at least as high as their peers in monolingual classrooms on standardized reading achievement tests (Genesee, 1987; Lambert, Genesee, Holobrow & Chartrand, 1993; Lindholm-Leary, 2001; Lindhol-Leary & Molina 2000).

Effective DLI programs result in improved academic achievement and graduation rates of English language learners (ELLs), or students who speak a language other than English in the home. In addition to enhanced academic achievement, DLI students develop the ability to read, write, and communicate in their first and second languages, which prepares them for full participation in today’s interconnected and increasingly competitive global context DLI programs also report decreases in student mobility and positive outcomes for African American students as compared with non-DLI students of similar background. “Students who started out as English language learners and studied through bilingual immersion not only scored significantly higher than ELLs educated in English-only classrooms but also performed on par with native English speakers educated in English-only classrooms.” (Lindhom-Leary, 2004, Lindhom-Leary & Borsato. 2004, in press)