U-46 to expand bilingual program

Elgin Area School District U-46 is changing how it educates students from Spanish-speaking homes in a way that educators hope will also benefit English-language children.

Currently, the district starts teaching Spanish-language students primarily in their home language, gradually increasing English instruction and decreasing Spanish until lessons are almost exclusively in English by the fourth grade.

The new "80-20" model starts students off with 80 percent of lessons in Spanish and 20 percent in English. Instead of diminishing Spanish until it is hardly used by the time students are in middle school, the model would evenly split instruction time between English and Spanish from the third grade on.

In middle school, bilingual students will take Spanish enrichment classes and social studies in Spanish, with the rest of the curriculum taught in English. Students are typically bilingual by the time they enter high school, but they would be encouraged to take Advanced Placement Spanish or learn a third language.

The goal of the new model is to make students bilingual in English and Spanish and literate in both languages. According to U-46 officials, educational research shows that students in "80-20" style programs outperform peers who are in more traditional bilingual programs, such as currently exist in U-46.

"The ultimate goal - is to have English language learners obtain English language proficiency," said Patricia Makishima, dual language coordinator for U-46.

The recommendation emerged from a dual language committee convened by Superintendent Jose Torres during the 2008-09 school year. The committee is also recommending expansion of "two-way" dual language programs and an annual evaluation of the effectiveness of U-46's bilingual programs.

Two-way dual language programs involve roughly equal numbers of English-language and Spanish-speaking students. The idea is that the students help each other learn their home language and develop an appreciation for another culture.

The district currently has a dual language program at Channing Elementary School in Elgin but hopes to expand the initiative to many of the 29 elementary schools that host bilingual programs as long as there is space and sufficient demand.

English language learners who speak a home language other than Spanish will continue to be served in a program at Liberty Elementary School in Elgin.

Implementation of the new bilingual model and the dual language expansion starts in the 2011-12 school year and continues through the 2015-16 school year. The district, working through the dual language committee, will now communicate the changes to principals, teachers and parents and develop a plan to train teachers in the new system.

"It will be a culture shift," Makishima said. "We know our teachers are very flexible and cooperative. We will make this work."