Description
The goal of a dual language immersion program is for students to attain high academics in both the target and the partner language. Students, who enter the program in Kindergarten, are immersed in common core language arts standards with targeted literacy instruction in Spanish for the entire block. By the time students reach fifth grade, they are instructed in both English and Spanish in language arts. Teachers use curriculum and supplemental resources to provide rich language arts lessons containing literacy components with bridging, translanguaging, and recasting opportunities to support with the transference from one language to the other. With a strong literacy program, dual immersion schools can support native speakers retain their language and increase academic achievement, as well as support those learning a new language. Quantitative and qualitative evaluation approaches were used in this program evaluation to determine how staff, students, and parents’ perceptions may be impacting the effectiveness of dual language immersion goals. One school was selected for this program evaluation. Evaluation findings demonstrated there is a high perception of the program and the current literacy components; however, student language arts data revealed that the majority of the students are not performing at high levels, specifically in the area of language arts. Considerations and recommendations were developed to address concerns and barriers. Future evaluation of dual immersion and its language arts components is recommended for effective literacy implementation in a dual language immersion program.
