El Verano (CA) Elementary School, dismayed by test score gaps, is dismantling its bilingual ed program:
With a third year of federal sanctions ushering in "corrective action," El Verano Elementary school is bracing for some abrupt changes - and the biggest one will likely be dissolving its bilingual program. The aim is to phase the three-year program completely by the end of this school year and have all former bilingual students immersed in full English instruction.
Parents of El Verano's bilingual students received a letter from the school weeks ago telling them the program would be dismantled. At the Oct. 12 school board meeting, some El Verano parents and teachers said they were taken aback and frustrated by the news.
Luis Lopez said he had enrolled his daughter at El Verano so that "she could get some basic Spanish." He said that if the program wasn't working or revealing high enough test scores, "Show me the results. I want to see why it's not working."
I'm confused. He's upset because his English-speaking daughter doesn't get to learn Spanish? My guess is that's not where the problem lies.
The bilingual program at El Verano has roughly 60 children from kindergarten through second grade. The term "bilingual" is somewhat of a misnomer; unlike Flowery Elementary's dual-immersion program, where the intent is to create a bilingual student, the setup at El Verano uses Spanish to help transition children to English.
Why on earth would they choose not to do dual-immersion? Especially for elementary school kids? Whatever their reasons, it appears the gap between those learning English and the overal student body has made the school officials stop and think.
Posted by kswygert at October 25, 2004 11:35 AM