Dual language program coming to schools

Terry Webster

Thursday, June 21, 2001 | 11:18 a.m.

A dual language program that is gaining national momentum is coming to the Clark County School District.

Depending on the program's success here, it may be used as a model for a magnet school or at elementary schools throughout the district.

Dual language works by teaching two languages to all students. For example, Spanish-speaking students learn English and English-speaking students learn Spanish.

Although the concept of dual language is not new in the U.S. -- the first program was introduced in 1963 -- it has taken off in recent years. Seven years ago 88 schools nationwide had dual language programs. By 2000 that number had nearly tripled, growing to 252 schools in 129 school districts, according to the Center for Applied Linguistics.

California has the highest number of dual language schools, with 91, followed by 34 in Texas.

Funded through a federal grant, Clark County will begin its all-day program this fall with two kindergarten and first grade combined classrooms at Cyril Wengert Elementary School.

The dual language program, school officials say, encourages students to develop strong skills in two languages. In Clark County, the two languages will be Spanish and English.

For example, if students are learning about plants, they will learn about them in both Spanish and English, said Lore Carrera-Carrillo, who will oversee the dual language program.

Ideas for Clark County's program came from visits to schools in Texas and California, Carrera-Carrillo said.

The district also is getting help from Elena Izquierdo, a national expert on dual language education and an assistant professor at the University of Texas at El Paso, who will act as an adviser.

A former administrator with the Washington, D.C., public school district, Izquierdo is credited with helping to bring the district into compliance in its education of non-English speaking students. She also served as principal of a Washington, D.C., dual language elementary school that now is used as a national model.

At that school, she said, all students are performing above grade level and are scoring above average on national standardized tests.

"This is truly learning two languages," Izquierdo said during a recent visit to Las Vegas for a teacher training session. "It's not just the typical, 'Hello, how are you?' They are learning math in Spanish and science in Spanish and English."

One of the goals of dual language is to have students reading and writing at grade level in both languages. But it also seeks to teach students an appreciation for all cultures.

Izquierdo said that in her experience, white and black middle-class families tend to be the most receptive to dual language.

"It's the Latino parents I need to convince," she said. "I have to convince them their language is valuable and worth holding on to."

Clark County's dual language program is part of the district's effort to increase services for non-English speaking students.

This fall the secondary level schools also will see an increase in programs geared toward non-English speaking students. A program called the Intensive English Model is in place at 15 middle and high schools. Fifteen additional schools are being added in the coming school year.

Under the program, students attend intensive English classes for two to four periods a day. But it also stresses an academic foundation in grammar, reading, math, science, social studies, literature and writing, Carrera-Carrillo said.

The English Language Learners department also has provided numerous teacher training seminars and other programs to help in the instruction of non-English speaking students.

This year the school district had approximately 36,000 English Language Learners. That number is expected to grow to 39,500 next year.