Posts
Monolingualism is the illiteracy of the 21st
Century. On today’s world stage, multilingual skills and cultural competence
have taken the lead roles, as the 21st century showcases the emerging
professionals of a future competitive global workforce. Thus, it is Utah’s
quest to provide all their students with the opportunity to become
linguistically proficient and culturally competent by mainstreaming Dual
Language Immersion (DLI) programs for students of diverse abilities across all
socioeconomic, ethnic, rural, urban, large and small school communities
throughout the state.
Utah’s statewide Dual Language Immersion
Initiative is a lofty, incredibly ambitious, and unprecedented effort to ameliorate
the urgency for language skills that address the state’s business, government,
and education needs. In 2008, under the visionary leadership of
former Governor Jon Huntsman and State Senator Howard Stephenson, the Utah
Legislature passed Senate Bill 41, providing funding for the DLI programs and
charging the Utah State Office of Education (USOE) with creating a world-class
DLI program. Legislators and business leaders believe this to be a critical
long-term investment in the viability and vitality of Utah’s future economic
competitiveness.
Utah educational leaders thoughtfully and
intentionally selected a model that is not only rooted in research-based
principles and practices of second language teaching and, but is also
responsive to the political landscape of the state and best meets its students’
needs. Utah’s DLI programs implement a fifty-fifty model for grades K–6, in
which students spend half of their school day in the target language and the
other half-day in English. All state support schools with DLI programs are
required to implement the fifty-fifty model and use two teachers, one who
instructs exclusively in the target language for half of the day and a second
teacher who teaches exclusively in English the other half of the day. Teamwork
is essential to the successful implementation of the program.
Specific proficiency goals for every DLI program
language are set at each grade level in all four language modes: listening, speaking,
reading, and writing. The program offers one honors course and outside the
classroom opportunities for exposure to authentic language and culture in
grades 7–9. In the ninth grade, participating students are expected to enroll
in Advanced Placement language coursework and complete the AP exam. In grades
ten through twelve, students will be offered university upper level coursework
through blended learning with seven major Utah universities. Students are also
encouraged to begin study of a third language in high school. The goal of this articulated
K-12 curriculum is to see the state’s students enter universities and the
global workforce equipped with language skills at the Advanced Level of
proficiency in all four critical language skill areas (listening, speaking,
reading and writing).
Today, DLI in Utah enjoys unprecedented broad-based, cross-sectional support from our state community. Currently, there are 54 Spanish (24 two-way,
24 one-way, 6 secondary), 28 Chinese, 11 French and 5 Portuguese programs serving over 20,000 students across 21 school districts from every
corner of Utah. Despite the rapid increase in programs,
we fall far short of meeting the current demands, as
seen by the long wait lists that are common
throughout the state. In 2013, responding to this high demand, current
Governor Herbert has recommitted and reignited the 2008 vision.
Whereas the daily success of the DLI programs
are the direct result of the passion and commitment of individual teachers and school
and district administrators, it is the systemic statewide infrastructure of
support that sets the unparalleled success of the Utah initiative apart. Although
the promises of DLI may be widely recognized and desired by district and school
administrators eager to implement the program, wanting the program does not
always correlate with the decision to implement it. Having the capacity to
initiate and sustain the program becomes critical for administrators who must
align their resources to address program design, curriculum articulation and
development, assessment, recruiting and staffing, and the professional
development necessary for successful program implementation. To help
administrators with this realistic dilemma, the USOE has designed an
infrastructure of support for districts and schools wanting to implement DLI
programs that includes:
1) financial support for the purchase of
start-up target language materials;
2) access to a standardized program model
design;
3) an articulated target language K-9 curriculum
that is grounded on grade-level language proficiencies;
4) common language-specific assessments to
monitor target language progress and ensure that students are meeting the
grade-level targeted language proficiencies;
5) systematic and on-going professional
development for teachers, principals and district administrators; and
6) continued refinement and development of
curriculum program.
Without a state model that is supported by the USOE, access to
program implementation and support for parental choice would be significantly
compromised.
The DLI Initiative is a win-win undertaking
for Utah because it builds our capacity for economic prosperity, gives parents
choice in education, better meets the instructional needs of ELL students, and
provides all of Utah’s students the skills they need to be competitive in 21st
century academia and the global marketplace! Our goal is to eradicate monolingualism,
since it leaves our students under-skilled and
unrehearsed to star on the stage of a global marketplace where language skills and
cultural competence have taken the lead roles! Thus, in the pioneering spirit
of its history, Utah is undaunted in its quest to mainstream DLI for all
students!
I'm curious how true this statement is: "provides all of Utah’s students the skills they need to be competitive in 21st century academia". Our experience here is that the DLI programs are a choice for parents. This results in mostly white middle- and upper-income parents opting in. Remaining schools and classrooms are now predominantly low-income black and Asian students; a new kind of segregation. Has Utah come up with a way around this, or do you have similar 'left-behinds'? If so, is anything being done to recruit and educate these parents about the benefits of Multilingualism?
ReplyDelete