With the passage of Proposition 227 in 1998, bilingual education programs in California were presumed to have been eliminated. A majority of voters were convinced that language diversity in California schools had a negative impact, and students should learn “English only.” In contrast, CVESD’s Board of Education enhanced its commitment to serving the needs of our community by strengthening research-based practices in the bilingual programs that we offered to English Learners here.
So what happened when a second language was viewed as an asset, not a deficit?
Dual Language Immersion (DLI), a subset of bilingual education, emerged as a popular strategy to develop multilingualism in students. With DLI programs, students gain fluency in two languages starting in the primary grades. Today, 21 CVESD schools are offering DLI programs. This is a testament to the popularity of the program—and a resounding vote by parents, students and staff in favor of multilingualism.
The Board of Education adopted Vision and Values that included the following strategic goal in the area of literacy: All students will exit elementary school as multi-literate life-long learners with a mastery of essential skills.
(Bilingual education was not entirely forbidden by Prop. 227. A parental exception waiver allows parents the opportunity to request and choose an alternate educational program.)
Accordingly, the District’s first DLI program was established at Chula Vista Learning Community Charter School in 1998, as a school-wide program. Every student at every grade level learned English and Spanish in a 50/50 model. This was followed by a second DLI program, at Heritage Elementary in 2001, as a strand or “school-within-a-school.”
From the outset, DLI appealed to high-wage parents of native English speakers who looked to build their student(s)’ foreign language proficiency in Spanish. DLI also appealed to parents of English Learners, who viewed DLI as a way to develop their child(ren)’s English proficiency while maintaining their heritage language. This cross-over appeal, coupled with outstanding student achievement, fueled amazing growth. From the two initial schools, our DLI programs expanded to nearly half of our 45 schools. More than 4,400 students are in our DLI programs, with 16% consisting of English Learners. CVESD’s Dual Language Immersion program is one of the fastest-growing in the nation—and the largest in California.
This resulted in a host of honors. CVESD was the first district to receive the San Diego County Office of Education’s “Bea Gonzales Leadership in Biliteracy” award. The award recognized Board and District commitment to DLI programs. CVESD was one of two school districts honored last year by Californians Together with its prestigious “Multiple Pathways to Biliteracy” District Recognition Award. Californians Together is a statewide coalition of parents, teachers, civil rights and education advocates committed to equal access for all to a quality education.
This November, the “California Multilingual Education Act” will ask voters to repeal most of 1998’s Prop. 227.
Indeed, an interesting thing happened along the way to “eliminating bilingual education.” Recent studies indicate Dual Language is one of the most successful models in teaching students a second language. It provides the opportunity for native English-speaking students to become bilingual and biliterate in English and Spanish. For native-Spanish-speaking students, they acquire English while maintaining their primary language, allowing for higher levels of English language development—helping close the achievement gap.
Last year, CVESD Board members and administrators shared with the state Board of Education about our process for developing a Local Control and Accountability Plan that incorporates all students, including English Learner and Low-Income students. The District participated in the state Board meeting because of our work in closing the achievement gap among English Learners. Our DLI programs are a reason why.
Our Board took a risk in 1998, with the establishment of CVLCC. The reward has been phenomenal growth in DLI programs and English Learner achievement. Over the years, scores of parents would “Camp Out for Kinder” — a chance at CVLCC’s lottery for kindergarten admission. This phenomenon was widely covered in local media, and occurred at other DLI schools across our system as well. Long before explosive growth of charter schools in California, CVLCC pioneered the 50-50 model of DLI where half of the day’s instruction is in English and half in Spanish. In the 90/10 model, Spanish is used as the primary language of instruction starting in kindergarten, while English gradually increases as the students progress through the grade levels. The growth of both models in CVESD has demonstrated DLI’s replicability—and popularity.
Listen to Haley Cromer, a native English speaker who by the time she reached high school was articulating in fluent Spanish (and English) about her hopes to become a diplomat. “Nowadays, when you are at job interviews or volunteer opportunities, the first thing you are asked is how many languages do you speak? You think, ‘Is English not enough?’ Nowadays, the truth is that it isn’t enough. Being able to speak more than one language is something that has positively impacted myself and my family,” she said, crediting CVESD’s DLI program.
As we prepare students for 21st Century careers, the Chula Vista Elementary School District is well poised to prepare our future global citizens with the academic, linguistic and cultural competencies necessary to help make our world a better place.
Sanchez is executive director of Language Acquisition and Development in the Chula Vista Elementary School District.
