Last week Aliya’s school had a special visitor from Puerto Rico, and I had a chance to have lunch with her and administrators from Wheelock College (I hope they remember me in 10 years when we’re desperate for a scholarship).
From the Metrowest Daily News:
FRAMINGHAM — At Clara Garcia’s class at the Barbieri Elementary School yesterday, the veteran teacher kept two dozen kindergartners enthralled with the sound of a greeting and the appearance of a sea shell.
Speaking entirely in Spanish, Garcia led the class of both English and Spanish-speaking students as they practiced songs asking, “Good morning, how are you?” and comparing the island of Puerto Rico to a sea shell in front of a group of visitors.
One of those visitors said she hopes to replicate the success of Barbieri’s bilingual educational program.
“It’s an excellent model,” said Angeles Molina Iturrondo, dean of the school of education at the University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras, during a tour of the Barbieri School with local officials.
Molina Iturrondo is an advocate for bilingual programs that allow all students to learn a second language while remaining proficient in their native language. She’s visiting schools offering such efforts in the Boston area as part of a trip organized by Wheelock College’s Aspire Institute.
She said Framingham has demonstrated a successful way of bringing bilingual education to the classroom for both English and Spanish-speaking students. Today’s children need to be fluent in more than one language to compete in a growing world economy, she said.
“I truly feel this is important for everyone,” said Molina Iturrondo.
Barbieri has offered some form of two-way bilingual education to some of its students for years, said Principal Minerva Gonzalez, who taught Spanish-speaking second-graders earlier in her career.
Barbieri is home to about 500 students in kindergarten through fifth grade.
In 1990, Gonzalez, then a teacher, and other staff members implemented a form of two-way bilingual education at Barbieri. The program sought to bring Spanish and English speaking students together in the same classroom and receive instruction in both languages.
Over the years, that program would be honored for it achievements by the state’s education department and other agencies, but officials wanted to improve students’ performance, she said.
A revised initiative launched last year puts early emphasis on Spanish language development in kindergarten and first grade, then increases the amount of class time for English as students rise through the grades at Barbieri. By the time students are fifth-graders, they will be taught in English and Spanish on an equal basis.
“It’s becoming essential for (students) to learn more than one language,” said Gonzalez.
At Barbieri, Spanish speakers are continually pushed to improve their native language skills while English speakers get introduced to Spanish. Meanwhile, the English language education component ensures English speakers don’t fall behind in their native language, while Spanish speakers begin learning English.
Educators say another benefit of bilingual education is the relationships between students: Sharing a classroom helps breaks down language barriers between children and allows them to get to know one another.
“The kids don’t differentiate who are the English speakers (and) who are the Spanish speakers … they’re all in the same class,” said Susan McGillvary Rivet, the district’s director of bilingual services.
Because of budget cuts, Barbieri focused most of its staff on the bilingual programs and moved most of its English-only classes to other schools before this school year began. (A single fifth-grade English-speaking class remains so those students can finish their elementary school education at Barbieri.)
In 2002, voters approved a state law that curtailed bilingual education in schools. That law has a specific exemption for two-way programs like the one found at Barbieri, said McGillvary Rivet.
But the law still has an effect on two-way bilingual programs: Local colleges and universities have limited bilingual training for teachers in favor of English-as-a-second-language programs, she said. This makes it harder to find local candidates for programs such as the one at Barbieri.
Instead, the district has to look to states such as California, Texas and Colorado, where degrees in bilingual education are still offered by universities, she said. About 300 programs similar to Barbieri’s are used by schools nationwide. Barbieri also makes use of a state-issued dual language immersion grant to help cover the cost of some teachers’ aides, she said.
Superintendent Gene Thayer, who attended yesterday’s tour with Molina Iturrondo, said districts with diverse populations like Framingham should look at bilingual educational offerings.
“Where it could be done, I’d encourage it,” said Thayer.
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