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BSD Spanish Immersion

I wanted to share a letter that my wife and I sent recently to Dr. Sonny H. Da Marto and the Burlingame Elementary School District Board of Trustees (I've removed our kids' names for this public posting):

Dear Dr. Da Marto,

We were pleased to see the recent news stories indicating a serious interest on the part of the Burlingame School District in implementing a Spanish Immersion program starting in the 2007-2008 school year. Our older daughter (A—-, currently a Washington 3rd grader), has been attending private Spanish classes for four hours per week since kindergarten, but this is a poor substitute for a truly bilingual education. The timing of this new program would be perfect for our younger daughter, D—-, who will be starting kindergarten in the BSD in 2007.

We are completely committed to enrolling D—- in the BSD Spanish Immersion class as soon as registration for this program opens. While it would be our preference to have her attend our neighborhood school (Washington) if the program is housed there, we will happily enroll her in any BSD school in which the Spanish Immersion program is offered.

The BSD's mission statement sets forth the goal ?to educate our students to their fullest potential so as lifelong learners they will be able to effectively contribute to a changing society.? We can think of few initiatives that would better contribute to meeting this goal than a solid grounding in a second language, and a deep exposure to a second culture (especially one that will play such a major role in California society over our children's lifetime). As adults who did not start learning a second language until 6th grade, we can confidently state that an early start and immersion-level intensity are critical elements in achieving a level of fluency that will last a lifetime. Furthermore, as our own French withers from lack of exposure, we are thoroughly convinced of the importance of learning a language which is used on a daily basis all around us no second language offers the opportunity of use in Burlingame today and in the coming decades as Spanish.

Please keep us informed of any relevant developments as the implementation of this program proceeds. While the recent media coverage was useful in bringing this to our attention, we still have seen no official announcement from BSD the district website would be a great place to post this type of information. We appreciate the hard work, commitment and strong leadership it takes to bring a new program to life. You have our wholehearted support! Please contact us if we can be of any help.

Sincerely,

Ian Milne and Krista McCutcheon
Carol Ave, Burlingame

We received encouraging responses from Dr. Da Marto and from several school board members. Although they stressed that no decision has yet been made on whether to implement an immersion program or even on which language to teach, it is clear that there is now the possibility of getting a program if enough community and parental interest is demonstrated in the next 1-2 months.

– Written by Ian

Posted in

23 responses to “BSD Spanish Immersion”

  1. Linda

    Ian- this is such a WONDERFUL opportunity that we are being offered. There is no better time to learn a second language than during the early elementary school years. Not only due you gain the opportunity to become completely bilingual and biliterate, but there are other advantages as well.
    According to the Center for Applied Linguistics, (http://www.cal.org/resources/faqs/rgos/bilingual_children.htm)
    students of foreign languages score statistically higher on standardized tests conducted in English. Early language instruction has been found to improve overall school performance and superior problem-solving skills. In 1992, the College Entrance Examination Board reported that students who averaged 4 or more years of foreign language study, scored higher on the verbal section of the SAT than those who had studied 4 or more years in any other subject area. In addition, the average mathematics score for individuals who had taken 4 or more years of foreign language study was identical to the average score of those who had studied 4 years of mathematics.
    As if that was not only enough, according to Joan Rosas, the Assistant Superintendent of San Mateo-Foster City school district, a language immersion program can be run on a “shoestring budget”.
    We cannot let this WONDERFUL opportunity pass us by!
    Linda Hall

  2. Anonymous

    I think this is the best idea anyone has come up with! I only wish something like this was offered sooner when my children were much younger.

    Learning the Spanish language is extremely
    advantageous in this day for any age group!

    Ojala que es un realidad pronto!

  3. Anonymous

    Thanks jb – I’ll ask my daughter what that last comment means, in a couple of years 😉

  4. Anonymous

    It means “hope it’s a reality soon!”

  5. Rich Grogan

    From a business standpoint, Mandarin would be more advantageous than Mexican as would one of the Middle Eastern Indian dialects. My son-in-law is Spanish and he is constantly reminding me he speaks Spanish, and the people from Mexico speak Mexican. Evidently there is a difference, but I cannot speak either, so I would not know.

  6. Linda

    I am a Spaniard myself (from Madrid) and that is simply not true. There is no Mexican language, such as there is no Australian language or American language. The differences are like those between Aussies, Brits and Yanks. So your son in law is totally incorrect.
    While I really feel the choice of language is a personal one, I just read an article published from Beijing stating that 40% of Chinese do not speak Mandarin. They also have Cantonese (most common Chinese around here) and lots of dialects too. Whereas, Spain, Chile, Colombia, Argentina, Mexico, Bolivia, El Salvador, Guatemala…-a total of 400 million people over 23 countries speak Spanish and we all communicate perfectly.
    I really wish this does not become a debate about language choice since CLEARLY all the people I have met have their personal reasons for language choice. But come on…, comparing Spanish and “so called-Mexican” to the numerous dialects in India is pretty absurd and that is the only reason I am discussing the language issue- to correct erroneous statements.
    So PLEASE lets just focus on Language Immersion as a concept because this is a wonderful opportunity and I have worked hard with the proponents for Mandarin too, to work together on this issue. PLEASE!
    Linda

  7. Anonymous

    Personally, I would love to see enough interest in the community to justify putting in a Spanish program as well as a Mandarin program. There are great reasons for wanting our kids to learn either of these (or Cantonese, or Hindi, or Arabic, or many others). For me, Spanish seems to offer unparalleled opportunities to use it on a daily basis in our community – continuous use in everyday life is a key to gaining and maintaining fluency.

  8. Anonymous

    Linda, I agree, Spanish (not Mexican) would be number one!

    Your comments are correct and to the point.

  9. Rich Grogan

    Linda, point well taken and thank you. As I stated I do not speak either so I do not know the difference.

    I am in agreement that a second language is an asset, but an immersion program at tax payers expense is not an effective use of tax payers money, especially when we have such a difficult time of getting our youth to graduate with the minimum ability of dealing with English. Unfortuantely we are graduating some functional illiterates, which is a crying shame. We, as a society, need to do a better job of providing our youth with a fundamental education, so they can move into an adult society and not become a burden.

  10. Anonymous

    Rich,

    If I thought this was an ineffective use of taxpayer money I would not be pushing for it. It would be ineffective spending *if* either or both of the following statements was true relative to the status quo:
    (a) if the cost was higher for equivalent educational value, or
    (b) if the cost was the same for a worse education.

    My understanding of the situation is that neither of these is true – in fact:
    (a) the cost is virtually the same as educating a non-immersion student, and
    (b) the educational value of these programs is as good as or better than the status quo, plus you get a second language – overall a much better value.

    Quoting the California Dept of Education website (http://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/el/ip/faq.asp), participants in immersion programs perform as well as or better on tests of English than their English-speaking peers who have been instructed only in English?.

    Add to this the real dollar savings you get from these students never having to sign up for dedicated Spanish classes in middle school and high school since they are already fluent.

    Rich, I could not agree with you more that we need to do a much better job educating our youth. The world they will be navigating for the next 40 years is going to look a lot different than the world you and I have experienced over the past 40 years. As a society we simply can not afford to be content with the status quo. We need to embrace any realistic opportunity to get more bang for our educational buck I believe that an immersion program for elementary school students is one way of doing exactly this.

  11. Rich Grogan

    Hypothetical Situation: The school/district hires a teacher whose primary language is not English and is used to teach a foreign language part of the time and the other part of the time is used to teach, lets say math. Due to a very pronounced accent the English-speaking math students are having a difficult time understanding the non-English speaking teacher. Who wins the few students, who understand the non-English speaking teacher or the majority of the English speaking, who this non-English speaking teacher who is attempting to teach math? The answer can be found at BIS, because that is going on right now.

    Immersion is not one teacher for one language; it is several teachers for several different teaching disciplines. An immersion program, in my opinion, is a luxury the taxpayers should not have to shoulder the burden of funding.

    The key to success is cross-functional communication. If I cannot understand you and you can not understand me, neither of us win. That is why, it is my opinion, public schools need to master the art and demonstrate the ability of teaching the students to effectively read and write English, as a common language, as well as performing the basic math functions.

    If there is to be an immersion program, it needs to be English for ALL not-English speaking students. We do not need another Tower of Babylon.

  12. Anonymous

    A graduate of Spanish immersion will be no less capable of communicating with the majority of Americans who happen to be unilingual English-speakers. The effect of the immersion program will make them capable of *also* communicating with the hundreds of millions of Spanish-speaking people in the world. Language instruction tears down the barriers between people, it does not build new ones – it is the opposite of the Tower of Babel.

    An education system that is limited to teaching nothing but English and basic math is not one that is preparing our children to thrive in the 21st century.

  13. Rich Grogan

    Ian, I guess we will have to agree to disagree. Our education system does not only teach English, it offers several other languages. It is just that the languages are NOT taught in an immersion form.

    In my world travels I have seen me just the opposite as to what you believe and has forged my beliefs. Off the top of my head I cannot think of any country that sponsors a government funded immersion program for non-country language speakers. Although, there are several countries that have immersion programs for non-country language speakers to learn the language of the country. This is done so the non-country speaker can assimilate into the particular country/society quicker and become a productive member of that country/society.

    Have you ever wondered why there is only ONE language used for all commercial pilots throughout the world?

    It has been a pleasure discussing this issue with you.

  14. Anonymous

    Do elementary students get Spanish or other languages in elementary school?

  15. Anonymous

    Not in Burlingame (yet)…

  16. Anonymous

    Many parochial schools start teaching their students a language from kindergarten. My children had the choice between Spanish and Italian and though they would not say they were bilingual by 8th grade, their langugage skills are better than their mother’s who learnt French later in life. I have never understood why a language lesson could not be included in the public school schedule?

    A quote I like – “Studies have shown — and experience has supported — that children who learn a language before the onset of adolescence are much more likely to have native-like pronunciation. A number of experts attribute this proficiency to physiological changes that occur in the maturing brain as a child enters puberty. Regardless, introducing children to alternative ways of expressing themselves and to different cultures generally broadens their outlook”.

  17. Linda

    Rich-
    I totally agree with you in that we need to be conscious of the costs of any new programs. In fact, at the last school board meeting, the superintendent invited Sheilla Spieller, the Principal of Fiesta Gardens, a Spanish-immersion school in San Mateo. She stated that this program could be implemented with a “shoestring budget”. You just need a bilingual teacher instead of a monolingual one. The only real costs would be starting a little library which could be obtained with some fundraising. If the program were to be costly to implement , this would certainly be a legitimate concern. But the fact of the matter is, that the costs are negligible.
    I agree that teachers should pronounce correctly for the students to understand the material presented to them. If not, then another teacher should be found that can do so.
    I actually do believe English should be the official language and that people who move here should learn it to get by. It promotes effective communication in society.
    That said, I myself was raised speaking Spanish and attended bilingual schools in Spain. I often find myself helping my colleagues with their spelling. These are English-speaking-only college graduates. When I speak either Spanish or English, most people do not detect any accent at all. I firmly believe, and there is ample research to support it, that learning another language helps with the understanding of your first language.
    Furthemore, my father recently attended a meeting with Robin Gilchrist, the U.S Secretary of Education chief of staff. In her speech, she discussed the need for the U.S to emphasize the importance of foreign languages and math in order to compete adequately in this new global economy.
    So, why not learn another language? It barely costs any money to implement, you learn it when it is easy to learn and then can concentrate in more advanced classes in middle and high school and finally, it helps you in your overall scores in both English and Math (according to the Center for Applied Linguistics). I also did really well in Math- maybe that second language helped!:)

  18. Anonymous

    FYI all
    here is a statement from the BSD-

    Burlingame School District is exploring
    >
    > Spanish and
    > Mandarin Chinese
    > Language Immersion
    >
    > The Burlingame School District recognizes the
    > importance of expanding language offerings to
    > elementary school students, given the increasingly
    > global nature of our economy and society, as well as
    > the critical window for language learning which
    > occurs
    > in early childhood.
    >
    > The District would like to implement a language
    > immersion in Mandarin Chinese and/or Spanish at one
    > or
    > more of our elementary schools, if there is enough
    > interest. The program(s) may begin in September
    > 2007
    > with kindergarten, and possibly first grade,
    > classes.
    >
    >
    > Language immersion is a well-established and
    > intensive
    > educational model, in which the majority of the
    > curriculum is taught in a non-English ( target?)
    > language. The content of the curriculum is the same
    > as English-only classrooms and meets all state
    > standards. The goal of an immersion program is to
    > make students, whether they enter as
    > English-speakers
    > or as native speakers of the target language, fully
    > bilingual by fifth grade. Research and test scores
    > suggest that language immersion may also have
    > generalized cognitive benefits for students.
    >
    > An immersion program, if implemented, would consist
    > of
    > a set of classes within one of the existing
    > Burlingame
    > elementary schools. The program would not be an
    > isolated unit within the school; rather, it would
    > serve as a foundation from which language and
    > cultural
    > experiences could be expanded for the entire student
    > body.
    >
    > AN INFORMATION NIGHT will be held on Thursday,
    > October
    > 19 at 6:00 p.m. at the District Office located at
    > 1825
    > Trousdale Drive. Guests will include teachers and
    > families from other immersion programs, as well as
    > board members and staff from the District.
    >
    >
    >

  19. Linda

    Did you know…

    that research (University of Wales) suggests that children who learn a second language are more creative and better at solving complex problems than those who do not. Studies have shown that bilinguals outperform similar monolingual peers on both verbal and nonverbal tests of intelligence and tend to achieve higher scores on standardized tests. Individuals who speak more than one language have the ability to communicate with more people, read more literature, and benefit more fully from travel abroad. Knowing a second language also gives people a competitive advantage in the workforce. These are some of the compelling reasons for parents to encourage the development of a second (or third) language with their children.

    -Excerpt from an article found at the Center for Applied Linguistics.? See http://www.cal.org/resources/faqs/rgos/bilingual_children

    In addition to developing a lifelong ability to communicate with more people, children may derive other benefits from early language instruction, including improved overall school performance and superior problem-solving skills. Knowing a second language ultimately provides a competitive advantage in the workforce by opening up additional job opportunities. Students of foreign languages score statistically higher on standardized tests conducted in English. In its 1992 report, College Bound Seniors: The 1992 Profile of SAT and Achievement Test Takers, the College Entrance Examination Board reported that students who averaged 4 or more years of foreign language study scored higher on the verbal section of the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) than those who had studied 4 or more years in any other subject area. In addition, the average mathematics score for individuals who had taken 4 or more years of foreign language study was identical to the average score of those who had studied 4 years of mathematics. These findings are consistent with College Board profiles for previous years.

    Students of foreign languages have access to a greater number of career possibilities and develop a deeper understanding of their own and other cultures. Some evidence also suggests that children who receive second language instruction are more creative and better at solving complex problems. The benefits to society are many. Americans fluent in other languages enhance our economic competitiveness abroad, improve global communication, and maintain our political and security interests.

    -Excerpted from the ERIC/CLL parent brochure; Why, How, and When Should My Child Learn a Second Language?

    Additional resources:

    Websites discussing children learning a 2nd language

    .

    More of CAL’s logo
    Improving communication through better understanding of language and culture

    http://www.cal.org/resources/digest/earlychild

    http://www.cal.org/resources/faqs/rgos/bi

    National Association for Bilingual Education

    http://www.nabe.org/

    California Association for Bilingual Learning

    http://www.bilingualeducation.org/

  20. Anonymous

    Linda,

    Thanks for posting the details of the Info Meeting on 10/19 – I saw the announcement in The Roar (Washington’s newsletter) this week, but I heard it did not make it into all the schools’ newsletters.

    This should be a great event for parents like myself who have kids going into Kindergarten of 1st Grade to find out more about what is being considered for the upcoming school year.

  21. Anonymous

    …Kindergarten *or* 1st Grade…

  22. Anonymous

    If anyone is wondering about how other English-speaking countries handle the issue of language education, there is a bit of a controversy going on in the UK right now.

    Apparently up until 4 years ago, foreign language training was **compulsory** for all 14- to 16-year-olds in Britain. The decision to make it optional generated a lot of debate in 2002, and now that the first cohort of kids for whom it was not compulsory is graduating, the effect of it is becoming apparent.

    From the 9/14 edition of The Independent:

    The Government has ordered a review of its controversial decision to scrap compulsory language lessons for 14- to 16-year-olds.
    The move follows an avalanche of evidence that it has had a catastrophic effect, with thousands of pupils dropping the subject at GCSE and A-level.
    …
    Ministers have tried to revive the subject in primary schools to compensate for their decision – insisting that every child should have the right to learn a language from the age of seven by the end of the decade.
    For the first time, they have recruited specialist language teachers to teach in primary schools.
    However, yesterday’s revelation by Mr Johnson is an indication that they are worried that this will not be enough to reverse the decline in secondary schools.

    Here’s the link to the full article: http://education.independent.co.uk/news/article1578725.ece

  23. linda

    The announcement of language immersion was on the Channel 7 news at 5pm today.
    Linda

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