English immersion may be the way to go

Linda Mudd was one of the disbelievers. A kindergarten teacher at East Memorial Elementary School in Greeley, she wasn't very confident that a switch to an English immersion instructional program -- especially in the middle of the year -- would be of much help to the Spanish-speaking students in her class.

But now she has seen how English immersion can work. And so have we.

"It wasn't as terrible as I thought it could be," Mudd now says. "What I learned from these kiddos is that they can do it."

Mudd is featured in today's Tribune as part of our ongoing series, Saving Our Schools.

The decision on how to teach Spanish-speaking students is the most important of several decisions facing the troubled Greeley-Evans School District 6 school board. Ever since the district was labeled as one of the worst-performing districts in the state and placed on an accreditation watch list, the district has faced this predicament: What is the best way to teach students who speak Spanish and what is the best and quickest way to get them to be proficient on standardized tests.

For years, District 6 has tried several kinds of dual-language and bilingual programs. The district received a large federal grant to pay for a dual-language program in four schools, where half of the day was taught in English and half in Spanish.

We admit the results have been disappointing at best.

For example, half of the District 6 English-language learners showed no improvement or declined in their English skills last year. English-language learners in Greeley and Evans schools have scored 12-18 percentage points below other English learners across the state.

Linda Mudd's experience at East Memorial has been eye-opening for us, as well, and we now believe it's clearly time for a change.

District leaders say by the end of April, they will have a comprehensive, consistent plan to address the problem of how to teach students who speak primarily Spanish. We believe the time has come for some form of English immersion in Greeley.

We also strongly believe, however, that a constitutional amendment to require English immersion across the state is absolutely the wrong solution -- both for District 6 and the state of Colorado.

For one thing, there is no clear evidence that English immersion will be the magic bullet for students in District 6 nor anywhere else across the state.

In California, for example, voters approved an English-immersion measure by a wide margin in 1998. But a five-year study recently concluded that English immersion made no substantial impact on California students' test scores and their academic success.

A state constitutional amendment is absolutely the wrong way to go. It will force a specific method of instruction on local school board and teachers. It takes away local control. And what if new or different teaching methods are discovered in the future that have better rates of success?

Constitutional amendments are nearly impossible to change, and the dilemma of teaching English-language learners clearly is one with no easy answer.

Whatever the reason, bilingual education has not worked in District 6 in recent years, and it is time to look at other alternatives.

We believe English immersion deserves a shot. But we also believe it should not be required for all districts in the state.