Bilingual Education

Reflections from the Field

Last Updated Aug 20, 2008 08:37 PM

Effective Implementation of Bilingual Programs: Reflections from the Field

Good bilingual programs upgrade the quality of instructional programming for limited-English-proficient (LEP) students, while at the same time providing a quality instructional program that embraces bilingualism as an advantage. Research has shown that campuses with such bilingual education programs are successful for all students. Research has also identified characteristics that appear to be present in the majority of successful campuses.

The purpose of this article is to briefly describe the lessons IDRA has learned from the research and in working with numerous bilingual education programs for many years. These lessons are described as reflections on key characteristics and are clustered around 13 major areas (see checklist below this article).


Vision and Goals

This area is of utmost significance when the stakeholders (administrators, teachers, parents and students) provide the connection between vision and action and constantly remind themselves of the importance of keeping these links "alive."

Peter Senge reminds us that "our vision is an image of what we want to become" (1990). Only action in relation to that vision can create the reality of successful bilingual education programs within all schools.


Program Leadership

This second area refers to the priority and importance that bilingualism is given at all levels of the school organization. Leadership occurs at all levels. Students provide leadership by aspiring to become bilingual. Parents become community voices and create a support network that sustains and nurtures the valuable role schools play in promoting bilingualism. Teachers create learning opportunities for children to experience the benefits of bilingualism. Administrators are the pro-active and informed voices in the community responsible for orchestrating the resources that make bilingualism a reality on a school campus. The absence of leadership on a campus dooms the bilingual program to distress and, ultimately, to failure.

Linkages to Central Office Staff

A feeling of "loneliness in the wilderness" is evident on a school campus that strives to implement an effective bilingual education program when everyone knows that the central administration is ambivalent and provides little or no support for the program. It is even worse when the central administration is antagonistic and misinformed about the benefits of the program.

Our experience in working with a number of schools reveals that campuses operating in this environment must generate strength from within and must make an extraordinary effort to celebrate publicly their successes with the community. The message is that support from central administration can facilitate and accelerate the success of the bilingual education program.


Program Articulation

The key to program success is clear articulation of the components by everyone involved. Campus stakeholders must understand and "buy into" the critical elements of the bilingual program. Many successful schools articulate instructional programs using the following process:

1. Align the instructional program with the campus vision and goals. In other words, keep the campus vision and goals in mind when designing the program.
2. Create a "map" that defines student characteristics and the paths that will be taken to reach the vision and goals.

3. Consult the research to identify the key principles and framework that will guide the identification of program components and strategies.

4. Package the program so that all stakeholders can see relationships among program components.

5. Select appropriate materials to include sufficient student reading materials in the library and classrooms.


Student Assessment and Progress Monitoring

When teachers sense that students are progressing academically and socially, they tend to do more for students. To reach this point, teachers must be supported by a system that continuously provides student data on the students' proficiency levels in the first language and English.

Furthermore, teachers must have information on students' growth in the content areas. This data should be acquired through a formal and informal system. Teachers must reflect on the data, activities and strategies they used during a certain period of time. Decisions must be made to adjust instruction on the basis of this information. Teachers learn to rely on this system to inform the instructional decision-making process.


Classroom and School Organization

The ideal classroom organization is one in which the teacher capitalizes on the most efficient use of available resources, both material and human. There is always an effort to expand and enhance resources, but limitations (such as shortage of books or lack of commercial Spanish materials) do not inhibit good teaching.

Space and materials utilization and arrangement must be based on the most efficient way of maximizing the impact of the classroom. For example, a self-contained classroom of 30 students without a teaching assistant may be arranged so that students have easy access to guidance and support not just from the teacher but from their peers (by sitting in close proximity) and from media equipment (such as a computer) that is set up for students to manipulate independently.

An effective way to organize the school involves the creation of small organizational arrangements (e.g., families, academic teams) to increase communication and support among teachers. Maximizing teacher interaction in this manner addresses teachers' professional developmental needs and the need for providing students the most focused adult attention.


Classroom and School Climate and Environment

The ideal classroom and school climate is one in which high expectations are concretely communicated to all students. In this climate, each student knows specifically what is expected of him or her and, most importantly, that this expectation involves learning at his or her maximum level. Such high expectations connect students with the teachers' belief in students' ability to succeed academically.

A prevalent relationship among all personnel that is based on genuine trust produces a positive environment. A high level of trust is overtly nurtured daily by all staff at successful schools during meetings and as they go about their teaching and learning responsibilities. These campuses are effective because decision-making responsibilities are shared concerning how to improve the quality of instruction and how to establish a climate where instruction consistently benefits all students.

Furthermore, LEP students flourish when they and their teachers feel safe and cared for. As with other students, LEP students succeed on campuses that are orderly, disciplined and maintained in a caring and dignified way. The ideal classrooms and schools provide for special language needs by adding special programs or certain instructional components, carefully calculating how these are to be integrated into the existing curricula.

See also Bilingual Education 366 1 - 9