Boards OKs Single Immersion Program

Over the passionate objections of two members, the Berkeley school board voted to consolidate its three Spanish-English language immersion programs into one at LeConte Elementary beginning in the fall of 2013.

The program has been spread among three elementary schools -- Cragmont, LeConte, and Rosa Parks -- and some say it has suffered from a lack of uniformity and focus as a result.

"I don't think we need to wait any longer," said board president John Selawsky at Wednesday's meeting.

While nationally, two-way immersion programs boast impressive results in student achievement, that has not been the case in Berkeley, said director Josh Daniels. Among its other advantages, a single, focused program would mean swifter intervention for struggling native Spanish-speaking students, he said.

Several language immersion students and parents urged the board to adopt the plan.

But critics said the district should make further strides in its master plan for English language learners before focusing on two-way immersion.

"To me, this is putting the cart before the horse," trustee Karen Hemphill said. "English language learners have not been well served by this district. That should be addressed first through the master plan."

Beatriz Leyva-Cutler agreed, saying that while she supports language immersion, "we need systems in place to focus on English language learners and not just at one school."

The change would have no impact on the transitional bilingual program at Thousand Oaks Elementary.

In two-way immersion, half the students are native English speakers learning a second language – in Berkeley schools, that language is Spanish -- and half are newcomers learning English. Language immersion programs have gained in popularity throughout the nation, partly fueled by the desire to instill multi-language skills in American students. 

Immersion in the Berkeley schools begins with 90 percent of instruction in Spanish and 10 percent in English, gradually working toward a 50-50 teaching day.

The change will likely roll out over four years. Originally, the plan called for students entering the program at Rosa Parks and Cragmont schools this fall to transfer to LeConte in the first grade. Each consecutive year, additional grades would be added, with all grades represented by fall 2017.

Huyett now is suggesting that parents of those students be polled and the District decide later whether to move these classes.