A strong dual language program is essential for developing bilingualism, biliteracy, and intercultural understanding, and preparing students for our interconnected, global world. In addition to these benefits, students in dual language programs consistently meet or exceed the academic outcomes of their peers.
For K-5 schools, a successful dual language program requires a well-planned and articulated program, with a vision shared by teachers, leadership, and families. However, schools often face challenges, such as finding qualified staff, providing necessary professional development, and lacking an understanding of how a dual language program progresses from kindergarten through high school.
If you have faced any of these challenges or others related to your dual language program, this checklist provides guidelines for evaluating and improving an existing program.
The Checklist: A Step-By-Step Assessment
As you perform your evaluation, keep the checklist below close by to check off an item as soon as it’s completed. Following the checklist, each section expands upon an item to help you gain a stronger understanding of how and why you should take the action:
- Gather data on the current dual language program.
- Evaluate the current curriculum.
- Incorporate assessments to measure language proficiency levels.
- Evaluate current staff.
- Implement plans for ongoing teacher training and support.
- Reallocate resources where needed.
Gather Data on the Current Dual Language Program
The first step of the assessment requires creating a big picture of your dual language program by gathering data on academics and language proficiency. Guiding Principles for Dual Language Education is a well-known research-based publication from the Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL) that outlines best practices for dual language immersion programs. Dual language professionals nationwide consider these principles a crucial guide for program success and evaluation.
This is a great starting point for identifying from which categories to gather data, such as:
- Enrollment policies and practices to ensure equitable access for all students, including English language learners, native English speakers, and students with disabilities.
- Stakeholder surveys, including teachers, parents, and the community, to understand what works and what needs work from their perspectives.
With this data, you can confidently identify the areas of your dual language program that require improvement. Many of the most common program issues also suggest a common solution. For example:
- If language proficiency isn’t where it needs to be, the school needs to provide professional development and coaching for teachers on language acquisition strategies.
- If leadership lacks an understanding of the program to answer questions and make informed decisions, the school needs leadership development.
- If students are not performing well, the curriculum might need a closer look.
Evaluate the Current Curriculum
A successful dual language program seeks to accomplish three main goals:
- Increase academic achievement.
- Increase cultural competency.
- Improve bilingualism and biliteracy in the target language.
Standardized end-of-grade tests, which are expanded on in the following section, are the best indicators for accomplishing the goals of academic achievement, bilingualism, and biliteracy. Evaluate your curriculum to ensure it aligns with these standardized tests to help reach these goals.
Cultural competency can be harder to measure with a standardized test. That’s where programs benefit from high-quality, culturally relevant materials. For example, in a Spanish language classroom, students gain a stronger understanding of a culture if they read books written by Hispanic authors, not just books translated from English to Spanish.
Incorporate Assessments to Measure Language Proficiency Levels
Language assessments can help indicate a student’s language ability. These assessments allow educators to establish baseline levels and learning goals, identify strengths and weaknesses, and monitor growth over time. This information can be shared with leadership to determine areas of improvement for teachers and classrooms, and with parents to assist in student development.
Among the many assessments available, two are commonly used in successful dual language programs:
- The Assessment of Performance toward Proficiency in Languages (AAPPL) is an integrated performance assessment that tests interpersonal, presentational, and interpretive modes of communication.
- The Standards-based Measurement of Proficiency (STAMP) tests language proficiency in reading, writing, listening, and speaking. This test is computer-adaptive, meaning the questions adjust to the test taker’s skill level as they move through the test.
Evaluate Current Staff
Your dual language staff is at the core of your program’s success. Start their performance evaluation using the state or district teacher evaluation tool. If observation sessions are not part of the evaluation tool, principals and instructional coaches should have an observation protocol with specific strategies for use in dual language classrooms. These may include visuals, anchor charts, modeling, repetition, movement, and frequent checks for understanding.
Teachers should be able to demonstrate their ability to offer multiple language acquisition strategies, including movement and visuals. They should also be able to use cross-linguistic connections—also known as bridging—which helps students draw connections between Spanish and English, or their secondary and primary languages. These abilities can indicate the ability of your staff to support students, deliver multimodal lessons, and encourage cross-cultural competence.
Implement Plans for Ongoing Teacher Training
Educators are lifelong learners who seek continuous professional development, and the success of a dual language program depends upon it. Leadership can support ongoing training by ensuring educators have the resources and support they need to improve and succeed in their roles:
- Develop a database of learning opportunities: Online courses, webinars, workshops, and conferences located in a single resource allow educators to easily find and access resources at their convenience without the time and effort to find these opportunities on their own.
- Create a coaching and mentorship program: By pairing experienced teachers with newer teachers, teachers can exchange knowledge and skills, and provide feedback to improve teaching skills.
- Encourage ongoing feedback: On a regular basis, teachers should receive and provide constructive feedback and share new information from recent learning experiences. This creates a culture of learning, trust, and accountability.
Reallocate Resources Where Needed
Dual language programs typically cost more than other subjects because materials are purchased in both English and a second language.
As your program grows, you can anticipate future purchases to ensure your program uses the most current materials. Also consider setting aside funds for professional development for staff, purchasing assessments, investing in a new curriculum, or other support you may need, depending on the data you received from the initial assessment.
Some states offer a financial incentive for bilingual teachers. One of the largest programs that supports educators of English learner students is from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of English Language Acquisition, which provides grants to fund professional development activities and improve instruction for English learners. There are also programs like this at the local level.
Fine-Tune Your Dual Language Program with Participate Learning
Whether your school needs to enhance student performance, teacher training, or overall leadership, our Dual Language Mastery Program provides the resources to make this happen.
This professional development program is intended to meet the needs of educators and administrators. If you need to gain foundational knowledge, enhance instructional leadership, or learn to use data for program evaluation, we have you covered.