Whitestone Elementary School in Leander ISD began the 2015-16 school year with a new two-way dual language program to offer children “bilingual literacy,” said Tina Dozier, director of English Language Learners Services. “The goal for all of our programs is academic excellence as well as bilingualism and bi-literacy,” Dozier said. LISD offers bilingual services at four elementary schools—Bagdad, Whitestone, Knowles and Reed. In Texas, K-12 schools are required to provide language services for students who are not proficient in English, but some districts now offer two-way bilingual programs that extend the benefits of language immersion to English speakers as well, said Barbara Kennedy, a professional development specialist at the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Applied Linguistics. Students in two-way immersion programs may learn subjects in two languages or may alternate language by subject. In the Texas-based Gomez and Gomez dual-language model, students learn language arts and mathematics in English and learn science and social studies in Spanish.

Twice the skills

Two-way dual-language programs in Texas supply the mandated English instruction for non-native speakers and add an opportunity for English speakers to learn a minority language—in many cases, Spanish. “Community members are saying, ‘If English learners are going to have the benefits, then I want my child to have the benefits,’ so there is a lot of interest and in some places a lot of pressure for [school districts] to offer these programs,” Kennedy said. Since 2011 the number of Austin ISD schools offering two-way dual-language programs has quadrupled from four to 16, and the model is expanding in ISDs including Leander, Round Rock and Pflugerville ISDs. “Many dual-language students value these early experiences as high school graduates if they actively seek opportunities for travel and employment, and of course as they pursue education outside of their secondary high school experience,” Dozier said.

Demand for dual language

LISD has had dual-language programs since the 1990s, Dozier said, and the Whitestone addition follows the introduction of a new two-way dual-language program in 2014-15 at Reed Elementary School, she said. Maria Arreguin-Anderson, president of advocacy organization Texas Association for Bilingual Education, said parents have been some of the strongest advocates for two-way dual-language classes and have been instrumental in establishing programs in many cities. “We have seen an increase in the number of parents from non-Spanish-speaking populations who now want their children to not only become bilingual but biliterate because they are looking at the future, not only of their children, but the future of the country,” she said. Kennedy said researchers have found slightly enhanced academic benefits for students involved in two-way bilingual programs as compared with other types of dual-language programs and that mixed-language classrooms also increase cultural awareness and appreciation. “When the students are together in one classroom, they model the language and learn from each other,” she said.

Teacher shortage

Because of the state’s mandated bilingual services for students who are not proficient in English, bilingual teachers are in high demand in Texas, Kennedy said. Many school districts recruit teachers from countries such as Mexico or Spain to fill the gap or rely on alternative certification programs that can fast-track teacher training, she said. “We don’t have enough bilingual teachers,” Arreguin-Anderson said. “We’re not graduating enough, and proof of that is that districts continue to [recruit internationally].” Dozier said in LISD, the challenge with dual-language programs is finding readily available teachers, and as the district grows its programs, the demand for qualified teachers is increasing. “The challenge that I think Central Texas districts face is moving forward with dual-language programming,” Dozier said. “It’s not the programming itself or even building interest in the community because in Leander we’ve had an amazing amount of interest in our community. We have waitlists for kids to get into our two-way dual- language programming. … The challenge that we find is the [small] number of teachers whom are highly qualified [in] Texas who are readily available [to teach in] our dual-language programs.” In 2013, RRISD was unable to fill dual-language teacher positions at two of its elementary schools and, as a result, began a bilingual teacher recruitment program, according to school district documents. The school system was able to fill all positions in 2014, according to the documents. In 2011, PfISD launched its own bilingual educator certification program to recruit and train bilingual instructors in-house, said Kennedy, who formerly worked for PfISD and helped create the program. Even with a district-based certification program, recruiting quality international bilingual teachers can be challenging because foreign education programs and regulations may not correspond to American standards, Kennedy said. “These are highly educated people from around the world, but there are huge challenges because they need to acquire a Texas teaching certification, which is not easy in many cases,” she said.

Starting young

In Round Rock, Texas Spanish Academy is one of the few Spanish-immersion child care and preschool centers, but director Edina Morrison said she has seen an increased interest in starting language immersion at a younger age. Although TSA is a one-way immersion program, geared toward native English speakers, Morrison said the center gives a head start to children entering RRISD’s two-way immersion classes. At the academy, staff members speak only in Spanish as they care for and teach children ranging in age from infants to preschool, Morrison said. “We wanted our students to be able to feed into a strong and established dual -language program,” she said. “So our students, when they finish here, they leave as bilingual students. … I think the trend will be that most [day care] centers will become fully bilingual at some point,” she said. Additional reporting by Lyndsey Taylor