Two way immersion programs and English language learner achievement

Curriculum Reform Review

Philosophy / Guiding Principles

The Two Way Immersion program has been shown to be effective at helping students who are learning English, by placing them in a classroom of native English language students. The idea is that by having both native and English language learners interacting together, there will be greater learning comprehension / cultural understanding. As a result, a number of guiding principals were identified to include: actively integrating these students into an educational environment, working with students who could be have difficulty with English and helping to improve motivation. These elements are important, because they establish a foundation that educators can use to improve achievement scores and the underlying quality of education that is being provided. ("Two Way Immersion Education," 1998)

Approach to Curriculum Development, Instruction, Evaluation, and Staff Development as Relevant

The current approach that is utilized for Two Way Immersion programs is to encourage students to work together. Where, there is an emphasis on: integrating both languages into curriculum, using strategies to encourage discussion and ensuring that there are adequate resources for the educator / student. ("Two Way Immersion Education," 1998)

Implementation Strategy

To effectively implement this strategy into an educational environment requires that you embrace a number of different principals to include: integrating various student resources together, using strategies that encourage students to understand / explore new cultures and having community / family involvement in the program. ("Two Way Immersion Education," 1998)

Review: The Impact of Two Way Immersion on Students Attitudes Toward School and College

The article the Impact of Two Way Immersion on Students Attitudes Toward School and College, discusses the effect that Two Way Immersion programs are having on students. As researchers, would explore the outcomes of three different programs with one another to include: Hispanic students who started the program as English language learners, Hispanic students who started programs with native English speaking students and the effects of the program on European students. The results were that students had better preparation for: college, higher grade point averages, low dropout rates and improved mental attitudes. These different elements are important, because they show how this program can be able to help improve cultural understanding and assimilation of English language learners. At which point, students who are enrolled in the program will begin to see improvements in their mental attitudes and achievement scores. (Lindhold, 2002)

However, there have been concerns that this program could often ignore Hispanic students who have trouble learning English. The reason why, is because a high percentage of Hispanic students have the highest dropout rates among all the different minorities. As a result, researchers found that Two Way Immersion programs help to improve the performance of Hispanic students who are English language learners. The reason why, is because these programs reach out to them from a cultural perspective and it has the students pledge, to remain in school. This is significant, because it helps to give these students direction and assistance. At which point, they will begin to perform better in school, changing their mental attitudes. (Lindhold, 2002)

The Strengths and Limitations of Two Way Immersion Programs

The Two Way Immersion program has a number of different strengths the most notable include: it can improve assimilation / cultural understanding, it encourages students to work together, it provides educators with flexibility, it helps to improve achievement scores / grade point averages and it increases the self-confidence of the individual. These different elements are important, because they allow educators to have a tool that they can use to address the various issues affecting their students. As the student body is increasingly becoming more diverse, reflecting shifts in the population. Over the course of time, this helps an educator to maintain the basic curriculum standards provided by the state. While at the same time, they can augment these standards by encompassing various elements of culture. At which point, the teaching style of the educator is more relaxed and entertaining. Once this takes place, it means that the overall amounts of learning comprehension will increase, as students find the material intellectually stimulating and fun. This will translate into a change of the student's mental attitude, leading to higher achievement scores and grade point averages.

However, it is important to be aware that this program can be used to address certain elements in an educational environment. Over the course of time, various administrators and bureaucrats could take the program and make standard for all schools. Once this occurs, it means that the government is taking a one size fits all approach to education (which could reduce the effectiveness of the Two Way Immersion program). As a result, it is imperative that this approach always continues to embrace the ideas of flexibility. Otherwise, it could mean that the Two Way Immersion program could be ineffective, because it became too successful. At which point, various regulations and restrictions will prevent the program from addressing the needs of a changing student body.