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Report Prepared by: Curriculum Services April 11, 2018 Presented by: Ann Smith

Spanish Immersion Program Review Conducted by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages Report

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Purpose of Report: To present to the School Board for review the report of the Spanish Immersion Program Review conducted by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages.

An independent organization has completed a comprehensive review of the District’s Spanish Immersion Program, offering both praise for the existing programming and suggestions for further improvement. The District contracted with the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages group (ACTFL) to review the offerings of Spanish Immersion, now in its tenth year in the Sioux Falls School District with 757 students enrolled K-9. The 65-page report provides a detailed list of program strengths, as well as recommendations for further improvement. The document will serve as a guide for the District in its decision-making processes, especially where budget is a concern.

Administrative Recommendation to School Board: Acknowledge the report of the Spanish Immersion Program Review conducted by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages.

Report Prepared by: Curriculum Services 1 April 11, 2018 Presented by: Ann Smith

Spanish Immersion Program Review Conducted by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages

Report

Purpose of Report: To present to the School Board for review the report of the the Spanish Immersion Program Review conducted by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages. District Priority Area: Student Outcomes Priority Statement 2: SFSD will continue to foster an environment of high expectations combined with focused interventions and support in order to meet the learning needs of all students. Annual Objective 1.2-3: Conduct a professional review of the K-12 Spanish Immersion program. Explanation: The Spanish Immersion program began in the fall of 2008 with one section of kindergarten at Rosa Parks Elementary. Since that time the program has grown to include 757 students in grades K-9. To ensure that the Spanish Immersion program continues to improve and provide the best possible bilingual education experience for our students, the District contracted with the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) to conduct a professional review. The review focused on the 7 strands identified by the Guiding Principles for Dual Language Education, 3rd Edition:

1. Program Structure 2. Curriculum 3. Instruction 4. Assessment and Accountability 5. Staff Quality and Professional Development 6. Family and Community 7. Support and Resources

The program review consisted of preparatory discussions with ACTFL Director of Education Paul Sandrock in July and August, a 3-day on-site visit by ACTFL World Language and Immersion Consultant Dawn Samples January 8-10, and a review of district-supplied evidence including STAMP and Smarter Balance scores. The final report, a 65-page document, identifies the areas of strength and offers recommendations for further improvement of the program. The following strengths of the program were highlighted several times throughout the report:

1) The greatest strength of the program is the enthusiastic support shown by all stakeholders – students, parents, teachers, administrators and the community. Providing a school building in its entirety for the elementary program is uncommon—although a dream for many programs.


2) The program is aligned with integrity to best practices in terms of language use in the classroom. Classroom teachers have a strong practice of using the language exclusively in the immersion language courses/academic parts of the day. Teaching staff feel supported by the district.

3) The Integrated Performance Assessments being developed by the staff at Sonia Sotomayor Elementary will ultimately provide language performance data on the students and better inform teachers regarding their students’ language needs.

The following recommendations emerged as priorities for continued improvement of the program:

1) Ensure there is a structure and process in place to: a. Provide professional learning for the teachers on how to reflect

on and learn instructional strategies and practices that support second language development,

b. Inform curriculum needs, and c. Write second language and literacy curriculum that will support

the learning needs of students in their other content areas. 2) Engage in deliberate planning and coordination of curriculum,

instruction, and assessment across the two languages of instruction. This planning should be guided by a common mission and vision that can be easily communicated by all stakeholders. As the program expands to other levels (middle and high school), there must be ongoing reflection and analysis of students’ language abilities to guide course selection and changes in curriculum design, scheduling, or expectations.

3) Continue the strong relationship between the Parent Advocates for Spanish Immersion (PASI) and the district that is working in very positive ways to further the success of the program. PASI and district leadership will need to determine to what level and how they would like to support ways for students to take their language beyond the classroom and serve in real-world settings to facilitate communication between Spanish-speakers and English-speakers.

Costs: $7,750 - contract with ACTFL Summary: The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Language (ACTFL) conducted a professional review of the District’s Spanish Immersion Program. The program review consisted of preparatory discussions with ACTFL Director of Education Paul Sandrock in July and August, a 3-day on-site visit by ACTFL World Language and Immersion Consultant Dawn Samples January 8-10, and a review of district-supplied evidence including STAMP and Smarter Balance scores. The final report, a 65-page document, identifies the program’s areas of strength and offers recommendations for further improvement.


Administrative Recommendation to School Board: Acknowledge the report of the Spanish Immersion Program Review conducted by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages.

1

Report to Sioux Falls School District

Review of Spanish Immersion Program

March 2018

ACTFL Program Review for Sioux Falls School District Immersion Program - Page 2

Sioux Falls School District 49-5 – ACTFL Review of Spanish Immersion Program

Table of Contents

Overview and Program Review Process Page 3

Overall Commendations Page 5

Recommendations (for each of seven strands) Page 9

Key Points, Findings and Evidence, and Recommendations

Program Structure Page 22

Curriculum Page 30

Instruction Page 37

Assessment and Accountability Page 47

Staff Quality and Professional Development Page 53

Family and Community Page 58

Support and Resources 1


Sioux Falls School District 49-5 – ACTFL Review of Spanish Immersion Program

Becoming bilingual in Spanish and English is the essential goal of the Sioux Falls School District (SFSD) 49-5 Spanish Immersion Program. The language of instruction for the immersion program is Spanish. While this is not the native language of the majority of SFSD Spanish immersion students, the population of Spanish heritage speakers is increasing rapidly. SFSD faculty and administration focus on how to support academic achievement and language and literacy in the Spanish language, when the learning may occur in one’s second or even third language. The SFSD community demonstrates its support for the development of language skills to ensure all immersion graduates can communicate in, understand, and function both academically and socially in the Spanish language. The belief and support for Spanish immersion and biliteracy is not in question. The strategies to most effectively achieve this goal are the basis of this program review and its commendations and recommendations.

The commitment to developing strong skills in both the English and Spanish languages comes from an emphasis on second language development in SFSD by:

● Providing core academic instruction in all content areas through a 90/10 immersion model at the elementary school

● Providing academic instruction in two content areas (Social Studies and Science) and Spanish language arts at middle school

● Providing Spanish language instruction through a Spanish language course developed for immersion learners at high school

The Spanish language immersion program specifically identifies the means of support to which SFSD commits resources and time, including:

● Adequate resources of funds, personnel, space and time

● Prepare students to live in multicultural and multilingual societies

● Commitment to making the target language the primary language of instruction in immersion courses

Program Review Process:

The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) facilitated the program review for Sioux Falls School District 49-5 in stages which included preparation, data collection, data analysis, oral debriefings via conference calls and video conferencing, collecting of evidence, classroom observations, interviews with school and district administrators, teachers, parents and students, and findings and recommendations as outlined in the attached report.


ACTFL World Language and Immersion Consultant, Dawn Samples (Coordinator for World Languages and Immersion in Lexington School District One, SC), worked most directly with Ann Smith, Director of Federal Programs, Curriculum and Libraries, Tracy Vik, Principal of Sonia Sotomayor Spanish Immersion Elementary School and Andrew McKay, Instructional Coach at Sonia Sotomayor Spanish Immersion Elementary School, to identify the goals for the program review, details of the process, curriculum materials and assessments, and arrangements for assessing the program at all levels of instruction, kindergarten through grade 9. In preparation for the on-site visit, the program, Mrs. Samples held conference calls with the SFSD team members to clarify the goals and needs for the review, examine information provided by SFSD staff in advance of the visit on-site, and discussed the focus groups, schedule and needs for the on-site interviews.

Goals for SFSD Program Review

The key areas of focus for the review align with the following 7 strands as identified by the Guiding Principles for Dual Language Education, 3rd Edition:

1. Program Structure

2. Curriculum

3. Instruction

4. Assessment and Accountability

5. Staff Quality and Professional Development

6. Family and Community

7. Support and Resources

Specific areas to be considered within the scope of the program review included:

● Guidance on program design to help learners attain balanced and high language proficiency

● Assessment of current state and identification of program development priorities

● Recommendations to address the unique needs of the teachers and student community

● Suggestions to support improved collaboration and professional learning by staff

● Overview of student proficiency development within program

● Recommendations for improvement to achieve the program’s multifaceted goals

To address these goal areas, Mrs. Samples spent three days onsite, January 8-10, 2018 visiting all three immersion campuses (Sonia Sotomayor Spanish Immersion Elementary, Edison Middle and Lincoln High). Mrs. Samples collected evidence data through a program orientation meeting, classroom observations of students and teachers, interviews and informal communication with administrators at school and district levels and instructional

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Zh5tuKgtKtAkRpyGvWSKWbjBXonQfytE/view?usp=sharing


staff, interviews with students, and interviews with parents. Prior to the site visit Mrs. Samples reviewed select instructional materials, units of study and assessments which provided background knowledge and understanding while onsite.

Findings, evidence and recommendations are provided in detail by strand and key principles in the report that follows.

Overall Commendations

1. Program Structure

○ The program is supported and valued with enthusiasm by all stakeholders - students, parents, teachers, administrators and the community. This is arguably the greatest strength of the program.

○ The program is filled by lottery, providing equitable access to the program from all areas across the district, and the district provides options for transportation for students.

○ There is a shared expectation the students will graduate with literacy and language skills in at least two languages (English and Spanish).

○ Students are reaping the benefit of interacting and communicating with native speakers from all over the Spanish-speaking world through the intern program provided at the elementary and middle school levels. The students were especially vocal about their appreciation of this structure within the program.

○ The time allotted for the language, 90/10 at elementary, 3 courses at middle and 1 course at high school meet the rigorous scheduling needs of a strong immersion program that typically yields high levels of proficiency.

○ The district has provided a school building in its entirety for the elementary program, which is uncommon (and even a dream for many programs).

○ At the middle school and high school levels, the students are grouped together for their immersion classes and are able to attend classes at the identified immersion sites, regardless of the schools they are zoned for.

2. Curriculum

○ The curriculum taught for the academic areas have clear, measurable outcomes in terms of academic content.

○ Academic standards for academic areas of study are aligned to the South Dakota Standards for Instruction.

○ The elementary school is in process of developing and implementing Integrated Performance Assessments (IPA’s) aligned to national proficiency


levels. These will ultimately assess students’ performance in the language, and enrich their communication skills within the academic content areas.

3. Instruction

○ The program is aligned with utmost integrity to best practices in terms of language use in the classroom. Native speaking teachers have a strong practice of using the language exclusively in the immersion language courses/academic parts of the day.

○ There is a consistent separation of languages for instruction, with high expectations for teachers and students to use the language of instruction and with scaffolds provided to encourage language production.

○ A variety of instructional techniques, including cooperative learning and flexible grouping, are consistently used to challenge and support all students as needed.

○ Teachers make every effort to engage their learners and provide multiple ways for the children to learn and interact with each other.

○ Teachers use a variety of strategies and techniques to provide scaffolding, sheltered language, interpersonal communication practice and other resources and materials to help their students create meaning and make meaningful connections to language and content.

4. Assessment and Accountability

○ The program considers data from multiple assessments and tests to inform decisions regarding student achievement and progress in the language. These include Smarter Balance, MAP and STAMP.

○ The schools use student data to inform instructional practices.

○ Sonia Sotomayor Spanish Immersion Elementary School is in the process of creating Integrated Performance Assessments which will ultimately provide language performance data on the students and better inform teachers regarding their students’ language needs.

○ All teachers and administrators have a clear understanding of their students’ background knowledge and information and use this to inform their planning and decision-making to meet the needs of their learners.

○ Assessments are consistently provided in the Spanish language in the courses taught in Spanish.

5. Staff Quality and Professional Development

○ The district employs native speakers who use the language exclusively in the immersion classroom.


○ Immersion staff are frequently interns for a year prior to teaching and have a depth of knowledge and understanding about the instructional practices and goals of the SFSD Spanish Immersion program.

○ The teachers in the program are certified teachers.

○ The district and school administrators collaborate effectively with the parent organization (PASI) to recruit candidates for teaching to serve as interns for a year.

○ The teaching staff expressed deep commitment to the Spanish immersion program and feel supported by the district.

○ The most experienced teachers and administrators have served enthusiastically as mentors to other new teachers and administrators in the program.

○ The district is actively seeking ways to support teacher learning in order to provide for and meet the needs of the immersion teachers and staff.

6. Family and Community

○ Parents and community members expressed a great deal of appreciation of the support the district provides the Spanish Immersion Program.

○ Elementary parents feel very reassured and warmly welcomed into the program as new immersion parents.

○ There is a strong parent advisory board that supports the program and students called the Parent Advocates for Spanish Immersion (PASI).

○ There is strong collaboration on providing community school events, cultural and academic celebrations, and collaborative work on various projects supporting immersion (fundraising, recruitment etc.) between the PASI and the schools and district.

7. Support and Resources

○ The district leadership is extremely knowledgeable about best practices in immersion.

○ The administration at all levels earnestly desire to support teacher development and growth of the program and are exploring ways to do so.

○ Teachers have access to materials and resources they need for their classrooms and instruction.

○ The district consistently provides professional learning for the immersion teachers in the academic content areas.

○ Parents and community have a strong understanding of best practices and feel informed and a part of the immersion program.


○ The district desires to provide continued support with more personalized learning opportunities and training to meet the learning needs of the teaching staff and administration.

In Summary

The Sioux Falls School District 49-5 Spanish immersion program is very strongly supported, has many outstanding qualities and is flourishing. The staff at all levels enjoy their work, are deeply committed to the children and the earning of both languages and the academic content. The community has embraced the program enthusiastically and appreciates the district’s innovative approach to learning languages. The needs expressed by those in the community and in schools are already being addressed as the district leadership is actively moving forward to take steps to support and meet these identified needs. The program is continuing to grow and is evolving as it grows to meet the needs of teachers and learners as it moves towards the first year of Spanish immersion graduates in 2021.


Summary of Recommendations:

Program Structure

1. Stakeholders should develop a common mission and vision for the program that is clear, concise and able to be easily communicated.

2. Deliberate planning and coordination of curriculum, instruction, and assessment across the two languages of instruction is one of the top recommended areas of focus for the district to address.

3. The district should revisit the course selection process and make changes in curriculum design, scheduling, or expectations to align the student language ability and the course content more closely.

4. Consider that changes may need to be made in the initial years at each level.

5. For up to 3 years at each subsequent level there should be reflection on student needs and progress with flexibility in developing the courses and curriculum to match the students’ language abilities as they continue to grow and evolve.

6. The high school is not yet as far along and should make adjustments as they move forward and plan accordingly

7. The district structure of certain personnel and district support for instructional practices and processes need to be addressed in order for learners to reach their highest language potential and to support best instructional practices.

8. Develop cultural competency targets for each level that promote opportunities for students to experience authentic interactions with the cultures of their languages and authentic opportunities for students to use the language with native speakers in the community and beyond.

9. it is strongly recommended that the district provide an immersion instructional coach to support the language and academic needs of the students as well as the learning needs of the teachers.

10. The district might want to consider if there are other courses that might provide a more appropriate content or context in the L2 if there are no materials accessible that are appropriate in the L2 for the course. If not, exploring other means of support (realia, translating of texts, etc.) might be necessary to prevent loss of learning.

11. In a bilingual dual language program (two-way) this equity across both languages is essential to be equitable to all learners who represent both languages as their native language. In the Sioux Falls program, the vast majority of learners are English L1s and Spanish L2s. It would be worth exploring other ways to bring language into other parts of the day at every level, however, so the learners see that the language is valued and used in authentic contexts in their daily school life and beyond.

12. The schools need to be attentive to helping teachers and learners see the value in recognizing and practicing language, customs, holidays, and expressions from many


places as this will give them flexible communicative and cultural skills to prepare learners for application the variety of real-world situations and contexts they will encounter after graduation.

13. It is highly recommended that the district appoint a specific “point” person to learn and advocate at levels beyond the district level so the program will continue to flourish as it grows.

14. New leaders or administrators who are not as familiar with the program will benefit from shadowing an experienced immersion leader for a few days and/or attending some professional learning for immersion administrators so they will be able to support the needs of the program consistently.

15. It is recommended that the administrative teams and teachers at each level provide input and regular updates to the PASI for inclusion in the newsletter they post as an update from the school. The immersion program will benefit greatly with more open communication and shared vision between administration and the PASI.

16. It is recommended that the various administrators connected with the immersion program have periodic meetings with the PASI leaders to hear their concerns and/or share their own progress and vision for the program in their buildings.

17. It is recommended that the program examine data, reflect and self-assess annually and set growth targets and goals each year that are collective amongst all stakeholders involved in decision-making and implementation of the program.

18. At intervals of every 3-5 years the program should schedule another external review, with specific points of focus, building from this initial review and gauging progress made since the first review.

19. As the program continues to grow in the high school, it is recommended to seek out partnerships with post-secondary institutions, community institutions or organizations and other viable relationships that might be able to provide learning experiences that extend beyond the school and even district so learners can use their language skills in authentic situations to help their communities and also to grow their skills beyond what traditional coursework can provide.


Curriculum

1. Based on repeated requests and feedback from all parties (teachers, administrators and parents) and on observations and findings, it is highly recommended as a priority for the program that the district provide an experienced immersion curriculum coach/specialist position. This specialist should:

a) Provide professional learning for the teachers on how to reflect on and learn instructional strategies and practices that support second language development,

b) Inform curriculum needs, and

c) Write second language and literacy curriculum that will support the learning needs of students in their other content areas.

2. It is highly recommended that all program staff receive professional learning focused on second language acquisition in immersion, including research, strategies and practices to provide clear requirements to be adhered to for language and literacy development of Spanish language arts curriculum for the immersion learners.

3. A curriculum priority for the program is to establish clear and specific language targets for each grade level based on ACTFL Language proficiency levels. The curriculum to achieve those proficiency goals should include:

a) Performance-based units of study that support and specify language targets and skills

b) Provide examples of practice tasks and formative assessments

c) Provide summative Integrated Performance Assessments in the three Modes of Communication: Interpretive (listening and reading); Interpersonal (speaking and listening); and Presentational (speaking and writing).

4. It is recommended that the district work with an immersion instruction/curriculum coach to develop a plan of action for the next 3 years where they will address the need for a scaffolded, well- articulated plan for an L2 curriculum.

5. The curriculum needs to be revised and re-assessed each year in order to meet the learning needs and language goals of the students and the program

6. It is recommended that the dual language teachers have flexibility in pacing and adjusting certain aspects of the curriculum in order to meet the language abilities and needs of the learners. They might need to have some additional, supplemental resources or follow a modified version of the curriculum so that the second language learning is included in the process and scaffolding of learning content.

7. It is recommended that the schools/district create a specific plan for a process of curriculum coordination across all support services so that the learners’ language and core content needs are supported across all services in a consistent manner.


8. It is recommended that the district work with an immersion instruction/curriculum coach to develop a plan of action over the next 3 years where they will address the need for a scaffolded, well-articulated plan for:

a) Setting specific language proficiency targets by grade level for all grades K-12

b) Establishing a language and literacy curriculum for second language and literacy development

c) Identifying a practice and process developed to assess learners, then collect and analyze data that informs the district on growth in language proficiency and student success in meeting their language targets.

9. Once the district has created language targets for each grade level it is essential to create a language and literacy curriculum that scaffolds and assesses student performance in the language from grade level to the next.

10. It is recommended that the district use the ACTFL proficiency levels and performance descriptors as the metric for the program’s language targets and language assessments. This will help learners move forward in their language learning in a connected and scaffolded progression from elementary grades to middle school to high school, regardless of the content courses they are taking.

11. When creating the new language and literacy curriculum it will be important to keep in mind that the L2 outcomes must be measurable and align with skill levels learned previously and needed for content from the content areas.

12. As the district moves forward writing curriculum for language and literacy, it will be important to remember to always consider what language learners need in order to learn and perform in the content areas. That language must be front-loaded in the instructional time and granted the time and curricular structure so that all teachers know what to teach and students get equitable access to language skills.

13. As the district begins working on curriculum for language and literacy it will be important to ensure that expressions, perspectives, products and practices from diverse cultures are embedded in the curriculum as part of learning the language.

14. As much as possible it will benefit the learners to have authentic exchanges in the language - both in authentic tasks using language but also with authentic materials and people from various places.

15. When writing the new language and literacy curriculum at each level, it will be especially important to consider the community, the cultures and practices as well as linguistic backgrounds of the learners.

16. Teachers will need support in developing the cultural responsiveness necessary to teach so that they are inclusive and helping their learners make connections to the various communities, cultures, practices and linguistic backgrounds represented.

17. It is recommended that the program identify specific technology applications and resources to support the immersion program. There are apps, sites and other


practices that are very simple to use and enable both teachers and parents to be more interactive with students’ learning

18. It is recommended that all teachers be encouraged to explore technology applications and resources, especially at the secondary levels, for:

a) Ensuring more effective communication and outreach

b) Bringing more culture and diversity into the curriculum.


Instruction

1. As these learners progress they are still learning both languages, however their progress in English will always be far ahead of their progress in the L2. The L2 language arts - language and literacy curriculum should be provided to them through best second language acquisition practices and be based on world language standards. Translating the ELA curriculum is not going to give them the skills they need at the right time because they are at a language deficit in Spanish compared to English - the ELA curriculum has a scope and sequence developed for native English speakers at the grade level and does not address the language and literacy skills that are developing in a second language learner.

2. It is highly recommended that the curriculum for language and literacy development be provided in lieu of a translated curriculum from ELA for these dual language learners. This will allow them to have tailor made curriculum for their language needs that will help support them in the content areas they are learning and fill in the gaps they have.

3. The more learners are engaged in reflection and ways to communicate their thinking and work, the better they will be able to use language to talk about what they are learning. This means a substantial amount of coordinated planning and preparation prior to each class on the part of each teacher.

4. Promoting an increased focus on socio-cultural competence in the L2 curriculum when it is developed will help the learners develop competencies in the two languages and in functioning in the cultures which use the two languages.

5. It is recommended to have some further discussions with teachers about their data and concerns and possibly site visits to other middle school programs to learn more about what courses they are offering at middle grades, what it looks like, and how they are structuring their language curriculum as well as their content area curriculum.

6. All support staff need to be trained to understand at a deep level how the children are taught and what will help with retention and support for all learners at all levels.

7. Provide professional learning for all teachers on how most effectively to integrate language development with content instruction (developing Spanish language skills along with the regular grade level content across all disciplines).

8. Provide regular, sustained professional learning and training for all grade levels in sheltered instruction and pedagogical strategies for bilingual learners to facilitate comprehension and promote language and literacy development.

9. At the elementary level this is much easier to address with strategic planning. At the secondary levels this becomes much more challenging. It might be worth establishing times for the L2 teachers to meet with their L1 colleagues a few times each year to foster collaboration and develop cross-content projects or discussions so the learners are making these connections between languages.


10. It is recommended that teachers have discussion points in both classes (ELA and SLA) to help the learners strategically recognize patterns, cognates, similarities and differences. The more awareness students are of these skills the more rapidly they will advance in their thinking and also in their language proficiency.

11. Teachers might benefit from some strategic planning in how to ensure equitable participation among all students, to be sure that they are not only calling on students equitably but also ensuring that students are being called on to use language for different purposes, which will require students to reflect and respond or interact differently in each mode of communication.

12. It is recommended that professional learning provide guidance on how to develop more opportunities to engage in meaningful activities that require sustained language use, especially with a focus on practicing the different modes of communication in a more balanced, strategic way.

13. Provide support for teachers to collaborate and share effective student-centered strategies, as clearly they are making the effort to use strong practices in this area.

14. It is recommended that professional learning support teachers in effective ways to integrate technology by using apps or programs more regularly to share student work with parents during the school day (e.g., Remind, SeeSaw).

15. Provide guidance to teachers to identify technology tools to advance their use of language via tools in Google where they can collaborate to create a google site, a blog, a vlog, glogsters, audio, time-lapse, time stop, audio, or video to create presentations.

16. Continue to support teachers’ use of the district’s Google platform, which provides a very easy means to collaborate and provide feedback to learners, which could be a huge advantage for students when preparing work in the L2. Learners can receive feedback on their use of language and how well they are meeting the targeted level for the task (that is most likely content based). These tools then allow learners to make revisions or edits and to respond to teacher feedback prior to final submission of work.


Assessment and Accountability

1. It is recommended that the district consider professional learning for administrators and teachers about performance data, (including the use of external validation measures, such as STAMP or the ACTFL Assessment of Performance toward Proficiency in Languages-AAPPL) and the relationship to the content area performance when writing curriculum and creating assessments for language literacy.

2. It is recommended that the district be strategic in how the student data is tracked regarding content area knowledge and achievement as well as their language proficiency so that teachers and administrators can identify areas of concern or need based on both types of performance measures. Many of these tests the district is using are new to the schools and students.

3. The program needs to ensure an assessment system that can move from elementary grades to middle school to high school in order to scaffold learning for the students and prepare the next grade level to meet learners’ needs.

4. As the district moves forward setting language targets and outcomes, teachers and administrators will need to have a clear understanding on what each target level of proficiency means and what it looks like when performed in the content area.

5. Teachers will need to have language assessments (preferably integrated performance assessments) at all levels K-12, that provide artifacts of student performance in the language as well as in the content areas so they can scaffold, plan and support learning based on their student data.

6. District support to provide guidance writing curriculum and assessments that will help bridge the content and language development will strengthen this area and help provide a more systematic approach to collecting this data.

7. Collaborative planning across sites would help the elementary teachers learn how their learners are doing after leaving them and how they can help to support deficit areas through instructional practices that middle school teachers are observing as students come to middle school. This would also allow the middle and high school to hear what learners should know and be able to do prior to coming to them

8. The elementary and secondary teachers would benefit from meeting once or twice a year to analyze student data in the language and to observe progress in the content areas.

9. Just as the teachers would benefit from collaborative planning opportunities and/or observations on occasion across sites, the principals would also benefit from having occasional meetings and data analysis as the program continues to grow and move forward.

10. As the district develops assessments for language, these will need to be incorporated into the assessment practices at each grade level.


11. As the program moves forward, assessment data on language and literacy performances will also need to be included in documentation of reaching program goals and state achievement objectives.

12. When the program articulates its mission and vision and establishes dual language program specific language goals, the district will be able to establish program-specific indicators of student and program progress to add to existing district goals.


Staff Quality and Professional Development

1. The district in collaboration with the PASI is willing and able to support the recruitment and retention of staff and provide much needed help for new teachers to be successful citizens in the local community. It is recommended that this support continue to be honored and recognized by the district.

2. While having an administrator who speaks the language is an ideal situation, it is not a requirement for a program to be successful or for the staff to be fairly evaluated. It is important for the administrative team to have an in-depth knowledge of program goals and best practices and be able to communicate with understanding and perspectives that support the goals of a dual-language program. The administration must also be able to communicate concerns and relevant feedback to the teachers as well as to the parents when necessary regarding classroom practices and concerns in a manner that supports best practices in immersion.

3. It is recommended that the district construct a professional learning plan that is specific to the needs of the dual language teachers and students. This plan may include cross-learning with the other regular content-areas, but should also allow for modifications and adjustments based on the specific needs of the program and the teachers and students

4. It is recommended that the district continue to explore ways to support learning for these educators through conferences, coaches, consultants, an immersion coach or coordinator, curriculum developer, etc.

5. As the district explores the hiring of a district position to support the program, it is recommended that consideration be given to someone who has experience in an established immersion program -- a program that has been where the program in Sioux Falls is going. Also consider someone who has experience writing curriculum and who is well-versed in proficiency and performance based learning and assessment. Having someone on-site who can assist not only in teacher development but also in program planning will go a long way toward taking the program to the next level.

6. It is recommended that as the district develops a common mission and vision for the program, having stakeholders who are in leadership positions (including teachers, parents and administrators) practice what needs to be shared that gets at the essence of the district goals.

7. It is recommended that the district create advocacy materials, either digital or in print, to promote and make clear the goals and achievements of the immersion program.

8. It is recommended that the district create a digital footprint for the program and provide some learning for teachers on how to support and use it. Things like a #hashtag for the program in social media, a Twitter account or Facebook page for the program or a web page or blog would also help bring together a common


vision and the ability to share pertinent information and advocate for the program in a more systematic way.


Family and Community

1. Continue the strong relationship between PASI and the district that is working in very positive ways to further the success of the program

2. As the secondary administrators continue to learn and grow in their ability to support and understand dual language education (and as the program grows and expands), they will be better able to reach out and respond to the needs and concerns that some parents may have in these first years of the high school program.

3. Continue to grow and explore ways to bring the learning the students are doing to the parents in simple ways. The larger, most difficult advocacy events are already very successfully established. Other more interactive ways of advocating and informing parents of learning and instructional practice may be the next step (as mentioned before, using social media, apps and other venues to reach parents on a regular basis and share the successes and learning of their children).

4. The PASI had discussion with the program reviewer about their role at the secondary level. Some of the ideas shared were regarding how the students can take their language beyond the classroom and serve in real-world settings to facilitate communication between Spanish-speakers and English- speakers. These are ways that community resources, locations and needs can be shared and allow the students to grow in their language but also to grow their global citizen skills!

5. The PASI and district leadership will need to determine to what level and how they would like to support these interactions, curriculum or opportunities for students and families in the program.


Support and Resources

1. The program has grown successfully over the last several years. Now that students are nearing completion of the program and teachers and administrators are becoming more attuned to what is working or not working they are recognizing areas that need more attention and focus to provide the best possible experience for students and to meet their learning needs. The program would benefit greatly by having someone who is an expert in immersion to provide guidance and support on a regular basis.

2. If the district is able, it is recommended to have someone on staff in a supportive, coaching position to provide expertise and work alongside with the teachers and administrators

3. If the district decides to pursue hiring someone to serve in a supportive, coaching role who is able to bridge the gap in learning for the teachers from content only to content and language instructional practices, the needs that were expressed will be met.

4. As needs for language and literacy curriculum materials are determined, there will likely be some budget items (texts, resources, realia etc.) to consider purchasing for instructional support in this area.

ACTFL Program Review for Sioux Falls School District Adapted Immersion Program Feedback Tool Page 22

STRAND 1 - Program Structure Principle 1 All aspects of the program work together to achieve the three core goals of dual language education: grade-level academic achievement, bilingualism and biliteracy, and sociocultural competence.

Key Points Findings and Evidence Recommendations

Key Point A The program design is aligned with program mission and goals.

● While it is clear to parents and community members that the program administrators and staff have a vision in mind for their immersion students, there is not a clearly defined mission or vision statement.

● The parent association for immersion “PASI” does have a mission and vision for their organization that appears to share similar goals.

1. Stakeholders should develop a common mission and vision for the program that is clear, concise and able to be easily communicated.

2. Deliberate planning and coordination of curriculum, instruction, and assessment across the two languages of instruction is one of the top recommended areas of focus for the district to address.

3. The district should revisit the

course selection process and make changes in curriculum design, scheduling, or expectations to align the student language ability and the course content more closely.

4. Consider that changes may need to be made in the initial years at each level.

Key Point B The development of bilingualism and biliteracy is part of the program design.

● There are clear shared expectations that learners will develop bilingual speaking, reading, writing and listening skills that will be acquired through time in the language, which is structured in how the program is designed.

● The program is designed as a 90/10 dual language program at the elementary level, approximately a 50/50 model at middle grades with 3 core courses in the L2 (second language) and with a year-long course in the L2 at high school.

● The program design provides ample time in the language to achieve development of bilingualism.

Key Point C The development of sociocultural competence

● The program provides many opportunities at the elementary level for learners to interact with teachers and interns from many cultures and societies, increasing the exposure and learning


is part of the program design.

opportunities for the learners to interact with native speakers and learn about their cultures. The PASI parent organization is a key partner in organizing and supporting community events to promote these learning opportunities.

● There is not a deliberate focus on actual cultural competency through curriculum or the program structure where learners have intentional focus on cultural competency in the language.

● Middle and high school do not have a structured process or target for cultural competency that is explicitly part of the program design.

5. For up to 3 years at each subsequent level there should be reflection on student needs and progress with flexibility in developing the courses and curriculum to match the students’ language abilities as they continue to grow and evolve.

6. The high school is not yet as far along and should make adjustments as they move forward and plan accordingly.

7. The district structure of certain personnel and district support for instructional practices and processes need to be addressed in order for learners to reach their highest language potential and to support best instructional practices.

8. Develop cultural competency targets for each level that promote opportunities for students to experience authentic interactions with the cultures of their languages and authentic opportunities for students to use the language with native speakers in the community and beyond.

Key Point D Appropriate grade-level academic expectations are clearly identified in the program design.

● All academic courses at the elementary level are part of core content with clear state standards and targets.

● At the middle school level students take science and social studies as well as a Spanish language arts course in Spanish.

● The students at high school take a Spanish language arts course developed specifically for dual language learners.

● At the elementary and high school levels the academic courses are appropriate.

● At the middle school level, teachers, parents and students expressed a desire for the district to revisit the course selection or to make changes in curriculum, scheduling or expectations that help align the student language ability and the course content more closely.

Key Point E ● The program articulates from elementary to high school without gaps grade levels or in language courses.


The program is articulated across grades.

● The program is still growing and evolving at the secondary levels. Students are coming from an elementary program that is more developed with a more stable curriculum and more experienced staff.

● Key Point F There is deliberate planning and coordination of curriculum, instruction, and assessment across the two languages of instruction.

● There has been some initial work at the elementary level to have deliberate planning for L2 instructional units of study that are founded on content learning but have as a focus L2 outcomes. As other initiatives have moved into the district this work has paused.

● At all levels the expectations for academic content and performance appear consistently to be more clear than expectations for performance in the L2. Students are expected to perform in the L2 in order to reach academic goals in the core content areas.

● Specific and deliberate planning for curriculum units of study and assessment of Spanish language proficiency is not systematically part of the dual language program at all levels at this time.

● The teachers at all levels expressed enormous desire for key point F to be a priority in the district

● All teachers felt they are struggling to teach content effectively because of gaps in the students’ language ability. They are not consistently scaffolding and building the language skills that their learners need to be able to learn the academic content and to communicate their content knowledge, especially as the content increases in complexity and difficulty.

● While all levels are in need of support in this area, the level where this gap in planning and


instruction for L2 literacy is having the most urgent negative impact is at the middle school level.

● Elementary teachers are gaining an awareness of this need and are beginning to respond by learning planning skills to address this gap by developing integrated performance assessments that support the language and literacy needed to learn content.

●

STRAND 1 - Program Structure Principle 2 The program ensures equity for all groups.


Key Point A All students and staff have appropriate access to resources.

● Teachers feel very much supported by the district and have access to many resources and materials.

● The district has worked very hard to ensure that teachers and students have access to what they need to learn.

● The only teacher who expressed real frustration about resources was the US History teacher at middle school. Others expressed isolated cases where they have had to translate or search for appropriate resources but have stated that the district has always tried to help any way possible.

● The areas that felt challenged by access to resources were primarily in the US History course at the middle school.

1. it is strongly recommended that the district provide an immersion instructional coach to support the language and academic needs of the students as well as the learning needs of the teachers.

2. The district might want to consider if there are other courses that might provide a more appropriate content or context in the L2 if there are no materials accessible that are appropriate in the L2 for the course. If not, exploring other means of support (realia, translating of texts, etc.) might be necessary to prevent loss of learning.

3. In a bilingual dual language program (two-way) this equity

Key Point B The program promotes linguistic equity.

● This refers to the equity of the use of both languages in all areas across the building and school events. It would appear that the L1 (English) is afforded the majority of time and


focus outside of class (announcements, after school, extracurricular events etc.)

● This also means ensuring that the learners are aware and learning that differences in language from many places are all of equal value. For example: Spanish may be taught differently depending on where the teacher is from, but this difference doesn’t make it less correct.

● There was some discussion that this has been a concern voiced by other Spanish teachers and even parents in the past. The school has addressed this concern and is making a focused effort to ensure that all teachers and students feel valued in their language roots and they are taking the cultural and linguistic differences present as an opportunity to broaden the language learning horizons of their learners.

across both languages is essential to be equitable to all learners who represent both languages as their native language. In the Sioux Falls program, the vast majority of learners are English L1s and Spanish L2s. It would be worth exploring other ways to bring language into other parts of the day at every level, however, so the learners see that the language is valued and used in authentic contexts in their daily school life and beyond.

4. The schools need to be attentive to helping teachers and learners see the value in recognizing and practicing language, customs, holidays, and expressions from many places as this will give them flexible communicative and cultural skills to prepare learners for application the variety of real-world situations and contexts they will encounter after graduation.

Key Point C The program promotes cultural equity.

● This refers to ensuring that all cultures represented in the dual language program are promoted equitably. Just as the above addresses language, this addresses cultural differences and representation at the school and in instruction.

● This also refers to cultural differences and practices representative of the students, teachers and the interns in the buildings.

Key Point D High-quality instruction in both program languages is provided to all students in all grades in a way that is

● Teachers in both languages of instruction are skilled and have strong instructional practices. When there are concerns the program provides as much support as possible through coaches that are on-site for the content areas.

● Teachers at all levels expressed a deep desire to continue to learn, grow and provide strong


consistent with the program model.

instructional practice that supports dual language principles.

● The teachers and administrators expressed a desire to have an immersion instructional coach for support in content areas and/or strategies where they are struggling, don’t know what to do, or need additional support for students.

STRAND 1 - Program Structure Principle 3 The program has strong, effective, and knowledgeable leadership


Key Point A The program has robust, shared leadership.

● There is a knowledgeable administrative leader as well as a strong leadership team at the district level whose roles and responsibilities are well defined (e.g., staff recruitment and training, program planning, budget management).

● The leaders at all sites are not as familiar with the program as might be necessary at times, but they are learning and have expressed their desire to learn and support the growth of the program.

● The leadership at all levels share the desire to see the program succeed and advocates for the program.

1. It is highly recommended that the district appoint a specific “point” person to learn and advocate at levels beyond the district level so the program will continue to flourish as it grows.

2. New leaders or administrators

who are not as familiar with the program will benefit from shadowing an experienced immersion leader for a few days and/or attending some professional learning for immersion administrators so they will be able to support the needs of the program consistently.

3. It is recommended that the

administrative teams and teachers at each level provide input and regular updates to the PASI for inclusion in the

Key Point B Decision-making is aligned to the program mission and includes communication with stakeholders.

● The decision making is aligned to the program goals and are communicated to stakeholders with support from the PASI.

● The PASI provides a newsletter for parents that is posted on the schools’ websites keeping

parents up to date.

Key Point C ● The school, parent and district leaders are advocates for the program. They recruit, share,


Leaders are advocates for the program.

celebrate and involve their stakeholders and community members as well as their learners.

● As the program continues to grow and evolve, and changes happen at the state and national levels, it will become necessary for the leadership to become active learners and voices for dual language at the state level with the department of education and/or policymakers.

● The more informed the leadership of the program is of current trends, practices and needs on a national level supporting dual language programs, the better the program will have access to resources, advocacy, strong instructional practices and future planning aligned with what other innovative programs are doing.

● Some PASI members expressed some concern that some of the secondary administrators are not as knowledgeable about the program.

newsletter they post as an update from the school. The immersion program will benefit greatly with more open communication and shared vision between administration and the PASI.

4. It is recommended that the

various administrators connected with the immersion program have periodic meetings with the PASI leaders to hear their concerns and/or share their own progress and vision for the program in their buildings.

STRAND 1 - Program Structure Principle 4 An effective process is in place for continual program planning, implementation, and evaluation.


Key Point A: The program is adaptable and engages in ongoing self-reflection and evaluation to promote continual improvement.

● By the very act of requesting a program review, the district is demonstrating a remarkable willingness to reflect, process and respond to suggestions and feedback that will help the program grow and become stronger.

1. It is recommended that the program examine data, reflect and self-assess annually and set growth targets and goals each year that are collective amongst all stakeholders involved in decision-making and implementation of the program.

Key Point B ● There is a clear, well- articulated elementary to high school pathway that provides sustained instructional opportunities in English and the


There is a clear PreK–12 pathway for students in the program.

partner language for all students to ensure the achievement of all program goals.

2. At intervals of every 3-5 years the program should schedule another external review, with specific points of focus, building from this initial review and gauging progress made since the first review.

3. As the program continues to grow in the high school, it is recommended to seek out partnerships with post-secondary institutions, community institutions or organizations and other viable relationships that might be able to provide learning experiences that extend beyond the school and even district so learners can use their language skills in authentic situations to help their communities and also to grow their skills beyond what traditional coursework can provide.


STRAND 2 - Curriculum Principle 1 The program has a process for developing and revising a high-quality curriculum.


Key Point A There is a curriculum development and implementation plan.

● Teachers at all levels expressed a desire for a language and literacy specific curriculum and curriculum development and implementation plan.

19. Based on repeated requests and feedback from all parties (teachers, administrators and parents) and on observations and findings, it is highly recommended as a priority for the program that the district provide an experienced immersion curriculum coach/specialist position. This specialist should:

a) Provide professional learning for the teachers on how to reflect on and learn instructional strategies and practices that support second language development,

b) Inform curriculum needs, and

c) Write second language and literacy curriculum that will support the learning needs of students in their other content areas.

20. It is highly recommended that all program staff receive professional learning focused on second language acquisition in immersion, including research,

Key Point B The curriculum is based on general education research and research on second language learners.

● Certain components of the curriculum (e.g., reading or math) are based on general education research but may not be adapted or appropriate for second language learners.

● The curriculum in the core academic areas are appropriate and implemented with fidelity in most classrooms.

● There is no second language specific or second language literacy curriculum in place that is appropriate for second language learners at any level.

● In some cases (at the middle school for example) the curriculum is to use exactly the same grade level ELA standards and materials for both ELA and SLA courses simultaneously. This practice is not appropriate or sustainable for second language learners. The structure, curriculum and materials used for this course will inhibit the language progress, and possibly cause regressions of learners’ language skills, if some immediate changes are not made to the curriculum in this course.

● Dual language learners who are primarily learning Spanish as their second language (L2) in a one-way program are not native Spanish speakers and must have specific learning goals and curriculum that will support the language


and literacy they will need in order to learn the academic content.

strategies and practices to provide clear requirements to be adhered to for language and literacy development of Spanish language arts curriculum for the immersion learners.

21. A curriculum priority for the program is to establish clear and specific language targets for each grade level based on ACTFL Language proficiency levels. The curriculum to achieve those proficiency goals should include:

a) Performance-based units of study that support and specify language targets and skills

b) Provide examples of practice tasks and formative assessments

c) Provide summative Integrated Performance Assessments in the three Modes of Communication: Interpretive (listening and reading); Interpersonal (speaking and listening); and Presentational (speaking and writing).

22. It is recommended that the district

work with an immersion instruction/curriculum coach to develop a plan of action for the next 3 years where they will address the need for a

Key Point C The curriculum is adaptable to student, program, and community needs.

● There are currently no processes established to adapt to new curricular mandates or to change the curriculum according to students’ needs for second language and literacy development.

● The district does provide these processes for academic curriculum needs.

Key Point D The curriculum is coordinated with support services such as English as a second language, Spanish as a second language, special education, Title I, and gifted & talented.

● Individual teachers coordinate with the support services as needed to meet the needs of their learners.

● Administrators plan and meet with all parties and plan for the needs of the learners with the teachers.

● There is no evidence of a clearly articulated plan to ensure that the processes to identify and provide support services are done systematically at all levels to coordinate the curriculum, language development and other instruction needs with special services specific to immersion.

Key Point E The curriculum is coordinated within and across grade levels.

● Core academic content is consistently coordinated across all levels. However, it is necessary to note that the pacing for the curriculum in the L2 dual language classrooms should be adjusted so the teachers are given time to teach and front load language that learners will need in order to be able to learn and process the complex language and concepts from the core areas.

● The district is supporting the writing of curriculum and adaptation of materials etc.


scaffolded, well- articulated plan for an L2 curriculum.

23. The curriculum needs to be revised and re-assessed each year in order to meet the learning needs and language goals of the students and the program

24. It is recommended that the dual language teachers have flexibility in pacing and adjusting certain aspects of the curriculum in order to meet the language abilities and needs of the learners. They might need to have some additional, supplemental resources or follow a modified version of the curriculum so that the second language learning is included in the process and scaffolding of learning content.

25. It is recommended that the schools/district create a specific plan for a process of curriculum coordination across all support services so that the learners’ language and core content needs are supported across all services in a consistent manner.


STRAND 2 - Curriculum Principle 2 The curriculum is standards-based and promotes attainment of the three core goals of dual language education.

Key Points Findings and Evidence

Key Point A The curriculum in both languages of instruction meets or exceeds district, state, or national content standards.

● The curriculum for all contents areas are based on the district adopted curriculum for regular, non-dual language learners. The teachers are adapting and translating this curriculum for use in the courses that are taught in Spanish.

● At the elementary level the teachers are “transadapting” the curriculum to make it work for the learners in Spanish. Teachers are identifying books and other related materials that are appropriate and support the targeted skills.

● The district is supporting the teachers by providing them with financial support to purchase like materials and for the transadapting work.

● At middle and high school the curriculum is also based on the core areas curriculum for regular, non-dual language learners.

● The high school course curriculum is still under development (as a language course).

● There are no consistent or common language proficiency targets or L2 language or literacy curriculum alignment from elementary to middle to high school.

● All teachers expressed a deep desire to have this in place so their teaching will appropriately address the needs of their learners and support both language and content learning goals.

1. It is recommended that the district work with an immersion instruction/curriculum coach to develop a plan of action over the next 3 years where they will address the need for a scaffolded, well-articulated plan for: a) Setting specific language

proficiency targets by grade level for all grades K-12

b) Establishing a language and literacy curriculum for second language and literacy development

c) Identifying a practice and process developed to assess learners, then collect and analyze data that informs the district on growth in language proficiency and student success in meeting their language targets.

2. Once the district has created language targets for each grade level it is essential to create a language and literacy curriculum that scaffolds and assesses student performance in the


Key Point B The curriculum includes a standards-based scope and sequence for language and literacy development in English and the partner language for all students.

● The district uses state adopted standards and district adopted curriculum, resources and materials for the English Language Arts Curriculum.

● All teachers and administrators recognized the need for a language and literacy curriculum for the L2 to be developed that supports the content learning but targets language proficiency goals for each grade level.

language from grade level to the next.

3. It is recommended that the district use the ACTFL proficiency levels and performance descriptors as the metric for the program’s

language targets and language assessments. This will help learners move forward in their language learning in a connected and scaffolded progression from elementary grades to middle school to high school, regardless of the content courses they are taking.

4. When creating the new language and literacy curriculum it will be important to keep in mind that the L2 outcomes must be measurable and align with skill levels learned previously and needed for content from the content areas.

5. As the district moves forward writing curriculum for language and literacy, it will be important to remember to always consider what language learners need in order to learn and perform in the content areas. That language

Key Point C The curriculum promotes and maintains equal status of both languages.

● This is currently not evidenced in the district curriculum as there is not a specific language and literacy curriculum for the L2.

● At the elementary level this will not necessarily be an equal share because the program is 90/10.

Key Point D The curriculum promotes appreciation of multiculturalism and linguistic diversity.

● The program has done a beautiful job of establishing opportunities for students to interact with and learn from teachers and interns from many places around the world. There are also celebrations and events that support the learning and diversity in the schools.

● During the course of the site visit students, parents and teachers expressed a desire to have a more structured, scaffolded means of providing these opportunities through daily learning.

● Students requested to learn more about the cultures. They said they know how to do a lot in the language but would like to know about the countries their teachers are from, except they don’t have time to do that.

● Parents showed a lot of interest in exploring other course options or additional learning experiences at the secondary levels where the


children would gain more insight and cultural competencies.

● Teachers expressed a desire to help their learners connect their current learning to the language and cultures that are relevant so they become more aware and competent in how to use language appropriately in many contexts - which comes from understanding how to communicate culturally.

must be front-loaded in the instructional time and granted the time and curricular structure so that all teachers know what to teach and students get equitable access to language skills.

6. As the district begins working on curriculum for language and literacy it will be important to ensure that expressions, perspectives, products and practices from diverse cultures are embedded in the curriculum as part of learning the language.

7. As much as possible it will benefit the learners to have authentic exchanges in the language - both in authentic tasks using language but also with authentic materials and people from various places.

8. When writing the new language and literacy curriculum at each level, it will be especially important to consider the community, the cultures and practices as well as linguistic backgrounds of the learners.

9. Teachers will need support in developing the cultural responsiveness necessary to teach so that they are inclusive

Key Point E The curriculum is culturally responsive and representative of the cultural and linguistic backgrounds of all students.

● The middle school and high school teachers were especially interested in helping their learners make connections between their learning, who they are as people and the cultures representative of the language they are learning.

● Teachers and parents expressed a desire to see more culturally responsive curricular practices in place for their learners.

Key Point F The curriculum articulates measurable learning outcomes.

● The standard district curriculum in content areas do appear to have clear, measurable outcomes.

● The elementary school teachers worked on creating IPA’s in 2016-17, which are still in progress. The outcomes rated against a rubric that primarily measures the task vs. the students’ performance in the language using the ACTFL descriptors. Recommendations were made for some revisions to the rubrics, however teachers have shifted their focus to the transadapting needed for the new adoption of curriculum and materials in language arts.


and helping their learners make connections to the various communities, cultures, practices and linguistic backgrounds represented.

STRAND 2 - Curriculum Principle 3 The curriculum effectively integrates technology to deepen and enhance learning.


Key Point A The curriculum effectively incorporates technology to enhance the available instructional resources in both languages.

● The teachers at the elementary levels have technology in their rooms that help in making the learning more interactive when appropriate.

● At the middle and high school levels teachers used technology in their classrooms and the students had Chromebooks they used for a variety of tasks. Students created and accessed materials in both languages as appropriate.

2. It is recommended that the program identify specific technology applications and resources to support the immersion program. There are apps, sites and other practices that are very simple to use and enable both teachers and parents to be more interactive with students’ learning

3. It is recommended that all teachers be encouraged to explore technology applications and resources, especially at the secondary levels, for: a) Ensuring more effective

communication and outreach b) Bringing more culture and

diversity into the curriculum.

Key Point B The curriculum effectively integrates technology tools to meet district, state, and national content standards in both program languages.

● High-quality technology tools (e.g., Google Docs, interactive whiteboards, student response systems) are regularly used to meet content, language, and literacy standards in both program languages at all grade levels.

● It was not explicitly evident if these tools are written into the curriculum units of study for teachers to follow, but there were a variety of ways that students and teachers were using technology in classrooms.

● There was some discussion with teachers about ways to capitalize on the available technologies to reach out to parents and community members.


STRAND 3 - Instruction Principle 1 Instructional methods are derived from research-based principles of dual language education and ensure fidelity to the model.


Key Point A The program model and corresponding curriculum are implemented with fidelity.

● All teachers are held accountable by the program to align instruction with the program model (e.g., providing the appropriate percentage of instruction in each language, sequencing literacy instruction as indicated by the model) and to develop and implement the corresponding curriculum with fidelity.

● The teachers that were observed all spoke the L2 consistently with the learners and adhered to the curriculum and content provided.

1. As these learners progress they are still learning both languages, however their progress in English will always be far ahead of their progress in the L2. The L2 language arts - language and literacy curriculum should be provided to them through best second language acquisition practices and be based on world language standards. Translating the ELA curriculum is not going to give them the skills they need at the right time because they are at a language deficit in Spanish compared to English - the ELA curriculum has a scope and sequence developed for native English speakers at the grade level and does not address the language and literacy skills that are developing in a second language learner.

2. It is highly recommended that the curriculum for language and literacy development be provided in lieu of a translated curriculum from ELA for these dual language learners. This will allow them to have tailor

Key Point B Instruction incorporates appropriate separation of languages to promote high levels of language acquisition.

● There is a consistent separation of languages for instruction, with high expectations for teachers and students to use the language of instruction and with scaffolds provided to encourage language production.

● Students from 5K through high school expressed their own understanding of why it is necessary for their teachers to stay in the language at all times. They shared their experiences and frustrations but all agreed that they were glad the language is used exclusively.

● Parents expressed appreciation that the program is consistent and strong with this practice.

Key Point C Standards-based academic content

● Each language is used to provide standards-based instruction in a way that is consistent with the program model, and is coordinated across program languages through a variety of


instruction is provided in both program languages in a coordinated way.

strategies (e.g., cross-disciplinary learning, shared curriculum, project-based learning) to support language and concept development in both languages.

● Over the course of the program, academic instruction is balanced between the two program languages.

● As the program continues to evolve and grow parents expressed concern about the content areas taught in the language at the middle school level. Concerns included the knowledge of the instructors’ use of effective strategies in the content areas and/or for teaching the language.

● There was also come concern voiced by parents and the middle school teachers about the gap in the language ability of the learners and the complexity of the content area standards and curriculum. There was quite a bit of interest and discussion by middle school teachers and parents in exploring possible alternatives to the current courses or formats offered.

made curriculum for their language needs that will help support them in the content areas they are learning and fill in the gaps they have.

3. The more learners are engaged in reflection and ways to communicate their thinking and work, the better they will be able to use language to talk about what they are learning. This means a substantial amount of coordinated planning and preparation prior to each class on the part of each teacher.

4. Promoting an increased focus on socio-cultural competence in the L2 curriculum when it is developed will help the learners develop competencies in the two languages


Key Point D Explicit language arts instruction is provided in both program languages, is based on language- specific standards, and is coordinated across languages to ensure biliteracy development.

● Explicit language arts instruction is offered in both languages over the course of the program, but for the Spanish language the language arts instruction is minimal, only takes place sporadically in response to specific student errors, or is based on translating English language arts standards into the Spanish language, which results in inappropriate instruction.

● There were many concerns voiced by some teachers and parents about the practice of translating English language arts curriculum to Spanish for instruction as it is causing quite a few instructional challenges or inappropriate practices.

● For example: There were examples of students tuning out in both ELA and SLA because they are doing the exact same thing in both classes - even reading the same books. Students have a gap in their ability from class to the next and they are not only expressing boredom but are also becoming behavior problems. This practice may actually cause regression in both languages over time which could negatively impact the other content area performance for these learners as well.

● Even though the program is a 90/10 program, the population of the student body is native English speaking. Spanish is and always will be the second language for these children. Their language skills are very strong, however, their ability in the L2 is still far behind their ability in English in terms of communication, literacy and accuracy.

and in functioning in the cultures which use the two languages.

5. It is recommended to have some further discussions with teachers about their data and concerns and possibly site visits to other middle school programs to learn more about what courses they are offering at middle grades, what it looks like, and how they are structuring their language curriculum as well as their content area curriculum.

6. All support staff need to be trained to understand at a deep level how the children are taught and what will help with retention and support for all learners at all levels.


Key Point E Instruction that promotes socio-cultural competence is provided in both program languages in a coordinated way.

● Some instructional time is dedicated to the development of sociocultural competence (e.g., identity development, cross- cultural awareness, multicultural appreciation, conflict-resolution strategies), but it may be more prominent during instructional time in one language than the other. Instruction may be coordinated across the two program languages at some but not all grade levels.

Key Point F Teachers who provide support services (e.g., special education, gifted education, ESL) and specials (e.g., art, music) align their instruction with the dual language model.

● Some specials teachers and teachers in the support areas use dual language instructional strategies, but this is not consistent across the whole school. Individual classroom teachers coordinate with support services.

● As this program is primarily a one-way dual language program, this is not as critical as it would be in a two-way program.

Key Point G When delivering instruction, teachers take into consideration the varying needs of students with different language learner profiles (e.g., native speakers, second language learners, new arrivals, students who are already bilingual in English and the partner language).

● A variety of instructional techniques, including cooperative learning and flexible grouping, are consistently used to challenge and support all students as needed.

● In most classrooms observed, teachers were making every effort to engage their learners and provide multiple ways for the children to learn and interact with each other.


STRAND 3 - Instruction Principle 2 Instructional strategies support the attainment of the three core goals of dual language education.


Key Point A Teachers integrate language and content instruction.

● There is an attempt at language and content integration, and some teachers work together on their own initiative to discuss possible ways to create lessons with both content and language objectives.

● Teachers expressed a great deal of frustration at all levels about not knowing how to do this effectively. Teachers also expressed wonderful enthusiasm about learning how to!

● Teachers are ready and hungry for learning about how to integrate language and content instruction. They have asked for professional learning that will help them as they learn to do this and plan for this kind of instruction.

1. Provide professional learning for all teachers on how most effectively to integrate language development with content instruction (developing Spanish language skills along with the regular grade level content across all disciplines).

2. Provide regular, sustained professional learning and training for all grade levels in sheltered instruction and pedagogical strategies for bilingual learners to facilitate comprehension and promote language and literacy development.

3. At the elementary level this is much easier to address with strategic planning. At the secondary levels this becomes much more challenging. It might be worth establishing times for the L2 teachers to meet with their L1 colleagues a few times each year to foster collaboration and develop

Key Point B Teachers use sheltered instruction and other pedagogical strategies for bilingual learners to facilitate comprehension and promote language and literacy development.

● Teachers often use instructional strategies that facilitate students’ understanding of

academic language and concepts and that help them produce oral or written language. Scaffolding is unbalanced between the two program languages because there is not curriculum or a systematic approach to providing this in the L2 across the program.

● Many teachers were very skilled at scaffolding language when they noticed that a learner needed it or provided other means of input to help the learner. Teachers voiced concern, especially at the middle school level, about having the skills they need to do this effectively


in order to provide the language needed for the complex content they are teaching.

● Teachers expressed desire to receive professional learning and training in these areas.

cross-content projects or discussions so the learners are making these connections between languages.

4. It is recommended that teachers have discussion points in both classes (ELA and SLA) to help the learners strategically recognize patterns, cognates, similarities and differences. The more awareness students are of these skills the more rapidly they will advance in their thinking and also in their language proficiency.

5. Teachers might benefit from some strategic planning in how to ensure equitable participation among all students, to be sure that they are not only calling on students equitably but also ensuring that students are being called on to use language for different purposes, which will require students to reflect and respond or interact differently in each mode of communication.

Key Point C Instruction in one language builds on concepts learned in the other language.

● There are sometimes attempts to make instructional connections from one program language to the other (e.g., carrying over a discussion of a subject taught in one language to the other language), but they are unsystematic and insufficient. This is primarily seen at the elementary level.

● There appears to be little to no connections made at the secondary levels between content taught in the two languages.

Key Point D Instruction promotes metalinguistic awareness and metacognitive skills.

● Metalinguistic awareness was not observed or addressed during the site visit.

● There were some discussions in the 4th grade class observed about “how to be a writer” that prompted learners to become more metacognitive. At the high school level some of the questions asked of students also prompted them to reflect in a metacognitive level. It was not clear how systematic this process is however.


Key Point E Teachers use a variety of strategies to ensure equitable participation among all students.

● Teachers often used a variety of strategies to ensure equitable participation patterns among all students during instructional time.

● Students had time to talk with partners, small groups, think/pair/share etc. Teachers also used strategies like random calling on students, popsicle sticks, calling by number etc.

● Most teachers used various strategies to engage learners and allow them to be active participants and engaged.

STRAND 3 - Instruction

Principle 3 Instruction is student-centered.


Key Point A Teachers use active learning strategies in order to meet the needs of diverse learners.

● A variety of active learning strategies were used by teachers to engage learners (e.g., learning centers, cooperative groups, project-based learning, Think-Pair-Share, Quick Write, Polling) to meet the needs of diverse learners. Ongoing formative assessment strategies were being used at all levels observed.

● In all classrooms observed students were actively engaged in the lesson and participating in many varied activities that allowed them to interact with the teacher and each other.

● The teachers at all levels were quite focused on engaging their learners

1. It is recommended that professional learning provide guidance on how to develop more opportunities to engage in meaningful activities that require sustained language use, especially with a focus on practicing the different modes of communication in a more balanced, strategic way.

2. Provide support for teachers to collaborate and share effective student-centered strategies, as clearly they are making the effort to use strong practices in this area.

Key Point B Teachers create meaningful opportunities for sustained language use.

● Students observed were engaged in meaningful activities that required sustained language use (e.g., class discussions, pair/partner activities, project-based learning, and/or cooperative activities to generate solutions to complex problems).

● There was a lot of listening and speaking practice, but less reading and writing observed at all levels.


Key Point C Student grouping maximizes opportunities for students to benefit from peer models.

● Students were frequently grouped in small groups of 3-5 or partner/pairs for discussion and collaboration.

● It was not clear that the grouping was strategic in all cases to maximize the skills and supports that the learners needed. It appeared to be more based on seating arrangements (which may have been strategic in some classes) and student choice.

● It was evident that teachers had prepared for the grouping activities with the materials and plans they used (this was true at all levels).

● While teachers used lots of grouping strategies and provided time for learners to interact and use language, it was not always evident that the grouping was strategic to maximize use of language and provide strong peer models for these interactions.

Key Point D Instructional strategies build independence and ownership of the learning process.

● Students are able to exercise some autonomy and independence, such as through learning centers or research projects.

● Teachers provided models and materials and allowed students to have choices in what they were doing. (Elementary - making choices about reading and sharing ideas with neighbors, middle school - reading and sharing their thoughts, giving each other feedback, high school - students choosing their small groups and scenario then creating their own scene to write and depict via medium of their choice.

● The work often had very limited guidance on expected outcomes in terms of language use and language targets.

● There was rarely evidence of feedback that helped learners know they were moving forward re: language proficiency or toward a proficiency target.


STRAND 3 - Instruction

Principle 4

Instructional staff effectively integrate technology to deepen and enhance the learning process.


Key Point A Instructional staff use technology tools to engage all learners.

● There were many instances where teachers and students used technology to engage and participate in the learning.

● Technology was available and working in every classroom observed. Students at middle and high school had 1 to 1 access to Chromebooks for their work.

● There was a strong use of technology FOR learning, not just to use for technology’s sake.

● Teachers at the middle school expressed a desire to learn more about ways to use technology more in the area of languages and for language practice and resources.

1. It is recommended that professional learning support teachers in effective ways to integrate technology by using apps or programs more regularly to share student work with parents during the school day (e.g., Remind, SeeSaw).

2. Provide guidance to teachers to identify technology tools to advance their use of language via tools in Google where they can collaborate to create a google site, a blog, a vlog, glogsters, audio, time-lapse, time stop, audio, or video to create presentations.

3. Continue to support teachers’ use of the district’s Google platform, which provides a very easy means to collaborate and provide feedback to learners, which could be a huge advantage for students when preparing work in the L2. Learners can receive feedback on their use

Key Point B Students use technology to display their understanding of content and to further develop their language and literacy skills in both program languages.

● Students at the high school were given the choice of how to use technology to create their presentation.

● It was not observed that students used technology with the explicit purpose of furthering their language understanding, to practice language skills or present via video, podcast, blogs, google sites, google slides, docs etc...


of language and how well they are meeting the targeted level for the task (that is most likely content based). These tools then allow learners to make revisions or edits and to respond to teacher feedback prior to final submission of work.


STRAND 4 - Assessment and Accountability Principle 1

The program creates and maintains an infrastructure that supports an assessment and accountability process.


Key Point A There is a comprehensive data management system for tracking student data over time.

● The district supports the program and collaborates with administrative teams and principals to review student performance data on standardized assessments (Smarter Balance and/or MAP testing) and on the STAMP test.

1. It is recommended that the district consider professional learning for administrators and teachers about performance data, (including the use of external validation measures, such as STAMP or the ACTFL Assessment of Performance toward Proficiency in Languages-AAPPL) and the relationship to the content area performance when writing curriculum and creating assessments for language literacy.

2. It is recommended that the district be strategic in how the student data is tracked regarding content area knowledge and achievement as well as their language proficiency so that teachers and administrators can identify areas of concern or need based on both types of performance measures. Many of these tests the district is using are new to the schools and students.

Key Point B Staff are provided ongoing professional development opportunities in assessment and accountability.

● Administrators and coaches all mentioned test results and interpreting the data.

● Teachers were less able to discuss the data of their learners as it related to their language levels or what the language targets need to be in order for their students to be successful in their core content classes.

● Teachers expressed a desire at all levels to learn more about interpreting student performance data (STAMP and other tested areas) and the impact of language proficiency on performance in the other content areas.


3. The program needs to ensure

an assessment system that can move from elementary grades to middle school to high school in order to scaffold learning for the students and prepare the next grade level to meet learners’ needs.

STRAND 4 - Assessment and Accountability Principle 2

Student assessment is aligned with program goals and with state content and language standards, and the results are used to guide and inform instruction.


Key Point A: Student assessment is aligned with program goals, instructional objectives, and language and literacy standards for both languages of instruction.

● The teachers were able to talk more about the learning targets and goals for students, as well as how well they performed on tasks in the content area, but they were less able to express how well their students were performing in the language.

● Teachers at the elementary level had a better idea about what their learning targets were in both areas of language and content. They have done more work in this area and most of them are more experienced dual language teachers.

● Middle and high school teachers were very concerned that they could not respond with clarity and understanding to questions asked about their language and literacy targets and how they aligned with other instructional objectives.

1. As the district moves forward setting language targets and outcomes, teachers and administrators will need to have a clear understanding on what each target level of proficiency means and what it looks like when performed in the content area.

2. Teachers will need to have language assessments (preferably integrated performance assessments) at all levels K-12, that provide artifacts of student performance in the language as well as in the


Key Point B Formative and summative assessment data inform curriculum development and instructional practices.

● There is evidence of formative and summative assessment in the content areas in elementary and middle school.

● Teachers at the elementary level are working more in this area but have lessened their focus on these assessments this year as they have been working on transadapting the ELA curriculum units of study.

● There is not a systematic process in both content and language instruction and learning across the board.

content areas so they can scaffold, plan and support learning based on their student data.

3. District support to provide guidance writing curriculum and assessments that will help bridge the content and language development will strengthen this area and help provide a more systematic approach to collecting this data.

STRAND 4 - Assessment and Accountability Principle 3 Using multiple measures in both languages of instruction, the program collects and analyzes a variety of data that are used for program accountability, program evaluation, and program improvement.


Key Point A The program systematically collects and analyzes data to determine whether academic, linguistic, and sociocultural goals have been met.

● This process is clearly done in the academic areas of study at all levels.

● This appears to be done to include the language outcomes more systematically at the elementary level as they are more experienced dual language administrators and teachers.

● The elementary has more clearly defined programmatic goals relating to both content and language targets.

● Parents expressed concerns that the secondary levels were not as proactive in analyzing and understanding the data and implications of language progress on content progress.

1. Collaborative planning across sites would help the elementary teachers learn how their learners are doing after leaving them and how they can help to support deficit areas through instructional practices that middle school teachers are observing as students come to middle school. This would also allow the middle and high school to hear what learners should know and be able to do prior to coming to them.


Key Point B The program engages in ongoing evaluation.

● The program has clearly had a high level of leadership, support and has been very reflective on the growth and progress of the dual language program.

● The district and school level administrators and teachers are very enthusiastic learners and positive about learning from the program review from ACTFL.

● All levels expressed a desire to excel and move the program forward.

2. The elementary and secondary

teachers would benefit from meeting once or twice a year to analyze student data in the language and to observe progress in the content areas.

3. Just as the teachers would benefit from collaborative planning opportunities and/or observations on occasion across sites, the principals would also benefit from having occasional meetings and data analysis as the program continues to grow and move forward.

4. As the district develops assessments for language, these will need to be incorporated into the assessment practices at each grade level.

Key Point C Assessment data are integrated into planning related to ongoing program improvement.

● Teachers expressed at all levels that they are very carefully analyzing their student assessment data in the content areas and using that data to help in their planning and in providing instruction for their learners.

● The parents felt that the district has done something truly wonderful by having ACTFL send someone to provide feedback. This brought gave them even more confidence in the support and leadership of the program at the district level.

● The principal at the elementary school is using student data to plan for the program in a very systematic manner.

● The new principal at the middle school is reaching out to learn more about how to make this more systematic and part of the program at middle school.


Key Point D The program systematically collects demographic data (e.g., home language, English learner status, eligibility for free or reduced-price lunch) from program participants that allow for disaggregated data analysis in order to effectively monitor and serve different student subgroups.

● The district and school level teams expressed a very detailed understanding of the background information and data of the learners in the dual language program and how to use this data to plan for serving the needs of their learners.

Key Point E Assessment is consistently conducted in the two languages of the program.

● Assessment is consistently conducted in both languages.

● With the exception of Spanish language arts at the middle school and Spanish at the high school, the assessments are primarily content based.

STRAND 4 - Assessment and Accountability Principle 4 Student progress toward program goals and state achievement objectives is systematically measured and reported.


Key Point A Progress is documented in both program languages for the three core

● Progress is documented and data collected on the state testing (Smarter Balance), MAP testing, and district-level assessment testing.

1. As the program moves forward, assessment data on language and literacy performances will also need to be included in documentation of reaching program goals and state achievement objectives.


goals of dual language education.

2. When the program articulates its

mission and vision and establishes dual language program specific language goals, the district will be able to establish program-specific indicators of student and program progress to add to existing district goals.

Key Point B Student progress is measured on a variety of indicators.

● Student progress is defined and measured against state and district goals.


STRAND 5 - Staff Quality and Professional Development Principle 1 The program recruits and retains high-quality dual language staff.


Key Point A: There is a teacher recruitment and retention plan that is aligned with program goals and long-term needs.

● The district and the PASI are strong advocates for recruiting and developing native speakers as teachers in the program.

● The district sponsors visas and actively recruits teachers from local, national and international pools.

● The program leadership has been very diligent in collaborating with the PASI, fundraising and placing interns who are learning while interning. When the internships are completed, the district supports sponsoring the best candidates for employment in the program.

1. The district in collaboration with the PASI is willing and able to support the recruitment and retention of staff and provide much needed help for new teachers to be successful citizens in the local community. It is recommended that this support continue to be honored and recognized by the district.

2. While having an administrator who speaks the language is an ideal situation, it is not a requirement for a program to be successful or for the staff to be fairly evaluated. It is important for the administrative team to have an in-depth knowledge of program goals and best practices and be able to communicate with understanding and perspectives that support the goals of a dual-language program. The administration must also be able to communicate concerns and relevant feedback to the teachers as well as to the parents when necessary regarding classroom practices and concerns

Key Point B Selection of new instructional, administrative, and support staff is based on credentials, language proficiency, and demonstrated commitment to program goals.

● The majority of new teachers on staff to the program have come from serving as interns, so they have a more in-depth understanding of the program than new teachers in most immersion programs have.

● Teachers are native speakers and are certified to teach in SD.

● Teachers expressed a deep commitment to the success of the program.

● The district assigned an enthusiastic and knowledgeable administrator to the elementary program.

● Changes were made to meet the needs of the program and school at the middle school level by the district.

● The program has enormous support from the district and community in this regard.


Key Point C There is a positive workplace climate and all staff are valued and appropriately supported in carrying out their work.

● Teachers at the elementary and high school level specifically expressed enormous appreciation of the level of support they receive from the administration, the coaches and/or the department chair or grade level leadership.

● The middle school teachers felt that the new leadership was very supportive but was also still very much learning about immersion and how to best support immersion. At times they felt that the needs of the learners were not always understood in terms of immersion practices. This sentiment was also voiced by parents in the program.

● The high school administration was also in a position of still learning to support the program, however, the department leadership at the high school has played an important role in supporting and encouraging the new teacher at the high school.

● All staff overwhelmingly feel supported. There are areas that were expressed by both teachers and administration that there could be some more support and understanding but overwhelmingly, the program teachers feel very supported and happy in their work.

in a manner that supports best practices in immersion.


Key Point D Staff evaluations are performed by personnel who are knowledgeable about and committed to dual language education.

● At the elementary level the administration is very knowledgeable.

● The middle and high school administration is working hard to learn more about how to support and evaluate the staff and programs in their building.

● The parents and a few teachers expressed concern that there are no building level administrators or coaches who speak Spanish. They expressed concern that the coaches and administrators will not be able to understand what is happening in class or if good pedagogy and instruction is taking place.

STRAND 5 - Staff Quality and Professional Development Principle 2 The program provides high-quality professional development that is tailored to the needs of dual language educators and support staff.


Key Point A There is a long-term professional development plan that is comprehensive, inclusive, and differentiated.

● The teachers at all levels, as well as many of the administrators, expressed an enthusiastic desire to have systematic, long-term professional learning that is relevant, timely and focused on dual language needs, content areas in the language, second language acquisition, proficiency and performance, best practices, methods, strategies and instruction in a dual language classroom.

● There is professional development offered at all levels for the immersion teams. Not all teachers felt that the current PD was relevant to their most immediate needs or that it addressed the concerns they share re: student

1. It is recommended that the district construct a professional learning plan that is specific to the needs of the dual language teachers and students. This plan may include cross-learning with the other regular content-areas, but should also allow for modifications and adjustments based on the specific needs of the program and the teachers and students


progress and deficits with regard to both language and content.

2. It is recommended that the district continue to explore ways to support learning for these educators through conferences, coaches, consultants, an immersion coach or coordinator, curriculum developer, etc.

3. As the district explores the hiring of a district position to support the program, it is recommended that consideration be given to someone who has experience in an established immersion program -- a program that has been where the program in Sioux Falls is going. Also consider someone who has experience writing curriculum and who is well-versed in proficiency and performance based learning and assessment. Having someone on-site who can assist not only in teacher development but also in program planning will go a long way toward taking the program to the next level.

4. It is recommended that as the district develops a common mission and vision for the program, having stakeholders who are in leadership positions (including teachers, parents and administrators) practice what

Key Point C All staff are given opportunities to develop dual language advocacy skills.

● When teachers and administrators were asked “what is your elevator speech you share with parents and community members?” most were able to respond with many wonderful ideas and information about immersion. There was not, however, a consistent message shared in their answers. Some responded re: language proficiency and long-term educational or career goals, others responded re: brain development and cognition while others said that it would help students order food at a restaurant.

Key Point E There is an infrastructure to support professional development that includes adequate funding, time, and human resources.

● While there are areas that teachers and administrators desire more professional learning, the district is very open to providing these learning opportunities and is already taking steps to support and further the learning and growth of the program leaders, teachers and administrators.


needs to be shared that gets at the essence of the district goals.

5. It is recommended that the district create advocacy materials, either digital or in print, to promote and make clear the goals and achievements of the immersion program.

6. It is recommended that the district create a digital footprint for the program and provide some learning for teachers on how to support and use it. Things like a #hashtag for the program in social media, a Twitter account or Facebook page for the program or a web page or blog would also help bring together a common vision and the ability to share pertinent information and advocate for the program in a more systematic way.


STRAND 6 - Family and Community Principle 1 The program has a responsive infrastructure for positive, active, and ongoing relations with students’

families and the community.


Key Point A There is a staff member designated as a family liaison.

● The program is very, very fortunate to have a strong (rare), collaborative relationship with the PASI!

● All stakeholders expressed enormous appreciation of the relationship and mutual support given in this area!

● Typically, the building administrator is the primary liaison at each site with the PASI and to communicate with parents.

1. Continue the strong relationship between PASI and the district that is working in very positive ways to further the success of the program

2. As the secondary administrators continue to learn and grow in their ability to support and understand dual language education (and as the program grows and expands), they will be better able to reach out and respond to the needs and concerns that some parents may have in these first years of the high school program.

Key Point B There is a positive school climate and all families are valued and welcomed into the school community.

● There is a very open, warm climate to new, incoming immersion families at SSES. The parents expressed enormous appreciation for how welcome and part of the school community they felt.

● At the middle and high school parents expressed that they felt a bit more disconnected than at the elementary school level. They do feel that they are welcome and have a voice at those levels however, it is just a difference that some say they are adjusting to.


STRAND 6 – Family and Community Principle 2 The program promotes family and community engagement and advocacy through outreach activities and support services that are aligned with the three core goals of dual language education.


Key Point A The program incorporates ongoing learning activities that are designed to help families understand, support, and advocate for the program.

● At the elementary level there are exceptional community events that engage all stakeholders and beyond and that inform, involve and provide interactions between parents and school. The fundraising events, cultural and art events and parent meetings are great examples of a healthy school to community climate.

● The parents who are part of the PASI share the planning and implementation of the secondary program to some degree. The district-level administration has worked hard to provide meetings and events to keep parents informed but also to solicit input.

● The program is very strong in this area.

1. Continue to grow and explore ways to bring the learning the students are doing to the parents in simple ways. The larger, most difficult advocacy events are already very successfully established. Other more interactive ways of advocating and informing parents of learning and instructional practice may be the next step (as mentioned before, using social media, apps and other venues to reach parents on a regular basis and share the successes and learning of their children).

Key Point B The program actively refers families to

● The schools have links to information about the program and the registration process.

● The PASI also supports efforts to provide resources to parents through their


resources in the community.

newsletter. For example: https://www.pasisf.org/newsletter-1

2. The PASI had discussion with the program reviewer about their role at the secondary level. Some of the ideas shared were regarding how the students can take their language beyond the classroom and serve in real-world settings to facilitate communication between Spanish-speakers and English- speakers. These are ways that community resources, locations and needs can be shared and allow the students to grow in their language but also to grow their global citizen skills!

Key Point C The program plans for and engages in community-building activities with families to promote close relationships, collaboration, and other forms of sociocultural competence.

● As has been stated before, this is without question an enormous strength in this program!

STRAND 6 - Family and Community Principle 3 The program views and involves families and community members as strategic partners.


Key Point A: The program establishes an advisory structure for input from family members and community members.

● This is the role of the PASI advisory board. ● Members of the PASI board expressed that

they are exploring new ideas to continue to facilitate these connections.

1. The PASI and district leadership will need to determine to what level and how they would like to support these interactions, curriculum or opportunities for students and families in the program.

Key Point B The program capitalizes on the varied linguistic and cultural resources in the community.

2. As stated previously, some of the ideas discussed with PASI members were about how to involve the Spanish-speaking community more in legitimate ways allowing students to not only use their language and cultural skills but also to support and provide resources to the community.

https://www.pasisf.org/newsletter-1


STRAND 7 - Support and Resources

Principle 1 The program is supported by all key stakeholders.


Key Point A Program and district administrators have adequate knowledge to support and lead the program.

● Administrators at the program level are knowledgeable about dual language education and fully support the program.

● The leadership is seeking ways to more fully support program structures, teacher development and instructional practices.

● The district has committed to providing the best support and resources possible for the program and teachers.

● The teachers, administrators and parents have voiced a need for additional support that is specific to someone experienced in immersion pedagogy, curriculum development and professional learning.

1. The program has grown successfully over the last several years. Now that students are nearing completion of the program and teachers and administrators are becoming more attuned to what is working or not working they are recognizing areas that need more attention and focus to provide the best possible experience for students and to meet their learning needs. The program would benefit greatly by having someone who is an expert in immersion to provide guidance and support on a regular basis.

2. If the district is able, it is recommended to have someone on staff in a supportive, coaching position to provide expertise and work alongside with the teachers and administrators

3. If the district decides to pursue hiring someone to serve in a supportive, coaching role who is

Key Point B Instructional and support staff have adequate knowledge to support and lead the program.

● The program has teachers who are very knowledgeable and experienced. They are facing challenges in areas of curriculum and instructional practices where they need additional support, specifically in teaching language and literacy in a content-based dual language program.

● The district provides training and support to the teachers through professional learning for content areas and coaches for content areas. These coaches are extremely helpful and willing to provide instructional guidance and support for the content area.

● Teachers expressed that they do not feel able to get the specific support they need for how to teach the content through the second


language with second language strategies, pedagogy and practices.

able to bridge the gap in learning for the teachers from content only to content and language instructional practices, the needs that were expressed will be met.

Key Point C Families and community members have adequate knowledge to support and advocate for the program.

● The families and community members are extremely well versed in best practices and have provided exemplary support to the program.

STRAND 7 - Support and Resources

Principle 2 The program is equitably and adequately funded to meet program goals.


Key Point A The dual language program has equitable access to school, district, and state resources.

● The elementary program operates as a magnet school within a public school district.

● The middle school and high school that serve the dual language program also serve as the magnet site for these students.

● Students are admitted into the program via a lottery.

● Each year the lottery is drawn to fill the 5K classes.

● Slots are held for siblings and teacher’s children in the program.

● Transportation is provided and for those who need transportation outside the service areas there is a fee based bus that provides transportation for those students.

● All students have the same access to materials, resources and services as other students in the SD public education system.

1. As needs for language and literacy curriculum materials are determined, there will likely be some budget items (texts, resources, realia etc.) to consider purchasing for instructional support in this area.


Key Point B Funding allocations within the program budget are aligned with program goals.

● Teachers in the program felt that the district has been very generous in helping to provide the budget for materials they need to teach. One teacher even commented that in all the schools or districts she has worked in she has never had so much access to materials and resources as she does in her current position at SSES.

● A few teachers at middle school expressed a need for content specific materials that were appropriate in terms of language level and content for the students. The materials adopted were created for native speakers of Spanish and the students are not at the level needed to fully use the text appropriately for the content area.

Key Point C Funding provides sufficient staff, equipment, and materials in both program languages to meet program goals.

● The program is fully supported in terms of teaching staff, equipment, materials and other supportive structures needed to meet program goals.

● Aside from the expressed need for someone specific to support the program in the language, the program has truly remarkable financial support.

CONTACT: Paul Sandrock ACTFL Director of Education 1001 North Fairfax Street, Suite 200 Alexandria, VA 22314 703-894-2900, ext. 131 [email protected]

Spanish Immersion Program Review Conducted by the …the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) to...

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