Schools in the United
States are among the minority in the developed industrialized nations that do
not start a bilingual education program at early grade levels. As a consequence
of this ,many American high school and even college graduates are mono- lingual,
which in today’s global economy can be a handicap in obtaining a job.
A program that is currently being explored in the West
Windsor- Plainsboro (New Jersey) public schools would implement a pilot dual
language program at the elementary grade levels. The proposed program, should it
be adopted, would have children being taught classes with two languages from kindergarten
to grade five.
The alternate language choices would be Spanish or Chinese.
The program would align itself with the state academic standards for English/
Language arts, and all of the other content areas.
Participation in the program would be voluntary. Parents would
need to request participation in the program when registering their children for
school. Those students who would be in the program at the outset would begin in
kindergarten.
From the first through fifth grade half of the student’s classes would be in English and the other half would be in the alternate
selected language. Needless to say this is a very bold and progressive step and
students, parents and teachers would all have to engage for it to be successful.
Other schools around the country should take a serious look
at this model or something like it, to provide an education that keeps American
students competitive with its European and Scandinavian peers.
c.2017 J. Margolis
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