Mandarin Immersion Parents Council

Rockford high school students visited the Turkey pavilion at the World Expo in Shanghai during their recent trip to China.

Rockford’s language programs excelling

By Danielle Arndt

In 2007, Rockford Public Schools was awarded $550,000 in federal grant money to start up its Mandarin Chinese and Spanish Immersion programs.

The district is now reaping the rewards of these programs as its students have begun to excel – matching or surpassing native speakers at various grade level

Rockford’s language programs excelling

By Danielle Arndt

In 2007, Rockford Public Schools was awarded $550,000 in federal grant money to start up its Mandarin Chinese and Spanish Immersion programs.

The district is now reaping the rewards of these programs as its students have begun to excel – matching or surpassing native speakers at various grade levels.

The funding has now run dry for these programs. The district had three years to use the money to get the courses up and running, which included financing books, teachers’ salaries and assessment costs.

“It’s important to evaluate how well you are doing and with anything new you have to prove yourself,” said Roguewood Elementary Principal Michael Hibbeln who served as the grant coordinator and helped to get these programs off the ground.

The Spanish Immersion program has grown from 143 pupils in 2007-2008 to 246 pupils this year, while the number of students enrolled in Chinese 1 grew from 54 to 96 students during that same time period.

A recent study shows, 95 percent of Rockford’s first-year Spanish Immersion students have oral fluency and listening comprehension skills consistent with other immersion programs around the country. The percentage Rockford was expected to target was 80 percent.

Despite the now documented growth and success of these programs, some district parents and local community members are disapproving of Rockford’s decision to keep these programs in the middle of a budget crisis. Critics cite the large class sizes elementary children and teachers are dealing with and the significant number of teacher layoffs.

However, Hibbeln said the programs do not cost the district additional money.

“The real cost is in the startup, but that we got the funding for,” he said.

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