Mandarin Immersion Parents Council

Information for parents of kids in Mandarin immersion education

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  • New book: Struggling learners and immersion

    I’m a little hesitant to post this so close to school starting – parents new to immersion, please don’t fret too much! Your kids will do fine and they’ll learn both languages, really.

    But for parents with children in upper grades who have questions, this sounds like an excellent book. And it’s from a great source, The Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition at the University of Minnesota.

    ====

    Struggling Learners and Language Immersion Education

    CARLA has just published the long-awaited handbook entitled “Struggling Learners and Language Immersion Education: Research-based, Practitioner-informed Responses to Educators’ Top Questions.” The handbook is geared toward immersion parents, K-8 teachers, educational specialists, administrators and policy makers who work with dual language and immersion students. Growing out of work led by Dr. Tara Fortune, immersion projects coordinator at CARLA, the book fills a vital need for information on a topic that is fast becoming a widespread challenge as immersion programs become increasingly popular across the country.

    The Challenge of the Struggling Immersion Learner

    When a student in an immersion program is struggling academically or socially, it can be difficult to ascertain whether the problem lies primarily with the unique learning environment of immersion or the student’s language and learning abilities. Difficulties in school relative to the average performance of classroom peers lead educators and parents to question whether the child could ultimately be successful in an immersion program or would be best served in another instructional context.  Though the questions about struggling learners in immersion education are very specific to individual students and contexts, some commonly asked questions are:

    • Are the child’s reading struggles due to learning to read in a second language or might there be some other language-based disorder at play?
    • Since early intervention is key, how long should teachers and parents engage in “watchful waiting” with a struggling learner before requesting additional learning support?
    • Are children who have already been diagnosed with attention deficit disorder or autism able to be successful in the immersion classroom?

    In order to examine these issues more closely, a summer institute centered on meeting the challenge of language and learning disorders in the immersion context was graphic 2offered for two consecutive summers in 2003 and 2004 under the leadership of Tara Fortune. More than seventy professionals with experience in language immersion education came together in these institutes to examine research, exchange ideas, and listen to specialists, including researchers, special education teachers, school psychologists, and speech-language pathologists. Based on their collective experience and work done during the institutes, they created a working document examining ten of their top questions.

    Answering Immersion Practitioners’ Top Questions

    Building on this initial collaboration, Tara Fortune and Mandy Menke, a Ph.D. candidate in Hispanic Linguistics at the University of Minnesota, expanded and refined the practitioner contributions from the summer institutes and invited feedback from a wide range of experts in the field. The authors also solicited “real stories” from veteran immersion educators to provide a window into the complexities of each of the key issues addressed in the book.

    The handbook is divided into two main sections: Program Suitability and Learner Disability and Best Practice at the Classroom- and Program-Level. Each chapter in the book focuses on a key question or set of questions, and includes:

    Immersion book cover

    • Real Stories—case narratives that recount lived experiences with struggling learners from a range of educational specialists, administrators and teachers
    • Background information and research summaries that provide important information about the existing knowledge base on this topic
    • Discussion of issues as they relate to language minority and language majority learners
    • Guiding principles to inform program policies and practices
    • Reference materials and useful web resources to assist educators in meeting the needs of a wide variety of language and learning challenges

    The handbook will be available June 1 through the University of Minnesota Bookstore.

    More information
    About the project: http://www.carla.umn.edu/immersion/learners
    To order the book: http://www.carla.umn.edu/resources/working-papers/

  • Princeton Mandarin charter weighing its options

    Published: Tuesday, July 27, 2010, 10:04 AM     Updated: Tuesday, July 27, 2010, 10:43 AM
    St Joseph Seminary.jpgMartin Griff / The Times of Trenton

    PLAINSBORO – Stalled in its plans to open a Mandarin Chinese-English language school, Princeton International Academy Charter School may have competition for its intended spot at St. Joseph’s Seminary on Mapleton Road.

    The American Boychoir School and the French American School of Princeton both have expressed interest in holding classes at the aging Catholic retreat center, which is being downsized as a result of church cutbacks, said officials close to the negotiations.

    Members of the PIACS school charter group had hoped to open in September but ran out of time to meet qualifications specified by the state Department of Education. The group will have to wait another year and in the meantime other school groups might take up the desired space at St. Joseph’s, a 44-acre campus with neo-gothic buildings, playing fields and a gymnasium.

    “Our lease (with the seminary) was null and void as of July 15,” said Parker Block, one of the charter school’s founders and its spokesman.

    Read more here.

  • Mandarin enrollment has probably surpassed German in California

    From the Daily Breeze in Torrance, Calif.
    By Rob Kuznia Staff Writer

    Posted: 07/24/2010 07:13:23 AM PDT

    Jacob Atain, 11, a student at Dana Middle School in Hawthorne, learns Mandarin Chinese in a summer school class taught by Chien-Hui Yu. (Brad Graverson)
    //

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    // ]]>Ask incoming eighth-grader Josh Mussman at Dana Middle School in Hawthorne why he chose to take Mandarin Chinese, and the answer he gives is 100 percent pragmatic: “I had a friend inform me that China is a growing market, and that it would be best professionally to learn it.”

    The U.S. Department of Defense agrees. So much so that it is the silent benefactor to a spate of new Mandarin Chinese language courses across Southern California and beyond, including a new summer school program at the Wiseburn elementary school district in Hawthorne.

    The program comes at a time when the collapsing state budget has eviscerated free summer school classes. In Wiseburn, the Mandarin Chinese foreign-language class is the last remaining summer school offering.

    Meanwhile, across the South Bay, Chinese-language courses are gaining popularity, even as traditional European offerings such as German and French are either extinct or on the wane.

    The same holds true across California. This year, for the first time in history, Mandarin Chinese is on pace to surpass German in terms of popularity as a foreign-language course for public K-12 students, according to the California Department of Education.

  • Arizona school adds an hour of Mandarin a day in Kindergarten

    By Lara Gates

    If you happen to peek inside Kim Cash’s kindergarten at Gavilan Peak School this fall, you will likely find 24 students learning numbers and colors—in Mandarin Chinese.

    Cash’s classroom will be part of the Kinderchoice program in which DVUSD students will spend an hour a day with a Mandarin teacher (Cash will still be in the room), covering basic vocabulary for concepts like colors, numbers and the parts of the body. Scott Lawrence, director for the Mandarin Chinese Project at Gavilan Peak and Diamond Canyon schools, told In&Out, “It is important that they get that foundation early.”

    The program is part of DVUSD’s Project 2021. According to Lawrence, the project has identified “global education” as a critical need in preparing graduates who can compete in the world.

    Read more here.

  • Mandarin immersion K in Fremont, Calif. may add second class

    Chinese Immersion Program
    Fremont Unified School District is starting a Chinese (Mandarin) Immersion Program at Azevada Elementary School in Fall of 2010 with at least one kindergarten class. One class is full and applications are being accepted on a first-come, first-served basis to potentially open a second class, pending sufficient interest. Applications should be delivered to the Dept. of Federal and State Projects, 4210 Technology Drive, Fremont, CA, 94538.

    The immersion approach is a proven, effective method in providing children with a well-rounded, academically excellent education and mastery of both English and any target language. Fremont follows other districts like Palo Alto, Cupertino, Los Altos, San Francisco, Berkeley and Hayward, which have enjoyed great success with their Chinese Immersion Programs.

    Instruction: Instruction will start with the 90/10 model, which is 90% in Mandarin and 10% in English for Kindergarten and 1st grade. Beyond those grades, Mandarin instruction will decrease 10% and English increase 10% each year until they are evenly split. Instruction will follow standard state-mandated guidelines. The only difference between English-taught and Chinese immersion classes will be the language of instruction.
    Curriculum: Curriculum will include the Better Chinese textbook series, which is used in San Francisco and the Fremont Chinese School.
    Teacher: The Chinese Immersion teachers will be sourced from the Fremont Unified School District existing pool of credentialed teachers, resulting in no incremental hiring or costs.
    Funding: Starting the Chinese Immersion Program in Fremont will not require any incremental monies from the General Fund. Start-up costs will be raised through private fundraising and grants.

    For additional information, including inter-district transfers, please contact the Dept. of Federal and State Projects (510-659-2531) or visit the Chinese Immersion Parents’ Council of Fremont website at http://cipcf.wordpress.com.

    http://www.fremont.k12.ca.us/168110928113227760/blank/browse.asp?a=383&BMDRN=2000&BCOB=0&c=69433

  • SF Middle School – New Developments

    Last Tuesday three other parents from the San Francisco Mandarin Immersion Parents Council and I met with program administrator Kevin Chávez to discuss the San Francisco school district’s plans for Mandarin immersion in middle school.  We came armed with a list of questions, but the information he was providing quickly overtook our agenda.

    For example, Kevin revealed that the current recommendation is to find a common middle school for the entire population of students from both schools, including all students from both general education and language programs.  Even more surprisingly, he said that because the new student assignment system is being rolled-out this year, we would learn the name of our designated middle school very shortly.  In fact, school board commissioner Rachel Norton reported that the district will publish draft “middle school feeder patterns” in just three weeks.

    So facts on the ground are evolving quickly.  Parents who wish to be involved in the process will need to be active and engaged during these unfolding events.

    Here are our notes from the meeting…

    Attendees

    Kevin Chávez (SFUSD), Renee Tan (Starr King Parent), Ascanio Piomelli (Starr King parent), Kellyn Dong (Jose Ortega parent), Scott Olson (Jose Ortega parent).

    Kevin Chávez is the Dual Immersion / Special Education Supervisor, English Learner Support Services, Academics and Professional Development

    Disclaimer

    None of the concepts outlined below that Kevin shared with us are finalized.  The plan is to go through a process of community feedback where families from the different sites can give their input.  The district expects to gather this feedback and have a plan in place by November 2010.

    Introduction

    The school assignment process is changing dramatically for the 2011-2012 school year at all major entry levels (K, middle school, and high school). The Mandarin Immersion Parent Council met with Kevin Chavez to understand the process of selecting a middle school option for the Mandarin Immersion programs at Jose Ortega and Starr King, as well as getting some clarification on whether or not Chinese Immersion School at DeAvila could feed into the Mandarin Immersion program at the middle school level. Our presumption was that the two programs within each school would move to a common school and that the MIPC could have input into the process of deciding which middle school that would be. What became evident at the beginning of the meeting is that we came in with some incorrect presumptions. Below is the summary.

    Middle School Assignment Priorities

    Key Goals: Keeping Communities Together, Fostering Diverse Schools, and Avoiding Language Isolation

    Kevin explained that School Board policy P5101 will guide the district through the Middle School assignment process which pays particular attention to maintaining (or creating) broadly diverse schools, socioeconomically, racially, etc.

    Kevin said the District’s general goal is to keep all students from a given elementary school together as they move to middle school, so that communities formed in elementary school continue into middle school. He also said the Mandarin immersion programs in both Jose Ortega and Starr King are small, so the District is exploring the possibility of offering Mandarin immersion in only one middle school. Given these two facts, the current recommendation is for all programs (Gen-Ed and MI) at both Jose Ortega and Starr King to feed into the same middle school.  In other words, even though the schools are in different parts of the city, their common Mandarin programs would potentially link them for the purpose of middle school assignment. Kevin added that his team’s recommendation is also to prioritize avoiding “linguistic isolation,” by attempting to cluster multiple language pathways in a middle school.

    Planning Deadlines, Opportunities for Input

    If Jose Ortega and Starr King feed into the same middle school, then our middle school destiny will emerge sooner than we thought.  The feeder middle school that the District picks for Jose Ortega and Starr King for the 2010/2011 school year will also be our Mandarin immersion middle school in 2011/2012 and into the future. This means the District must define and advertise the feeder middle school patterns before the Enrollment Fair in November.

    Kevin explained that the Special Assistant to the Superintendent, Orla O’Keefe, is one of the key facilitators involved with collecting community input into the new school assignment process for Superintendent Carlos Garcia. She has been working with assistant superintendants and other central administrators from EPC, ELSS, and Multilingual Education/World Languages in considering all language pathways:  Newcomer, Dual Immersion, Biliteracy, English Plus, etc. FLES (Foreign Language Elementary School) and world language programs have also been taken into consideration. These pathways & programs are identified in the Lau Plan (the District plan for serving English Learners) and the Multilingual Master Plan. The administrators’ input has been used to inform work around elementary to middle school feeders as related to the new Student Assignment Redesign system as they move ahead. Other programs, such as the International Baccalaureate (IB), have also been taken into consideration.

    Kevin indicated that immediately after our meeting he was meeting with District colleagues to discuss a community input process for the language pathways overlay. He agreed that, if we remind him, he will share with us, or put us in touch with the appropriate person coordinating, whatever process is designed.

    Finding a Middle School

    Kevin indicated that as it decides which elementary schools will feed into which middle schools, the District will aim to “balance” a number of factors, including socio-economic and racial diversity, API scores, language pathways, other programs (e.g. International Baccalaureate, special ed, etc.), geographic proximity and transportation availability.

    Another part of this process is considering existing middle school programs, and thinking about where to establish new programs.  Immersion programs exist at Marina, Francisco, Lick, Hoover, and Everett, with a “maintenance” program at Mann.  These middle school programs lack enough capacity so the district will be building more programs at more schools.

    In order to avoid “linguistic isolation” by assigning schools with only one language pathway to a particular middle school, Kevin indicated that the District would prefer that other elementary schools assigned to a particular middle school also have a language program, either an immersion, biliteracy, or FLES program.  Depending on the size of the middle school that Jose Ortega and Starr King feed into, he mentioned that JOES and Starr King would possibly feed into a middle school with two elementary schools that have a Spanish language program. If a middle school would host more than one language program, the District could offer a third language option to students, and also increase the overall diversity of the student population.

    We asked Kevin if he had any target in mind for the relative size of the language programs at a given middle school, in order to “avoid linguistic isolation.”  In other words, what percentage would be some sort of language pathway (i.e. Mandarin or Spanish immersion or a biliteracy program) and what percentage would be general education.  He did not share any particular targets (either in terms of absolute numbers of students or as a percentage of the middle school student body).

    Unlikelihood of Combining with Programs from Cantonese Schools

    Kevin was not encouraging about whether the CIS DeAvila middle school program would feed into the Mandarin Immersion Middle School program. He pointed out that while both West Portal and CIS DeAvila introduce Mandarin to their students starting in the primary grades, they only receive Mandarin academic instruction starting in upper grades. He has been informed by content specialists that by sixth grade it would not be possible to have them attend the same classes as the MI students given the current conditions.

    What will “Middle School Language Immersion” Look Like?

    The language immersion program will be at least two periods per day, or at least two classes taught in the target language.  Both Spanish immersion and Cantonese immersion currently teach Social Studies and Language Arts in the target language.  Middle schools vary between 6-8 classes/periods per day.  A big constraint in ramping up middle school language immersion is finding teachers with the right skill sets.  This is especially tricky in seventh and eighth grade where the district must hire teachers with single-subject teaching credentials who are also fluent in the target language. (This may not be the case when classes are “cored” at the middle school level. We need to investigate this further.) Teacher recruitment and retention is always an issue.

    Next Steps

    Wendy Cheong will be the primary contact for questions regarding the Mandarin immersion middle school program as she will be focusing on K-12 articulation.  Kevin will be her supervisor.  Moving forward we should work with Wendy to help address the particulars about the Mandarin program, including the middle school development piece.  Daisy Chan will also be involved to provide continuity from the work done last year, but her emphasis will be on the Cantonese programs.

    We mentioned that some parents had wanted to meet with middle school principals.  Kevin was not sure this would be a productive activity.  There will be many factors used to determine which elementary schools feed into which middle schools.  In his opinion, conversations between particular parent groups and principals are probably not the best way to influence the process.

    Kevin said that he or another district representative would be interested in attending a future MIPC MS committee meeting.

    We will follow up with him on how our community will be able to share its input before decisions are finalized.

  • The Wall Street Journal weighs in on the NJ charter – lessons for would-be Mandarin charters

    Wall Street Journal, July 19, 2010

    By JOY RESMOVITS

    New Jersey is preparing to announce the confirmation of at least six new charter schools this week, but proposed charters in Princeton, Teaneck and Flemington won’t be on the list, dealing a blow to a movement to widen school choice to affluent districts.

    A zoning technicality tripped up the Princeton International Academy Charter School, a Mandarin-immersion program that faced strong opposition from the three school districts whose students it would serve. When nearing an already-extended July 15 deadline for the state to approve the school’s certificate of occupancy before granting final approval of its charter, the districts raised legal questions about the charter’s variance request to occupy a Plainsboro seminary building.

    CHARTER

    Emile Wamsteker for The Wall Street Journal
    Elizabeth Pilliod and son Jules, who would have attended the Princeton International Academy Charter School.

    That, in turn, postponed a zoning hearing that could have given the school its certificate of occupancy. Last week, the commissioner of education declined the school’s request for another extension, forcing dozens of families to find an alternative for the upcoming school year.

    The decision comes about a month after Trillium Charter School, a school in Flemington, also had to stop planning prematurely. Trillium conceded its charter in June, when the state was concerned it would not have enough students registered to meet a deadline.

    “We learned that it’s hard to set one up unless you’re making it an alternative to a poor school district,” said Brian Chizever, Trillium’s would-be founder.

    Likewise, Charter High School for Environmental and Civics Studies in Teaneck withdrew its application in April. Faced with funding issues, it never even began recruiting students.

    At the heart of these New Jersey cases is the question of who can and should be served by charter schools, which receive public money but can be run privately. School-choice advocates assert that charters should be open to parents who want something different from what public schools offer. They argue that demand alone should be the test.

    Those who oppose charters in high-performing areas—a group that often encompasses the public-school districts themselves—say that charters are only viable in urban areas where parents are faced with failing schools. “Within the public-school system, we need more definition around the circumstances and conditions for when choice is necessary,” said Judith Wilson, superintendent of the Princeton Regional School District, who called the Mandarin-immersion school a “narrowly defined option.”

    About 160 families in the Princeton area wanted that choice, despite the district’s argument that language immersion is a luxury amid budget cuts. Lydia Grebe, a nurse practitioner who moved to Plainsboro two weeks ago to send her daughter to second grade at the new charter school, is one of them.

    “This is being ripped away like a Band-Aid,” she said. “I’m stunned.”

    More here…