Narrowing the Opportunity Gap Through Dual Language Education
Testimony by Vanessa Bertelli, DC Language Immersion Project
Committee on Education Public Hearing on PR21-1040 Chancellor of the District of Columbia Public Schools Antwan Wilson Confirmation Resolution of 2016
December 8, 2016, 10am, John A. Wilson Building, Room 500
Thank you for this opportunity to testify on the confirmation resolution of the Chancellor of DC Public Schools.
My name is Vanessa Bertelli and I am the Executive Director of the DC Language Immersion Project (DC Immersion), a not for profit organization working to improve opportunity for DC and its residents by preparing a 21st century ready, linguistically and culturally competent workforce – through the systemic, equitable and socioeconomically integrated implementation of programs like Dual Language Immersion throughout the nation’s capital.
In commenting on behalf of DC Immersion, I would like to follow the three main priorities areas set out in the Chancellor Search Community Engagement Report issued in October 2016 (the Report), namely
- Reduce the achievement gap.
- Increase opportunities for all students.
- Increase parent and community engagement and communication.
Additionally, given that the Report specifically mentions the need to “improve, increase and sustain innovative educational options such as [bilingual education]” I would like to highlight the need for the Council’s Committee on Education to better understand Mr. Wilson’s views about bilingual education and his experience in improving, increasing and sustaining dual language programs.
Reduce the achievement gap
The focus on reducing the achievement gap must rely on proven initiatives, backed up by solid data and longitudinal research and should be strategically and systemically integrated into the District’s education system.
Below is data provided by the Office of the State Superintendent on EducationOSSE on achievement of students in the District’s dual language programs versus students not in dual language programs. While this data needs to be properly analysed to control for different populations and for self-selection bias, it seems to confirm what is being found in longitudinal studies across the country[1] – students in dual language programs achieve at higher rates than their peers in non dual language programs. The very raw data from OSSE indicates that students in dual language score 10 percentage points and in some cases close to 20 percentage points above the students who are not in dual language programs.[2]
It is important to juxtapose these graphs with very preliminary findings from longitudinal research on demographics of dual language programs in the District of Columbia which show that, on average, dual language programs are very diverse socioeconomically, racially, in terms of languages spoken at home and in terms of special education, and seem to be a relatively good approximation of the demographics of public schools in the District as a whole.
The Report points out that
- Closing the achievement gap will lead to improvements in many other priority areas (e.g., increasing graduation rates, college enrollment, career readiness).
This is particularly true if the achievement gap is narrowed through dual language programs. Partner language proficiency[3] and competency in a foreign culture are currently ignored byproducts of a bilingual education that directly improve access to college and jobs, as linguistic and cultural competence become a requirement for many jobs, especially in DC.[4]
This is particularly true if the achievement gap is narrowed through dual language programs. In measuring achievement in dual language programs, one indicator that speaks directly to college enrollment and career readiness is currently being ignored. Partner language proficiency[5] and competency in a foreign culture are some of the byproducts of a bilingual education which need to be better measured and captured because they are not only directly correlated to access to college, but are also valuable in themself from a job opportunity standpoint, as fluency in languages other than English and cultural competence become a requirement for many jobs, especially in DC.
Mr. Wilson recently stated his intention to double down on access to career and jobs for all students. We hope that, if confirmed, he will integrate “language and culture” as a critical component in his access and equity agenda, and that his policies will recognize that, as for mathematics, it is only long sequences of instruction that will be effective in increasing both college and career readiness.
Increase opportunities for all students
Increased opportunity for all students, including equitable access to programmatic options, is crucial in the District’s fight towards equity. DC Immersion is pleased that DCPS’ Office of Planning begun to think systemically about better supporting and expanding dual language offerings in the District. However, much more needs to be done to increase equity of access to specialized programs such as dual language programs.[6]
The map below shows geographic location of existing programs vis-à-vis share of households with incomes under $40K. The inequity is startling. To complete the picture one must consider that two years ago there were five children on a waitlist for every child in a dual language program, which further reduces the odds for children who do not live in boundary for these programs.
Currently, only 20% of DC’s English Language Learners are in dual language programs, despite research being unanimous on these programs being most effective in increasing achievement for DC’s growing immigrant population. This penury paucity of programs is particularly important in the context of DC as a Sanctuary City - in the presence of linguistic and cultural misconceptions, the District must expressly ascribe value to diversity. Learning in a context in which two languages and cultures have equal footing not only affects the perception of our native English speakers and their ability to engage respectfully with other communities, but also empowers and keeps safe the students who speak languages other than English.[7]
At the same time, the quasi totality of disadvantagenearly all socioeconomically disadvantaged African American d, native English speaking, black kidschildren are is cutexcluded from out of the dual language conversation[8], despite researchers saying that dual language programs benefit disadvantaged, black students too.[9]
Additionally, in the context of increasing opportunity for all students, it is important to refer to the most recent debate on the importance of school integration. If school integration is key to opportunity for all students, then dual language programs should be used as a mean to this end, by leveraging DC’s diversity and by using demand for these programs[10] as a tool to translate the socioeconomic diversity that exists in our neighborhoods to our neighborhood schools.[11]
Mr. Wilson recently mentioned his love for DC’s diversity and his desire for equity. We hope that, if confirmed, Mr. Wilson will open up opportunities for all students by providing greater access to and equity in dual language education.
Increase parent and community engagement and communication
The Report is clear about parental and community engagement needing to be a priority for the new Chancellor and, in addressing whether DCPS is headed in the right direction, states that
- Improvements need to include greater transparency and more effective communication.
As an organization that promotes parental and community education and that relies heavily on data and research, DC Immersionwe believes this is paramount.
Here are three examples:
- DCPS should encourage not obstruct research aimed at better understanding parental demand for programs such as dual language immersion[12]
- DCPS should accelerate the collection and reporting of data that can effectively inform the discussion around education, such as the flagging of students in dual language program strands[13]
- DCPS should make better use of the data it already has, whether from previous engagement or from testing or other, and should shape priorities on the basis of that data, particularly in areas where we parents have clearly indicated what they consider valuable.
Even better, if DCPS is serious about parental engagement, it should actively support legislation along the lines of Proposition 58 which recently passed in California. The state of California now mandates that schools, in which families of 20 or more students in any grade (or 30 families across all grades) request a dual language program, must provide such a program. DC is not that far from California in terms of percentage of English Language Learners and, importantly, this law applies regardless of language spoken at home and therefore dual language programs can be mandated even where English speaking families demand them, and regardless of partner languages desired. The clear rationale in California is economic opportunity. And that rationale is the same for DC.
Mr. Wilson recently reiterated the importance of community engagement and the role of families in shaping strategic priorities and educational systems.[14] We hope that, if confirmed, Mr. Wilson can support legislation he is already familiar with that gives real power to families in shaping immediate strategic priorities for their children, and can rapidly move to ensure that the information that District residents have already provided be made transparent and be utilized to help shape strategic priorities.
Over the past two years, my colleagues and I have had the pleasure of working with many DCPS teachers, staff and officials who understand the value of dual language programs in narrowing the opportunity gap. We hope that, if confirmed, Mr. Wilson will harness the skills and passion of so many of his staff to implement a visionary initiative based on empirical evidence – the building of a dual language education system in the District of Columbia
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12th St. NW, Washington DC
[1]
[2] These graphs were provided by OSSE. The data file they come from is attached to this testimony.
[3] Partner language is defined as the language in which students in dual language programs are taught at least 50% of instructional time. Proficiency in the partner language and availability of dual language programs should be indicators on which we assess our schools under the new ESSA parameters, as the state of Massachusetts recently proposed .
[4] Data from the Committee on Economic Development indicates that over 4,000 jobs requiring fluency in a language other than English are advertised in the DC region each month.
[5] Partner language is defined as the language in which students in dual language programs are taught at least 50% of instructional time. Proficiency in the partner language and availability of dual language programs should be indicators on which we assess our schools under the new ESSA parameters, as the state of Massachusetts recently proposed .
[6]
[7] Héctor Tobar writes "For Latino immigrant children, Spanish is the key that unlocks the untranslatable wisdom of their elders, and that reveals the subtle truths in their family histories. It’s a source of self-knowledge, a form of cultural capital. They are smarter, in fact, for each bit of Spanish they keep alive in their bilingual brains. And they are more likely to see the absurdity in the rants of xenophobes and racists."
[8] To address this decades-long information gap, DC Immersion strategically chose to concentrate its initial education efforts east of the river, and deliberately chose to hold its first DC-wide Bilingual Education Fair in Ward 7. The Fair will take place at Francis Gregory Library DCPL on Saturday January 14th from 10am to 1pm. Please see here for more details
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[11] Preliminary findings research findings indicate that DC’s dual language schools are among the most diverse in the District and certainly more diverse than equally desirable, non dual language schools.
[12] The National Foreign Language Center of the University of Maryland in partnership with DC Immersion submitted a data request to My School DC to better understand the demand for dual language programs in the District, in the context of an IRB approved research. At the end of the rigorous process set up by My School DC and the Common Lottery Board for obtaining and using lottery data to improve the lottery process and, more generally, education in the District, the data request was vetoed by all DCPS representatives despite the recommendation to the contrary by My School DC’s officials.
[13] Four of DCPS’ 8 elementary dual language programs are strands, not whole school programs. However, data is reported only for the whole school, making it impossible for parents or researchers to understand achievement, attendance, behavior and demographics for the dual language program strand.
[14] Live Facebook interview of December 6th, 2016