Sustaining a Dual Language Immersion Program: Features of Success

Abstract

The promise of dual language education has spurred a movement in the field of bilin-gual education to shift from remedial programs to enrichment forms of bilingual edu-cation. Although research supports the effectiveness of such programs, many pro-grams do not maintain their level of implementation and quickly revert to their original remedial form. This research looks at one elementary campus that has imple-mented a 2-way dual language program for more than a decade. Findings indicate that pedagogical equity, qualified bilingual teachers, active parent–home collabora-tion, and knowledgeable leadership contributed to the program's success. The continued growth in the number of speakers of languages other than English is reflected in the rapidly increasing number of students in U.S. schools for whom English is a second language. Data from the National Center for Education Statis-tics (2005) show that the number of school-age children who spoke a language other than English reached almost 10 million in 2004. Such a dramatic increase continually challenges educators to provide effective language programs with