High marks for English immersion program

Language learning program developed by Clovis consultant meets with success.

Published online on Friday, Sep. 04, 2009

A growing number of school districts in the Valley and around the country are reporting dramatic success with an English-immersion program developed by a Clovis educational consultant.

Officials say the program works because it focuses on teaching the language to students with limited English skills -- instead of trying to teach the language as part of instruction in other subjects.

Called structured English immersion, the approach is being used in a small number of Valley districts -- including Clovis, Madera and Dinuba -- but also in Arizona and Massachusetts.

The results have been convincing, said Virginia Boris, co-director of the Central Valley Educational Leadership Institute and a faculty member at California State University, Fresno.

She said the program, developed by consultant Kevin Clark, gives teachers an understanding of English-language mechanics and helps them become better coaches for English learners.

"It is a very unique approach and it has proven effective for students in the Valley," Boris said.

Clark, 47, moved to Clovis from Stockton two years ago. He taught at California State University, Stanislaus, and was working on a grant project at University of the Pacific before starting his consulting business, which also assists districts with bilingual education programs. He said he developed a formal English immersion program about seven years ago after years of pursuing the idea unofficially.

Depending on their proficiency, students using Clark's program may focus on learning English for 45 minutes to four hours of the school day. The program also groups students by their abilities.

Since the 1980s, California state law required schools to provide bilingual education. After state voters adopted Proposition 227 in 1998, requiring English language instruction in public schools, some schools used exceptions in the law to continue providing bilingual education.

Others assumed that students would pick up English while learning other subjects. But experience shows that doesn't always work, said Bill Holden, principal of a central Madera elementary school.

"We have kids in the high schools who are less than proficient" after years of public school, Holden said.

By contrast, structured English immersion works by focusing on the nuts and bolts of language: pronunciation, sentence structure and vocabulary.

English immersion programs have been discussed for more than 20 years, and Clark said he "covertly" assisted districts in developing similar programs while also assisting districts with bilingual education -- which some educators contend is the best way to educate English learners.

National research shows English learners benefit more from bilingual education, said Shelly Spiegel-Coleman, executive director of Long Beach-based Californians Together, a statewide English learners advocacy group.

"Most of the large national studies show bilingual education is more effective for English academic achievement," she said, adding that students sometimes become fluent in all school subject matter in two languages. "When you can't offer bilingual education, you have to provide language development" such as structured English immersion.

An English immersion program used by the Fresno Unified School District has not worked as well as the district's bilingual or dual-language immersion programs, said Maria Maldonado, assistant superintendent of English learner services.

Maldonado said the differences in performance are slight and and that the district is looking for ways to improve teachers' preparedness to help English learners improve their skills.