Inspired by the pioneering work of Dr. G. R. Tucker and colleagues on French Immersion in Canada, later known as the St. Lambert experiment (Lambert & Tucker, "Journal of Educational Psychology," 65(2), 141-159, 1972), language immersion education also proliferated in the United States in the last decades. Research in the U.S.…

Providing instruction in multiple languages has the potential to simultaneously help both native English speakers and English learners to develop language proficiency. "Dual language programs" can help native English speakers develop proficiency in a second language and English learners develop proficiency in both their native language…

Providing instruction in multiple languages has the potential to simultaneously help both native English speakers and English learners to develop language proficiency. "Dual language programs" can help native English speakers develop proficiency in a second language and English learners develop proficiency in both their native language…

The price of not being English proficient in the United States is costly. A study using 2000 census data showed that people who were not English proficient experienced lower earnings than those who spoke only English (Community and Regional Development Estate, 2005). The cost of being a non-proficient English speaker has the potential to decrease…

This article investigates the differences in academic achievement trajectories from elementary through middle school among English Learner (EL) students in four different instructional programs: English Immersion (EI), Transitional Bilingual (TB), Developmental Bilingual (DB), and Dual Immersion (DI). Comparing students with the same parental…

The current pilot study compares the overall academic achievement in the area of language arts literacy among elementary bilingual students enrolled in either a Dual Language: Two-Way Immersion program or in an Early Exit, Transitional Bilingual program in a large urban public school district. By analyzing the results of curriculum based measures…

This paper investigates the differences in academic achievement trajectories from elementary through middle school among English Learner students in four different instructional programs: English Immersion, Transitional Bilingual, Developmental Bilingual, and Dual Immersion programs. Comparing students with the same parental preferences but who…

Confronted with many challenges to improving the quality of U.S. public K-12 education, many policymakers have viewed the study of a second language as a useful but nonessential ingredient of a world-class education system. However, others point out that dual-language education can be a powerful intervention for closing the achievement gap for…

The impetus to begin Bilingual Buds came about six years ago when the author, pregnant with twins and commuting into New York City, was reading about the numerous cognitive benefits for children of acquiring a second language early in their lives. She was surprised to learn that even by the age of six months, children begin to lose the ability to…

Teachers in a Spanish/English dual language elementary school in Tucson (Arizona) promote Spanish literacy using a school-designed program. The schoolwide, nonscripted program has been successful in supporting the transfer of reading skills from Spanish to English and in including special education students in dual language schooling. (Contains 33…

A two-year program, designed to improve the elementary school Spanish language partial immersion program in the Minneapolis Public Schools, is described. Program objectives included the improvement of teacher skills and satisfaction, preparation of instructional materials in science and language arts, enhancement of student learning and…