Grant Allows Indiana Schools To Expand Their Language Programs

By Carolina Puga Mendoza

TheStatehouseFile.com 

INDIANAPOLIS—Multiple school districts throughout the state have been given funds to help children become immersed in a second language.

This month, the Indiana Department of Education (IDOE) announced that 18 school districts are recipients of Dual Language Immersion Program Grants. The grants awarded a total of $425,000 to give school districts the opportunity to expand their language programs or develop a brand new one.

“Dual immersion programs provide Hoosier students with a head start on developing important language and cultural knowledge that will help them thrive in today’s rapidly changing, global economy,” said Dr. Katie Jenner, Indiana secretary of education in a statement.

“Research shows when students begin these programs at an early age, they develop enhanced cognitive skills and also improve their performance in other academic areas, helping close achievement gaps and prepare students for additional pathways to lifelong success.”

Back in 2015, the Indiana General Assembly passed Senate Enrolled Act 267, which launched the Dual Language Immersion Pilot Program to add more languages to existing school programs.

According to a 2018 research brief by the Center for Evaluation and Education Policy, the goal to improve language learning in K-12 grades aims for bilingualism, biliteracy and cross-cultural competence.

SEA 267 establishes that the programs “must begin in either kindergarten or first grade and use an instructional model that provides at least 50% of its instruction in a target language and the remaining percentage of instructional time in English.”

The National K-12 Foreign Language Enrollment Survey reports that in Indiana, only 19% of students in K-12 are taking a foreign language class.

This extends to a national level. Only 20% of students in the country are learning another language compared to 92% of students in European countries, according to Babbel Magazine, an online language learning tool.

Dr. Dea Bell, director of elementary education at Muncie Community Schools, said the district introduced the dual language program to its elementary students when the pilot launched in 2015, some students starting as young as kindergarten.

She said the district will utilize the grant to pay for Spanish teachers and take educators to summer professional development opportunities.

“We have many rising stars in that [language] program. But there are students that continue to excel academically, and then also, we were very proud of how our dual language students did on some of our state’s standardized testing as well,” Bell said.

Muncie Community Schools is focusing on kindergarten to fourth grade, with hopes of adding fifth grade along the line.

Muncie’s West View Elementary received an award for its dual Spanish/English program. West View was one of 20 schools—and the only Indiana school—to be recognized nationally for its language curriculum.

Dr. Alan Metcalfe, assistant superintendent of Goshen Community Schools, introduced the language curriculum five years ago as part of the pilot program. He looks forward to expanding the district’s Spanish immersion program due to its high Latinx student population.

“We’ve always thought that the ability to learn a language and the pathways in the brain that are connected by learning a new language is just a great thing for all our students,” Metcalfe said.

The district will be utilizing part of the money to purchase more materials for the current program and also to expand the program to another elementary school. At the moment, the language immersion focuses on grades K-6.

FOOTNOTE: Carolina Puga Mendoza is a reporter for TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.