school landscape and demographics

2. • Students involved in the
Dual Immersion
Program: 193
The ten most popular non-English languages
spoken in the school district.

3. According to Soltero (2011), ELL’s have greater academic
success when teachers and school leaders have positive
attitudes towards students and families.Also educators who
show respect and caring create a positive school climate.

4. All of the signs in the school are side by side in English and Spanish.
The schools website has every other paragraph in Spanish and many
documents are available in multiple languages. Also in the office is a file
box with community and school information printed in multiple language.
“Educators who show respect and caring toward students and
their families are in the best position to create a positive school
climate.” (Soltero 2011, pg. 40)
They have a bilingual advocate that provides
support for families. This is also a resource
for teachers who may need curriculum
support and translation.
Language Landscape

5. As I made my way through the hallways
to the classroom, there were many
conversations in multiple languages. I
heard teachers speaking with students in
Spanish and students carrying on
conversations in both English and
Spanish.
This door is one you would
expect for a Spanish class room
but it belongs to a typical
classroom in the school.
Language Landscape

6. While searching through the library catalog
for the school, I found pages of books that
were bilingual. They came in many
languages. These are books that I have
read like Sarah Plain andTall, Wuthering
Heights, etc. They are in many languages
including Spanish, Chinese and Arabic.
Most of the books are in Spanish since it is a
school that has a dual immersion program. According to Soltero (2011), literacy is
connected to language development,
therefore early literacy should be
learned in a students native language.

7. ELL’s spend one class a day in
the ELL room and then the
remainder of the day is spent
mainstreamed in the general
education classroom.The
ELD room is on the first floor
and dual language classes are
blended through out the
school.Therefore there is no
seclusion of ELL students.
A typical classroom in the school.
“One of the most important elements is to ensure that ELL’s
are included in mainstream school activities and academic
programs” (Soltero 2011). Isolation from other students
creates a disconnect between ELL’s and the rest of the
school.

8. The school provides one teacher who offers ELD 1, 2 and 3 then
moves to other classrooms to provide support for students.
The second ELD instructor teaches Spanish and Newcomer ELD.
There are also many dual language teachers in
Language Arts and Social Studies.
According to Soltero (2011), school staff play a significant
part in creating a positive learning environment. “Schools
that recruit and retain experienced, qualified and well
prepared teachers…..are in a stronger position to
understand the needs of ELL’s” (pg 45).
ELD Staffing

9. The Dual Immersion program at this school
is aTwo Way Immersion program (TWI). It
consists of 193 students who are both ELL
students and native English speaking
students. Social Studies and Spanish
Language Arts are entirely in Spanish.
Students spend almost 30% of their day
immersed in the Spanish language.
InTWI programs, “students serve as
native-speaker role models for their
peers” (Rennie 1993).

10. When I walked into this Social Studies
classroom I thought I was walking into a
Spanish language class.
All assignments are in Spanish only and
students are only allowed to carry on
conversations in Spanish.
Assignment board in a Dual
Language Social Studies classroom.
The dual immersion model is the only program model
that combines native speakers and English speakers
with the goal of supporting a bilingual and multicultural
student body (Soltero 2011 p. 73).

11. References:
Dual Language Brochure from:
www.lpms.us
www.ode.state.or.us/go/SchoolRC
Rennie, J. (1993). ESL and Bilingual Program Models retrieved 2/28/17 from:
http://www.colorincolorado.org/article/instructional-programs-english-language-learners
Soltero, S. (2011) Schoolwide Approaches to Educating ELLs. Portsmouth: Heinemann.