What happens to immersion programs with new regional programs?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I hope they cut language immersion in elementary and middle schools. I would rather MCPS focus on the basics (general education, gifted education and special education)

Immersion can be done at the high school level with a MCPS summer study broad in sophomore, junior and senior levels.

Stupid plan. Languages are best grasped early. And who is paying for the summer abroad?

[Anonymous]

Show me the data that MCPS immersion programs work the way you claim. If they did, there would be HS immersion programs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Show me the data that MCPS immersion programs work the way you claim. If they did, there would be HS immersion programs.

I am not sure whether you are arguing that
immersion doesn’t “work” in the sense that kids don’t learn the target language, or something else.

If the former, you’re incorrect. The students learn the language. This is not demonstrated by the existence or nonexistence of HS immersion programs. You might start by counting seals of biliteracy on earned diplomas.

They don’t stay immersed into high school because they also have to be proficient users of English when they graduate high school, and formal English instruction is also necessary for that to happen.

If your argument is for *starting* immersion in high school, that would be ignoring everything known about the acquisition of a language in which one is going to be truly fluent. Younger brains do it better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Show me the data that MCPS immersion programs work the way you claim. If they did, there would be HS immersion programs.

I am not sure whether you are arguing that
immersion doesn’t “work” in the sense that kids don’t learn the target language, or something else.

If the former, you’re incorrect. The students learn the language. This is not demonstrated by the existence or nonexistence of HS immersion programs. You might start by counting seals of biliteracy on earned diplomas.

They don’t stay immersed into high school because they also have to be proficient users of English when they graduate high school, and formal English instruction is also necessary for that to happen.

If your argument is for *starting* immersion in high school, that would be ignoring everything known about the acquisition of a language in which one is going to be truly fluent. Younger brains do it better.

+1. Also MCPS just recently expanded MS immersion programs so that the students who participated in ES could continue and actually be prepared to earn the Seal of BiLiteracy in HS.

[Anonymous]

+1 to the above, if anything I wish MCPS would expand access to dual immersion programs more, although I know they are hard to staff, or at least provide reduced, but consistent, Spanish instruction for everyone starting in ES.

We've lived abroad where it is the norm for kids to start learning English in ES. Not immersion (although sometimes those options existed), but consistent, regular classes. Most kids are by no means fluent in ES (unless they get supplementation from a parent or elsewhere) but around MS, and certainly HS, they have a pretty good command of English.