Leopold Elementary does it bilingually

Experiment deemed a success; next comes dual immersion

June 11, 2009

2:00 PM

In a classroom with walls lined with bright pictures, Erin Conway's third- and fourth-grade students are working on mathematical word problems. For the first time in their relatively short educational careers, the problems are in English.

"I think I know the answer," a student tells Conway. But then he gives her the wrong answer.

"It's not that hard," Conway says, repeating the question to him in Spanish. The second time the student tells Conway the right answer.

The classroom looks the same as other third-grade classrooms. The top of the black chalkboard is bordered with the alphabet in cursive. Each number on the clock has its handwritten digital equivalent next to it. The student desks with attached chairs open up to reveal school supplies.

But the population of Conway's classroom makes it different. All of her 16 students are native Spanish speakers, in what's called a transitional education program.

As kindergartners at

"The goal in transitional programs is to get the students academically proficient in English," says Leopold principal John Burkholder. "The students will go on to a middle school with a bilingual education program."

Burkholder, who's in his first year at Leopold, has worked at other Madison schools and was a teacher and a principal in Southern California.

"As they start to get to higher levels, like high school, it gets harder, for example, to have two biology teachers in one room," he says. "One teaching in English, the other in Spanish. At that point the students will do half of their classes in one language and the other half in the other. So, for example, all their science classes will be in Spanish, all their math classes in English."

Starting in the fall of 2009, Leopold will begin a dual immersion program. Forty-five students in three of the incoming kindergarten classrooms will receive instruction that is 90% Spanish and 10% English. The classrooms will be divided equally between Spanish and non-Spanish speakers.

"The goal is to get all of the students academically proficient in both English and Spanish by the end of the fifth grade," says Burkholder.

Leopold, 2602 Post Rd., is Madison's largest elementary school, with 683 students. And it has the most Spanish-speaking students: 171.

Research shows that students in dual immersion programs do better than students in its transitional bilingual classrooms. "In true bilingualism, you're going to have to negotiate," Burkholder says.

There are special challenges. Leopold this week appeared on a list of schools that have failed to meet federal No Child Left Behind requirements for two years running. School officials say the deficiencies are in English reading scores, which is to be expected given that two languages are being taught. But the listings mean the school faces sanctions and must take remedial steps.

Conway, 29, taught for two years at Leopold and then spent a year participating in the Peace Corps. This is her first year back at Leopold. The Janesville native feels as though school staff and the city have both grown more accepting of bilingual programs.

Over time, Conway has learned to tailor her teaching. "I let the students initiate most of it," she says. "They'll speak to me in whatever language they feel most comfortable." Her goal is to keep students engaged, "all the while remembering that English is what's expected of them in the long run."

Leopold will be the first Madison school to incorporate a dual immersion program. But it's only the beginning. Other Madison schools, like Lincoln and Glendale elementary, will also implement the system.

Meanwhile, Nuestro Mundo is a free Spanish-English charter school in Madison. As at Leopold, the students take their special classes in English. The five-year-old school shares a facility with Frank Allis Elementary School.

The school, with 147 students, currently serves kindergarteners through fourth-graders. Next year it will add the fifth grade.

According to Mundo's website, the students receive the same standardized tests as all students in the Madison school district. The difference is that some of the tests are administered in Spanish.

There is also a Spanish-English dual immersion program at the Edward Baine School of Language and Art in the Kenosha Unified School District. The program, started in 1996, is an elementary school with a middle school component. The hope is that students at the Kenosha school will be ready for advanced high school-level foreign-language classes by the time they finish eighth grade.

In the Milwaukee public school district, La Escuela Fratney is a schoolwide dual immersion program. Half of the students are non-native Spanish-speaking students; 30% are African American. The program, which started in 1989, includes a 4-year-old kindergarten program.

Students in Leopold's bilingual program will stay in the program until they enter middle school. The current program will transition out with them.

Interest in Leopold's programs has been high. There are 121 kindergarten applicants for next fall, 64 of whom have applied for dual immersion; Burkholder expects more will come in. There are just 45 dual immersion slots, so the school will use a lottery system.