English-Language Learners

Secretary Cardona Shows Off Dual-Language School to International Education Leaders

By Libby Stanford — April 25, 2023 5 min read
042523 Cardona Bilingual 3 EdDe BS
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

Tuesday morning was a busy one for Escuela Key Elementary School in Arlington, Va.

As students filed into their classrooms, teachers and school leaders prepared to host a group of important visitors, including Education Secretary Miguel Cardona and education leaders from South Africa, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and elsewhere.

Their visit was a precursor to the International Summit on the Teaching Profession, a three-day-long event for education leaders from across the world to discuss educational issues and strategies for student improvement. Throughout the week, education leaders will focus on elevating and enhancing the teaching profession, educating for global and cultural competence and civic engagement, and ensuring equitable access to technology so it enhances learning.

The education secretary invited Education Week to follow him throughout the conference as he meets with education leaders from around the globe.

Cardona wanted to start a handful of school visits with Escuela Key because of its dual-language program, in which kindergarten through 5th grade students spend half the day learning in English and half learning in Spanish.

Escuela Key “is a great model to develop a strong second language,” Cardona said. “It’s showing our international colleagues that we also recognize the importance of language development and the role that has.”

042523 Cardona Bilingual 2 EdDe BS

Students showcase bilingual skills

The students’ bilingual skills were on full display throughout the day. As the international visitors entered the school, a group of 3rd grade students sang a medley of songs in Spanish ending with “Los Niños del Mundo Queremos Cantar,” or, “The Children of the World Want to Sing.”

Later, during visits to 1st grade, 4th grade, and art classrooms, students showed off their language skills, swiftly transitioning from English to Spanish and back to English again.

The elementary school, in which 61 percent of students are English learners, has offered a full immersion dual-language program since the mid-1990s. The idea is to start off all students, including native Spanish and English speakers and students who speak other languages, with strong linguistic skills so they can easily pick up more languages as they move through middle and high school, Escuela Key Principal Marleny Perdomo said.

“For kids who are developing their English language, they’re not losing their home language,” Perdomo said. “If they are speakers of another language, of which we have many, now they’re adding [a third language]. It’s a win-win no matter how you’re looking at it.”

The program also equips students with social-emotional skills as they learn about cultures other than their own. For example, students learn about El Ratoncito Pérez, Spain’s version of the tooth fairy that takes the form of a mouse, Perdomo said.

“For kids who are learning Spanish for the first time, they’re really able to learn how to learn a language, which, cognitively speaking, is really difficult,” she said. “And then they have the opportunity to learn about the cultures because every time we’re talking about language there’s always a cultural aspect.”

The education leaders from other countries were impressed. Jan Tinetti, New Zealand’s minister of education, described the school’s classrooms as “vibrant.”

“Every young person … knew exactly what they were supposed to be doing and what the purpose of it was,” Tinetti said. “They were genuinely excited, and they’re learning as well.”

042523 Cardona Bilingual 1 EdDe BS

Goal is for U.S. students to excel internationally

Cardona has anchored the Education Department’s work over the past year in its “Raise the Bar: Lead the World” initiative, an effort to raise America’s rankings in educational achievement.

U.S. students ranked lower than 30 regions and countries in math performance on the 2018 Program for International Student Assessment, the most recent international assessment of student academic performance, out of 78 that participated. American students fared better in reading, falling behind only eight of 76 education systems. But the education secretary feels that there’s a lot of room to grow, especially as the pandemic caused record drops in national student achievement in both math and reading.

During a debrief session following the visitors’ tour of classrooms at Escuela Key, a delegate from South Africa spoke about how his country has students learning seven to nine languages. That stuck out to Cardona, as students in the U.S. are largely limited to learning Spanish or French.

Nearly 80 percent of the U.S. population speaks only English, according to the U.S. Census.

There were about 3,600 dual-language immersion programs like Escuela Key’s in the U.S. as of the 2021-22 school year, according to the American Councils for International Education. But 60 percent were located in just five states—California, New York, North Carolina, Texas, and Utah—and 80 percent are in Spanish.

“While this is a model program, it demonstrates how far behind we are internationally,” Cardona said.

Cardona has made multilingual education a priority for his department. During the visit to Escuela Key, he spoke to teachers who told him about how it can be a struggle to ensure students have equitable access to programs like the one at Escuela Key, and that having a fully multilingual workforce presents challenges. For example, some teachers who are fluent in Spanish might not be as strong in English.

The secretary said the Education Department is working to improve its Title III programming, which provides federal funding for the instruction of English learners and immigrant students. He specifically pointed to his proposal to move management of Title III from the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education to the Office of English Language Acquisition, which has more experience working with English learners and immigrant students.

The Biden administration is also looking to grow funding for the Title III program to $1.2 billion in its proposed 2024 budget, which would be an increase of $305 million. That’s in addition to $100 million in proposed funding to help schools hire more multilingual teachers and other staff and grow the pipeline of multilingual educators.

“It’s one thing to say we’ve been doing this for 20 years,” Cardona said. “It’s another thing to say we’re going to make sure the dollars go to what we’re hearing from teachers that they need, what we’re hearing from principals that they need, to make programs like this more successful.”

Events

Student Well-Being Webinar After-School Learning Top Priority: Academics or Fun?
Join our expert panel to discuss how after-school programs and schools can work together to help students recover from pandemic-related learning loss.
Budget & Finance Webinar Leverage New Funding Sources with Data-Informed Practices
Address the whole child using data-informed practices, gain valuable insights, and learn strategies that can benefit your district.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Classroom Technology Webinar
ChatGPT & Education: 8 Ways AI Improves Student Outcomes
Revolutionize student success! Don't miss our expert-led webinar demonstrating practical ways AI tools will elevate learning experiences.
Content provided by Inzata

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

English-Language Learners Project Un Pueblo de Alabama Ahora Ve en los Estudiantes de Inglés Su Futuro
¿Qué ocurrió cuando un distrito escolar cambió su cultura e invirtió en ayudas para los jóvenes estudiantes de inglés?
15 min read
Second grade students in Dalia Gerardo's class at West Elementary, in Russellville, Ala., on Dec. 9, 2022.
El salón de clases de segundo grado de Dalia Gerardo en West Elementary en Russellville, Alabama, se muestra aquí en diciembre de 2022. El salón de clases presenta etiquetas y decoraciones de pared en inglés y español.
Tamika Moore for Education Week
English-Language Learners In Their Own Words Una Auxiliar Bilingüe Explica el Valor de la Representación de los Estudiantes de Inglés
Elizabeth Alonzo proporciona ahora el apoyo que no recibió en la escuela: alguien que habla y valora su primera lengua.
4 min read
The Russellville City School District has worked to meet the needs of an influx of Hispanic students over the last few years through a number of methods, including hiring nearly a dozen new bilingual aides. Elizabeth Alonzo, pictured here before a class at West Elementary in Russellville, Ala., on Dec. 9, 2022, is one of the bilingual aides.
Para satisfacer las necesidades de una creciente población de estudiantes de inglés, las escuelas de la ciudad de Russellville han contratado a 10 nuevos asistentes bilingües, incluida Elizabeth Alonzo, fotografiada aquí antes de una clase en West Elementary el 9 de diciembre de 2022.
Tamika Moore for Education Week
English-Language Learners In Their Own Words ¿Cuál es la Mentalidad Adecuada para Enseñar a Estudiantes de Inglés? Una Maestra Explica
Profesores necesitan las disposiciones adecuadas para ayudar a los estudiantes de inglés, pero no son quienes determinan las condiciones.
4 min read
Marlena Young-Jones, an ESL teacher at West Elementary in Russellville, Ala., works with students on Dec. 9, 2022. The Russellville City School District has worked to meet the needs of an influx of Hispanic students over the last few years through a number of methods, including hiring nearly a dozen new bilingual aides.
Marlena Young-Jones, en esta foto de diciembre de 2022, es profesora de ESL en la escuela primaria West Elementary y graduada del sistema escolar de Russellville. La inversión del distrito en desarrollo profesional y apoyo para los estudiantes de inglés envía una fuerte señal sobre su importancia, dice ella.
Tamika Moore for Education Week
English-Language Learners Infographic El Crecimiento de Estudiantes Hispanos y los que Aprenden Inglés en EEUU—en Gráficos
Mientras la composición demográfica de escuelas públicas cambia, distritos deben evaluar cómo están sirviendo a sus estudiantes.
1 min read
Dalia Gerardo works with her 2nd grade students at West Elementary, in Russellville, Ala., on Dec. 9, 2022.
Dalia Gerardo, una maestra bilingüe, trabaja con sus estudiantes de segundo grado en West Elementary, en Russellville, Alabama, el 9 de diciembre de 2022. El salón de clases de Gerardo presenta letreros bilingües que apoyan a sus estudiantes de inglés—y alientan a los angloparlantes monolingües a interactuar con el español.
Tamika Moore for Education Week