Bilingual education benefits students

Among the top five skills needed for students of tomorrow, literacy in another language other than English is projected as absolutely necessary.

In our current system only 3 percent of American high school graduates and only 5 percent of American college graduates reach a meaningful level of proficiency in a second language. If this skill is essential for our young people, it is time to address literacy education correctly.

As a teacher with a master's degree in bilingual/bicultural education, I suggest dual language (DL) education. In a DL program students acquire two languages through all subjects. Beginning in kindergarten, a group of native English speakers and a group of English learners receive instruction in both languages. At least 50 percent of the instructional time is taught in the non-English language. Both populations score significantly higher on state tests as well as norm-referenced tests. These students don't 'study” a second language as a subject; they become fully proficient in a second language while maintaining English.

Cities all over the United States have been employing this method of language instruction and finding great success. This type of program is most definitely a possibility here in Cedar Rapids and is something parents should lobby for. Not only do we have the language presence, but we have a district that is willing to provide families what is innovative and best fitting to their needs. Looking internationally, we can tell that bilingualism and biliteracy is the norm and our students shouldn't be let to fall behind.

Laura Zimmerman

Cedar Rapids