http://www.oswego308.org/teaching_learning/elementary/dlp/default.aspx

Dual Language Program

Director of ELL & Dual Language Services: Misael Nascimento | Secretary: Mayra Ortiz

The Oswego Community Schools’ Dual Language Program provides a unique opportunity for students to participate in the regular district curriculum in two languages. This is a program focused on students’ academic growth and achievement while having instruction in two languages. Classrooms are composed of students from two groups, native English speakers and native Spanish speakers. Children participate in academic and social learning opportunities together developing expertise in each others language and culture as they learn the curriculum. During the 2005-06 school year, Oswego Community Schools began a Spanish-English Dual Language Program at the kindergarten level. Each year another grade level is added until we reach fifth grade during the 2010-2011 school year.

Dual Language & ELL All Day Kindergarten Update
Click to read more | En español

Program Goals

Students participating in the Dual Language Program will demonstrate academic achievement at similar grade level performance standards as students participating monolingual English-speaking curriculum.

Students will be accurate and effective communicators in both English and Spanish through oral dialogue, reading, and writing at age appropriate achievement levels.

Students will use both English and Spanish comfortably and effectively in age appropriate academic and social settings.

The Program
The Oswego 308 Dual Language Program is a K-5 learning experience in which native English speaking students and native Spanish speaking students learn the regular curriculum in two languages. Students learn and grow together to become bilingual, biliterate, and bicultural.

Participants
The Dual Language program will provide learning opportunities for native Spanish and native English speaking kindergarten students.

Admission Process
The Dual Language program maintains a balance of native Spanish speaking students and Native English speaking students. Students who come from a Spanish bilingual home will be tested with the ACCESS test to determine their language proficiency level.

The Dual Language program is open to all families in the Oswego 308 school district. Entrance into the kindergarten program is through a screening and/or lottery. To be eligible for the selection pool, parents must attend one of several information nights and complete a student/family profile. The information nights are to discuss the appropriateness of the program for each child and to secure parent commitment to the goals of Dual Language. Two groups of students will be enrolled in DL to form each new kindergarten class – native Spanish speaking students who do not meet English proficiency levels and one from a group of native English speaking students who are selected in a lottery system.. Parents will be informed in May if their child will participate in the program.

*Special Education and Academically Talented students are welcome in the program so long as there is no conflict due to the degree of needs demonstrated by a child’s Individualized Education Plan.

Due to the nature of Spanish language instruction in the Dual Language Program, native English speaking students will only be admitted at the kindergarten level. Native Spanish speaking students will be assessed to determine the correct academic placement.

Enrollment priority is given to siblings of students currently in the program.

Teachers
The Dual Language Program will be instructed by a teacher certified in both elementary general education instruction and bilingual Spanish education instruction.

The Benefits

Educational: Students who participate in dual language programs demonstrate increased cognitive development. Participants develop stronger vocabulary, problem solving skills, and word analysis skills. Students become bilingual and biliterate while mastering the same academic content as a general education classroom. Students also have greater abilities to provide multiple meanings for symbols (iconicity) which is a benefit in learning science, algebra, and calculus.
Cognitive: Dual Language students statistically outperform monolingual peers in beginning with the late intermediate grades (5th and 6th). Students are able to translate and code switch between languages. Students regardless of academic ability range can successfully learn to their potential in a dual language program.
Social-Cultural Benefits: Students demonstrate communication skills in two language. Due to the learning environment that requires collaborative development and support mechanisms. Children also learn to become world citizens.
Economic Benefits: Students will develop greater job skills and marketability. The dual language program opens worldwide market opportunities. The Dual Language program is a kindergarten through fifth grade experience. Language development and proficiency is a long term commitment. Since limited space is available, we ask families to commit to at least a full year of the program. When a child leaves the program, space is made available to qualified native Spanish speaking students. Once a child is removed, there is no guaranteed of re-entry. New waiting lists are created each year.
Exiting the Program