Plunging Into English

The Santa Barbara Board of Education, like some others around the state, is giving up on traditional bilingual instruction. It joins an educational experiment that could ultimately help non-English-speaking students, but like all such experiments should be intensively monitored to make certain that a flawed system is truly being replaced with something better.

Frustrated by the lagging achievement of Latino students, especially those formally designated as not proficient in English, the board has decided to end classes that teach pupils in their first language while they slowly learn English. The new plan, adopted Wednesday, emphasizes English development in every classroom and uses teacher aides to aid transition from a student’s first language. The goal is to help children “acquire English quickly, efficiently and effectively,” the board declared.

The Santa Barbara plan stresses building a foundation in English as early as preschool. This change in emphasis is important because early childhood is the optimal time to learn a new language. Preschool classes will be conducted in English half the time, a leg up in acclimating children from homes where no English is spoken.

Kindergarten and first grade pupils who speak little or no English will be encouraged to attend summer school for classes in oral English skills and reading preparation. They will be getting that extra push at an age when children can absorb language like a sponge. Santa Barbara’s changes in teaching a second language will be underlined by a stronger emphasis on phonics and reading instruction for all students in the early grades.

The goals? By the end of the 2001 school year, all third graders would be expected to read English at grade level. Most sixth graders would also be expected to perform at grade level. Within five years, more Latino students, including those who were not fluent in English when they started school, would be expected to succeed in college prep, honors and advanced placement classes.

The district’s rosy goals can hardly be criticized. But some Latino parents fear the new approach will hurt rather than help. They abhor overall low achievement among Latino students but are reluctant to send their children to a difficult immersion in English-only classrooms that could stunt their learning and make them uncomfortable. Nevertheless, the Santa Barbara plan deserves a chance. It should be evaluated regularly with standardized tests and replaced without hesitation if it, too, fails the increasing number of California’s children who do not speak English when they start school.