What’s best for Latino students who struggle with English? Should they be taught through bilingual education or are English-only programs the way to go? The answer for a school district in Charlotte, N.C., seems to be a strong combination of both.
At the Collinswood Language Academy (kindergarten through sixth grade) students spend half their day learning subjects like math and science in Spanish and the other half being taught history and social studies in English. The program has been around for a decade and in Charlotte, home to a huge influx of Latinos, it is in great demand.
Experts with opposing views will point you to separate research and data that argue whether English-only or bilingual education is the way to go. Although they may never agree, what’s clear is that Latino students continue to struggle to even graduate from high school. And while educators continue the debate over English only, Latino numbers in higher education remain dismal.
From NBC correspondent Miguel Almaguer
Source: http://allday.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2009/06/17/1968748.aspx
I think it’s great that latino children don’t loose their roots and at the same time they can adjust to their new country.
I agree, latino children should learn both English and Spanish. This is a reality that we just can’t deny and in order to evolve we all need to adjust.