SANTILLANA USA - CAL Practitioner Brief

3 darin and Russian are extremely limited, leaving schools to develop curricula on their own. The lack of authentic, rigorous, and clearly articulated cur- ricula in partner languages threatens to undermine the success of dual language programs, which are aimed at developing equally high levels of language and literacy in both program languages. In the absence of readily available multi- lingual curricula, it is important that dual language programs develop a curriculum that matches their program model, local standards, and assessments. Duguay, Massoud, Tabaku, Himmel, and Sugarman (2013) offer recommendations for integrating lan- guage and literacy development for English learners into CCSS-aligned content instruction delivered in English. Nonetheless, a gap remains in the devel- opment of authentic, standards-based curricula to guide the teaching of content, language, and litera- cy in partner languages other than Spanish. Another curriculum challenge facing dual lan- guage educators is deciding when to use English for instruction and when to use the partner lan- guage. It is neither necessary nor feasible to teach all content concepts in both languages. Thus, it is important to develop a detailed curriculum map that demarks which standards or units are taught in each program language. Programs frequently opt to teach specific content areas in the partner lan- guage for one grade level or span of grade levels, then switch to English to deliver that content at the next grade level(s). To address time constraints inherent in teaching content in two program lan- guages while also devoting instructional time to language development in the two languages, ex- perts recommend a dual language curriculum orga- nized around thematic units that integrate language and content across the curriculum and afford stu- dents ample opportunities to practice and apply vocabulary and grammatical structures in a variety of instructional settings. Finally, it is important to view with caution commercially available curriculum products in lan- guages other than English. Major textbook publish- ers frequently rely on translated rather than authentic texts, and, as a result, these products may not provide the linguistically and culturally authentic literacy ex- periences that dual language students need in order to develop bilingualism, biliteracy, and cross-cultural competence. Furthermore, many products available for teaching initial literacy in Spanish are modeled after English-language products and may emphasize peers in mainstream English programs. Although this deficit disappears by the later grades, the early discrepancy can result in pressure from administra- tors to use more English in the early grades, which can have serious implications for the effectiveness of the program. Another concern is assessment load and fatigue, as students in dual language pro- grams typically participate in the same assessments as their monolingual English peers in addition to assessments in the partner language. Testing stu- dents in two languages is also costly and uses time that might otherwise be used for instruction. In response to the assessment challenges faced in dual language programs, Escamilla (2000) suggested that assessment consider how the two program languages function individually, as well as how the two interact. This allows for more effec- tive assessment of students’ academic progress in both languages. Escamilla’s current work focuses on developing assessments for emergent bilinguals that include both formative and summative approaches to evaluating growth in reading and writing and thus monitor students’ progress on a “trajectory towards biliteracy” (Escamilla, Hopewell, Butvilofsky, Sol- tero-González, Ruiz-Figueroa, & Escamilla, 2014). How does the current focus on standards- based curricula impact dual language education? What are some recommended approaches when designing dual language curricula? Holding all students accountable for high levels of academic achievement, regardless of their socio- economic, linguistic, ethnic, racial, and cultural backgrounds, has been a hallmark of education in the United States for over 15 years (No Child Left Behind Act, 2002). To this end, many school dis- tricts have adopted the Common Core State Stan- dards (CCSS) in math and English language arts as the basis for developing rigorous curricula that pro- mote college and career readiness. Dual language programs are no exception. The challenge they face is in identifying a standards-based curriculum in the partner language that aligns in terms of rigor, scope, and focus with Common Core standards while authentically reflecting the unique features of the partner language, culture, and literacy practic- es. While adaptations of the Common Core stan- dards are currently available in Spanish (see http:// commoncore-espanol.com/) , curriculum options for less prevalent program languages such as Man-