Report Finds Benefits in English Immersion

A controversial new English immersion program in the Orange Unified School District appears to help many students learn to speak the language faster than traditional bilingual programs, according to a preliminary report.

District administrators cautioned that the 36-page report by a consulting firm measured only oral fluency and not the program’s impact on written or academic skills.

The 36-page evaluation shows that almost a quarter of the district’s 4,132 elementary students in the immersion program had advanced their fluency by at least one level in the first five months of study. Students who spoke little or no English seemed to benefit the most, said Kevin Clark of the Stockton-based Clark Consulting Group.

The district gained statewide publicity last spring when it dropped bilingual education, which taught Spanish-speaking elementary students in their native language, and went with English immersion. A vital phase of the program includes intensive English lessons before and after school.

Some teachers, who now have limited-English students merged into their classrooms, said the program may be having unintended ramifications.

“Plenty of us do not feel this is running smoothly,” said Suzanne Vaugine, a fourth-grade teacher at Taft Elementary and president of the teachers union. “It’s created a one-room schoolroom. We have children who are two or three grade levels below the others just because of the language barrier. It’s very difficult and has created a huge frustration for teachers.”