NABE 2015 National Educational Leadership Forum Courageous Leadership: Actualizing Biliteracy for ALL Friday, March 6, :00-5:00 p.m. Meeting Room: Platinum Ballroom Judith Yturriago Associate Professor Northeastern Illinois University Teacher Education Department Bilingual Bicultural Program

A question from a workshop for teachers – Evanston, IL in August 1997… Him, “Should a school district be held responsible for making sure a Spanish speaking student maintains his Spanish? Me, “All school district stakeholders should make sure that they offer all students THE instructional program that enables all students to achieve academically at high levels. For our English learners and for our native English speakers here in Evanston, that program is a dual language bilingual education program.”

The Evanston, IL Two-Way Immersion Program began on August 25, 2000… How did we get there? How did our district overcome barriers for establishing this biliteracy pathway for English learners and native English speakers? Community stakeholders were part of a research- based exploratory team for three years, Grant applications were written and awarded that provided “seed” funding, Educators formed a curriculum research and writing team….

Was it easy? Hell, NO! Some hurdles that had to be overcome…  Monolingual teachers feared losing their jobs,  Attracting English speaking families,  The myth that the program was too expensive,  Organizing space in school buildings,

What worked?  Workshops for educators and parents based on sharing information about existing programs,  Sharing research articles and books on topics related to how students do in dual language programs,  Numerous visits to dual language programs and schools,  Monthly meetings that provided a forum for sharing experiences and insights,

What were some of the goals?  To give participants the freedom to question anything and everything,  To provide participants with all the training and support they needed,  To encourage participants to take risks,  To encourage participants to take the lead in finding solutions,  To encourage personal reflection and learning,  To develop short-term goals and a five-year vision and action plan.

What’s the TWI program like now?  The TWI Program is in five out of eleven elementary schools and three middle schools and one fourth of the approximately 7,000 students are TWI students,  Evanston Township High School reinvented their ‘foreign’ language program which is now a ‘world’ language program with numerous advanced Spanish for Spanish speakers classes,  Many of the TWI English and Spanish students are in college and some are preparing to be bilingual teachers,  English speaking and Spanish speaking families move to Evanston to take advantage of the TWI program…

2014 Accountability & Achievement Report:Evanston/Skokie SD 65 Research, Accountability, & Data - January 6, 2015 Table A-10 Percent Starting at a lower Quartile Who Made Expected Gains on the Measure of Academic Progress (MAP) Reading All students Black Hispanic White Asian Multi-racial LEP (ELs) IEP (SpEd) Fr/R lunch

2014 Accountability & Achievement Report:Evanston/Skokie SD 65 Research, Accountability, & Data - January 6, 2015 Table A-10 Percent Starting at a lower Quartile Who Made Expected Gains on the Measure of Academic Progress (MAP) Math All Students Black Hispanic White Asian Multi-racial LEP (ELs) IEP (SpEd) Fr/R Lunch

Thank you for attending! Judith A. Yturriago, PhD