1. The Dual-Immersion Program in the Geneva School District
MAT Cohort 2018
Julianna Hartnett, Jessica Nelson, Kevin Teel, Maria Arias, Allison Flaherty, & Amy Feda
Facilitated by Professor Audrey Roberson
Dual-Immersion
Research Questions
Research Purpose
Demographics in Geneva (NYS report card)
Geneva School District is made up of 46% white, 30% Latino/Hispanic or Latino Origin, 11.5% Black/African American, 10.7% Multiracial, 1.6% Asian, and .1% American Indian/Alaska Native.
62% of students are on free/reduced lunch and about 5.6%  of students are currently homeless.
NYS law (September, 2014)
Mandates that districts must provide bilingual education if they have 20 or more English Language Learners in the same grade level from the same language background
Geneva chose to implement the dual immersion program model rather than the transition model for both Mandarin (90:10) and Spanish (50:50)
Currently extends into third grade.
Behavior:
What does student behavior look like in a bilingual classroom?
What strategies do teachers employ to manage behavior?
Time:
How does the unique time structure affect students' learning?
How are teachers adjusting to meet these time constraints?
Self-Esteem/Class Participation:
What is the relationship between students’ bilingual development and their reported self-esteem /participation patterns in the 2nd grade classroom?
Language/Culture use outside the classroom:
When not prompted either way, which language do students choose to use?
Do English L1 students use Spanish as much as Spanish L1 students use English?
Assessment:
What types of assessment are present in the Spanish block of the Geneva elementary school dual immersion program?
How are teachers and or the district taking into account bilingualism and culture when assessing students?
Parental Involvement:
How do parents describe their participation in the program?
How might parents be supported in different ways?
These research project was a preparatory course for the Masters of Arts in Teaching (MAT) program.
Three of these students will receive certification in child and special education. Two of these students will receive their teaching certification in adolescent social studies. One student will receive certification in adolescent mathematics. These students will develop educational research projects next year in areas of their choosing.
The dual immersion program began in 2014 and therefore the district is continuously looking to enhance its implementation. The students presented their educational research to the district as well as provided suggestions for improvements.
Methods
Behavior:
1st Grade Classroom Observations - 4 (2 Spanish Block / 2 English Block)
Time:
3rd Grade Classroom Observations - 2 (Both English Block)
3rd Grade Teacher Interview - 1 (English Block Teacher)
Self-Esteem/Class Participation:
Survey of 2nd Graders
2nd Grade Classroom Observation – 4 (2 Spanish Block / 2 English Block)
Language/Culture use outside the classroom:
Parent Interview – 1
Teacher Interview – 1 (Spanish Block Teacher)
Assessment:
3rd Grade Teacher Interview - 1 (Spanish Block Teacher)
Content Analysis of Assessments
Parental Involvement:
Phone Interviews with Parents - 2 (2 English Speaking Parents)
Emergent Themes / Results
Parent Concern for Program Growth
Native Spanish Speakers have higher self-esteem
More time needed for teacher preparation (exams)
Improvement needed in multi-cultural education
Cutting the Fluff
Ample adult support to bridge language gap
Student behavior consistent with speakers of both languages
Spanish speakers use L2 more than English speakers do
Limitations
Semester long project
Small Sample Size
Self-reporting surveys
Explored Only Spanish and English Dual-Immersion
Only One Grade per Study
North Street Elementary
West Street Elementary