Barbieri Elementary, Two-Way Bilingual

Framingham, Massachusetts

Student Population, Program Goals and Program Design

The Two-Way Bilingual Program in Framingham started in 1990-1991 with support from a Title VII grant in first grade. Subsequently, kindergarten was added. The implementation had been preceded by two years of planning, supported by a state grant (Horace Mann Grant). Each year a grade level was added and the first cohort of students is currently (SY 1999-2000) in the 10^th grade at the high school. The Title VII grant supported the program for the first five years and the school system has fully supported the program since the 1995/1996 school year.

Student Population

The Two-Way Program admits students on the following criteria. Native Spanish-speaking students must be dominant in Spanish and limited English proficient or fluent in both languages and receive the recommendation that they attend a bilingual program. Students on the English side must be fluent in English.

Student assignment is based on the following criteria: siblings have a guarantee in the program; preference is given to students who live within 0.5 miles of the school. All other slots are filled through a lottery system. Although the program has admitted 25 Kindergartners for the past couple of years in anticipation of attrition in the upper grades, this number has been 22 students since 1998 in accordance with new district-wide class size guidelines for Kindergarten.

The following table summarizes the students' background data for the elementary level by race, free or reduced lunch, and special education services. All native Spanish speakers enter the program as limited English proficient, as measured by the oral version of the Language Assessment Scale – Oral (Pre-LAS) (DeAvila et. al.). All students who are on the English-side of the Two-Way program are native English speakers, although there are few speakers of other languages than English who are fluent in English.

Program Goals

The program centers on academic, linguistic, and sociocultural goals. Academically, students are expected to progress in all academic areas in accordance with the standards set by the curriculum of the Framingham Public Schools and the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks. The curriculum content in the two-way bilingual education program is no different than that in the standard curriculum (the same units are taught; the same math program is used). In terms of language proficiency, the program aims at grade-level proficiency in English and Spanish by the end of 5^th grade. Finally, the program aims at developing positive attitudes towards students' own language and the second language, an awareness of other cultural perspectives, and positive relationships with peers who come from cultural backgrounds other than their own.

Program Design

The Two-Way Program begins at Barbieri school (K-5) and then continues at Walsh Middle School (6-8) and then Framingham High School.

The Barbieri Two-Way Bilingual Education model is best described as a "Differentiated Two-Way Bilingual Education Program". It is designed to allow for different ways of becoming bilingual for the two groups of students, acknowledging their different needs. Table 2 summarizes the model for the native Spanish speakers and the native English speakers as it will be implemented next year.

Other Special Programs in the School

The following programs include the Two-Way Bilingual Program, though they are geared toward the whole school:

• Reading Recovery (offered in English and Spanish)
• Literacy Collaborative: Comprehensive Literacy Program affiliated with Ohio State and Lesley College (1997-1999)
• Higher Order Thinking Skills (H.O.T.S) program (part of Title I)
• Title I is offered in Spanish and English
• Special education services are offered in Spanish and English
• Social competency- Rights and Responsibilities: program to encourage children to be effective and productive school citizens
• Before, after and vacation child education program offered on-site by Explore
• Financial support for children from financially stressed homes who wish to attend field trips, summer school, environmental education or purchase school-related items such as Weekly Readers
• Computer lab
• Bilingual music teacher

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Program profile

The school:

Number of students: 545
Grade levels: K to G5

The bilingual program:

Start date: September 1, 1990    
Number of students: 259
Bilingual program grade levels:

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Student outcomes

Languages of assessment:

Data Collection

The evaluation of the Two-Way Bilingual Program has focused on the linguistic and academic outcomes of the program.

Standardized Tests

Between 1991-1993, the Title VII evaluators used informal assessments and standardized tests to evaluate the program on an annual basis. As of 1994, the school system changed its standardized tests to the Stanford Achievement Test for English and the Aprenda for Spanish. Both tests have since been administered to third, fifth and seventh graders on an annual basis.

Second, from 1997 to 1999 the Massachusetts State Department mandated that school districts administer the IOWA Reading Test in third grade. Due to the criteria for the inclusion of students in bilingual programs, the Spanish speakers did not take the IOWA in 1997, but they did participate in 1998 and 1999. The IOWA is no longer administered in the system.

Finally, since Spring 1998, students have to take the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) which is based on the state's Curriculum Frameworks. This is a high-stakes test that students must pass in 10^th grade in order to graduate from high school as of SY 2001. The MCAS measures whether students are meeting the academic standards set by the state in English Language and Literature, Mathematics, Science and Technology, and History and Social Science. For Spanish-speaking students, the regulations stated that students can take the MCAS in Spanish if they have been in a U.S. school less than three years and are fluent in Spanish.

The state has changed the grade levels at which the MCAS is administered. In the Spring of 1998 and 1999 the test was given to 4^th, 8^th and 10^th graders in Language Arts, Math and Science and Technology. Try-outs were given for History and Social Studies. In 2000, 4^th graders are taking the Language and Literature, Mathematics, and Science and Technology test. The 8^th and 10^th graders are taking the Language and Literature, Mathematics, Science and Technology, and the History and Social Studies test. Try-outs are done state-wide in Reading (3^rd, 7^th grade), Writing (4^th, 8^th, 10^th), Math (6^th grade), Science and Technology (5^th), and History and Social science (5^th).

The Two-Way Bilingual Program students have participated in the MCAS in grades 4 and 8 (SY 1998, 1999, 2000) and grade 10 (SY 2000).

Other English Proficiency Assessment

In compliance with the Massachusetts' state law on bilingual education, teachers administer additional tests to measure progress in English oral proficiency and English reading and writing skills for the native Spanish speakers. In the Two-Way program English oral proficiency is measured annually at every grade level (K-5) using an oral language proficiency matrix, the Massachusetts English Language Assessment-Oral (MELA-O). Teachers assess students' second language comprehension and production on a five-point scale. Language production is further divided into four subcategories: fluency, pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar. The MELA-O is also used as an indicator for L2 proficiency in Spanish for native English speakers.

English reading and writing proficiency are currently measured by the Language Assessment Scale- Reading/Writing (LAS R/W; Duncan & deAvila, 1990). This is a basic reading and writing test and is administered in grades 2 and up. The native Spanish-speaking students are no longer considered Limited English Proficient as they enter the 6^th grade and the MELA-O and the LAS R/W are no longer administered to them in the middle and high school. The MELA-O is still used at the middle and high school level for the native English speakers for L2 oral proficiency.

Program Outcomes

There are many different ways that one can look at and present the data. It was decided to present Normal Curve Equivalent (NCE) scores since these are required by federal education regulations for "comparing programs and student groups on norm-referenced achievement tests" (Thomas & Collier, 1997, p. 83). An NCE score of 50 is the average score. A student has made a full year's worth of growth if his/her NCE score remains the same. Similarly, "[a] gain of 1,2,3 or more NCEs means that the student has outgained his/her comparable peers by making more than typical amounts of program (i.e. more than "one-year's-progress-in-one-year's time") and has advanced his/her relative position in the distribution of comparison students" (Thomas & Collier, 1997, p. 83-84).

The discussion around program outcomes has been organized around the following evaluation question:

In order to answer the question whether the Two-Way students in fact achieve this goal in both languages, we will take a look at the NCE scores for the 5^th grade students on the Stanford (English) and Aprenda (Spanish). Students took the reading (vocabulary and reading comprehension) and mathematics (number concept, computation, problem solving) subtests.

The table above summarizes the English and Spanish achievement data for the 5^th grade students for the past four years. (These are four different cohorts of students.) The table illustrates the stability of achievement patterns in the program over time. Except for the first cohort of students (in 1995), the native Spanish speakers are scoring well above the average norm (50 NCE) in English mathematics, while they are approaching the norm in English Reading. The native English speakers have scored well above the 50^th NCE over the past four years in English Reading and Math.

Both groups of students are also performing well by 5^th grade in Spanish. Again, except for the 1995 cohort, students have scored consistently well above the norm. Importantly, this holds true for both groups of students. This means that the Spanish speakers maintain their native language whereas the native English speakers develop their Spanish to appropriate levels.

Another important indicator for achievement in English is the MCAS. Results on this state-wide test have been disaggregated for the Native English Speakers and the Native Spanish speakers. Disaggregating the data is important to demonstrate that the Two-Way Bilingual Program meets its outcomes for both groups of students. Table 4 shows the disaggregated scaled scores on the MCAS for Language Arts, Mathematics and Science. Scores are compared to students in Regular Education (excluding special needs students) at the school, district and state level (for the Native English speakers) and to all LEP students (excluding students with special needs) in the district and the state (for Native Spanish speakers).

This table clearly shows that the Two-Way students score significantly above the district and state averages in all content areas tested. Although there is a clear gap between the NES and NSS, it is important to recognize that the NSS score significantly higher compared to LEP students in the district and the state. It is also worth noting that only one NSS student scored in the failing category in Language Arts and Math and none in Science in 1999.

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Community response to the program

• Literacy Nights: 4-6 evenings with a theme around literacy for all families in the school.
  
• Social Competency Parenting courses in Spanish and English. This program consists of 10 evenings for training and is offered free.
  
• Childcare is provided for all parent meetings and parent conferences.
  
• Taxi-service is provided for parents who need transportation to the school at no charge.
  
• Home-School Parent Outreach Program, connected with a Parent Center.
  
• New and used clothing distribution (Holiday/Crisis Support Parents)
  

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Program funding

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Contact information

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THE EDUCATION ALLIANCE at Brown University
Program: The Northeast and Islands Regional Educational Laboratory

222 Richmond Street, Suite 300, Providence, RI 02903-4226
Phone: 401/274-9548 | 800/521-9550 | FAX: 401/421-7650 | TTY: 800/745-5555