Article on Guided Learning Acquisition Design: Language Immersion Improves Literacy

From http://www.rgj.com/article/20110720/NEWS02/107200333/Language-immersion-improves-literacy?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|Local%20News

Language immersion improves literacy
July 19, 2011

Too often, Chad Hicks sees students simply nod their heads to signal teachers their understanding of a subject. They feign comprehension of a topic to avoid further questioning.

This is a major problem, especially at a school where about 85 percent of its students are limited-English proficient, he said.

But that was one of the issues Echo Loder set out to address at the beginning of the last school year, said Hicks, who will start his second year as principal of the school on Monday. The school confronted this challenge by implementing the Guided Learning Acquisition Design system (GLAD), a model that specializes in language acquisition and literacy.

Echo Loder was one of the seven Washoe County schools chosen to receive federal Title I School Improvement Grants. It was the only one to become a language academy.

To continue its ascent in the language field, Echo Loder is implementing a dual-immersion program this year, a course where students are taught English and Spanish together. Students will learn in an English-only class as well as a Spanish-only course. It's designed to further immerse students in both languages, said Kien Lachelli, Echo Loder's language instruction coordinator.

Read the full article at http://www.rgj.com/article/20110720/NEWS02/107200333/Language-immersion-improves-literacy?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|Local%20News