NPR Feature: In Miami, School Aims For 'Biliterate' Education

From http://www.npr.org/2011/10/25/141584947/in-miami-school-aims-for-bi-literate-education

In Miami, School Aims For 'Biliterate' Education
by Claudio Sanchez
October 25, 2011

Every morning, shortly after 8 o'clock, students at the Coral Way Elementary School pledge allegiance to the flag and stand for the national anthem. Then Spanish becomes the language of instruction. In one fourth-grade class, reading assignments, science, math and social studies lessons are entirely in Spanish. After lunch, classes switch to English.

Most of the 1,500 students at the school are low-income, but their test scores are among the highest in the city. After eighth grade, many go on to Miami's top private and public high schools. Some take up a third and fourth language.

There are about 440 public bilingual immersion schools across the country, up from only a handful in the 1970s. A growing number today teach Mandarin and French, not just Spanish.

But in some states — California, Arizona, Colorado and Massachusetts — bilingual immersion programs are banned because a majority of voters don't think children can learn proper English and hold on to a foreign language and culture at the same time.

Listen to the report and read the accompanying article at http://www.npr.org/2011/10/25/141584947/in-miami-school-aims-for-bi-literate-education