We as TWIN schools are not fulfilling our missions as two-way immersion learning environments if our commitment to balanced language learning stops at the classroom door. The mission is most certainly unfulfilled if our libraries do not include a significant number of books in the target languages, and even more so if there are not books that reflect the linguistic diversity of our schools overall. If your school libraries are monolingual, and all titles, or a large percentage of titles, are only in English, then you have a wonderful opportunity to expand to reflect your school's new TWI identity.

If you aren't sure where to begin, consider using these resources to select books.

For instance, the Campaign for America's Libraries has produced a series of short videos of authors who have written books about the Latino experience: http://www.atyourlibrary.org/connectwithyourkids/reading-together/top-10-spanish-books-kids

Many publishers in the English-speaking world are beginning to recognize the interest their consumers have in learning some Mandarin, Cantonese or other related languages. There are a number of books in these languages. Some are English language titles that have been translated, while others are geared towards learning more about Chinese culture and traditions: http://www.chinesebookshop.com/english/chinese-english-books/mandarin-english.html

Share your experiences and ideas regarding Spanish and Chinese language titles on our TWIN Forum: http://www.twin-cs.org/forum.html#/20140224/expanding-our-libraries-adding-spanish-and-ma-2-3703315/

-Mary Bridget Burns

By now, many of our TWIN schools and affiliates will be familiar with the numerous acronyms that define our work: TWI, DL, ELL, BVAT, and WM to name just a few. These combinations of letters represent the latest manifestations of years of research, application, and adjustment as the education field tries to develop the best methods for teaching students of multiple language backgrounds. While the TWIN schools are choosing to follow the two-way immersion method, many other options remain for the equally many educational situations that call for a multi-lingual environment.

In the TWIN community, we are well-aware that the challenges we face are not entirely unique to us. While teaching bilingually in a Catholic context is unusual today, it certainly wasn't a century ago (http://www.pbs.org/kcet/publicschool/roots_in_history/bilingual.html). Moreover, our public school colleagues are tackling many of the same challenges in their classrooms, though working under different parameters. As our network and community of bilingual instructors continues to grow, TWIN should be cognizant of the rather contentious debate raging in our neighborhood public schools and their districts. Their decisions will have an impact on the tenor of our conversations, and the course bilingual education will take in this country.

One of the biggest battles raging at the state level is that between WIDA (World-class Instructional Design and Assessment) and ELPA21 (English Language Proficiency Assessment for the 21st Century). Both of these programs represent millions of dollars in federal grants ($10m and $6.5m, respectively) and hundreds of public school districts. Originally initiatives developed at the University of Wisconsin and the University of Oregon, WIDA and ELPA21 now have grown to be national conglomerates of state education departments and their many districts.

Slowly but surely, WIDA has been 'winning' the battle for additional influence and funding, in part because significant players are leaving the ELPA21 camp. California left ELPA21 in February 2013 and now Florida is considering leaving as well. The State of Florida, home to the third largest population of English Language Learning (or ELL) students in the United States, will decide in March whether to leave ELPA21. Why does this matter?

It matters because our schools, while blessed with the ability to work outside of state mandates and politics, are influenced by the decisions made for public schools. The TWIN schools do not have to answer to their adjoining public districts, but they should be aware of the decisions being made for the public school ELL students, who may, one day, become their students. Moreover, just as we in TWIN know our schools thrive by connecting our professionals with one another, we must remember that we can learn from our public school colleagues as well. We can learn from their methods directly, by visiting their schools, or indirectly, by considering the implications of our states joining bilingual instruction consortiums called WIDA or ELPA21.

Learn more at:

WIDA: http://www.wida.us/index.aspx

ELPA21: http://www.ode.state.or.us/search/page/?id=1224

This blog post was aided by: http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/learning-the-language/2014/02/florida_considers_joining_wida.html

-Mary Bridget Burns

When phrases or ideas become too common, overused and almost mundane, they risk becoming powerless, overlooked by their very users. How often have we in the education field used phrases such as 'data-driven' or 'strategic' without thinking about what they really mean in the daily workings of our schools?

A recent Education Week online article by journalist Benjamin Herold on the efforts by private and parochial schools reminds us of the importance of these terms, and what is at stake. Since the 1960s, when enrollment reached an all-time high of 5.2 million students, American Catholic schools have declined to roughly 2 million.  The declining birth rates, demographic changes, a weak economy, and more educational options have all contributed to this decline. Herold writes that private, independent schools have also faced similar hurdles in recent years. 

In order to position themselves as viable options for students, school leaders must think more creatively about data use, strategic planning, and mission. Herold includes a wide variety of schools to exemplify these efforts. These exemplary schools and schooling systems are using online content, networking with other schools, and challenging students through strong teaching. "We have an opportunity to [provide] some leadership in the field," John E. Chubb, president of the National Association of Independent Schools, or NAIS, in Washington said. "The next step in all this, and where these schools are beginning to experiment, is rethinking how students should learn."

In so many similar ways, the TWIN schools and the network being built is proving another version of these efforts. By joining together to provide students with the education needed for the 21st century, an education with a solid understanding of language and culture, the TWIN schools are blazing a path for future ideas of Catholic schooling.

Article link: http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2014/01/29/19el-private.h33.html?tkn=RZZFpKqmAtpKpq6EHXVReoVOoQlwvriPYlx8&cmp=clp-edweek&intc=EW-BL14-EWH