Dual Language Education

Children will leave Austin Community School as reflective readers, effective communicators and independent thinkers in both English and Spanish. All ACS students will participate in two-way immersion classrooms. In addition to Spanish and English, all children will be exposed to Mandarin Chinese with the initial aim of conversational exposure in a special area of curriculum.

Two-way Immersion (TWI) language programs are dual language programs that target a balanced number of speakers of one language with speakers of another language. In TWI programs, content-area instruction is taught through both languages to all students in integrated classes. There is significant research that supports academic and social growth for all students in a well implemented TWI program. TWI programs also promote higher levels of cognitive flexibility, creative thinking, problem solving, and greater cultural awareness. Please visit the Center for Applied Linguistics online for more information about TWI programs.

Our Two-Way Immersion (TWI) program is defined by four goals.

• Students will develop high levels of proficiency in their first language. This means that native English speaking children will develop high levels of speaking, listening, reading, and writing ability in English, and their performance in these domains will not be compromised by their involvement in the two-way immersion program. Likewise, Spanish speaking children will develop high levels of speaking, listening, reading, and writing ability in Spanish and will not be asked to forgo development in their native language as their second language proficiency improves.
• All students will develop high levels of proficiency in a second language. For the native English speakers, this means that they will have the opportunity to develop high levels of oral and written proficiency in Spanish. This also means that Spanish speaking children will develop high levels of oral and written proficiency in English, and that their English language and literacy development will not be diminished because they are also continuing to receive instruction in their native language. For this reason, TWI programs are considered additive bilingual programs for both groups of students; they afford all students the opportunity to maintain and develop oral and written skills in their first language while simultaneously acquiring oral and written skills in a second language. Research has supported the notion that TWI programs are additive bilingual environments (Howard & Christian, 1997; Cazabon, Nicoladis, & Lambert, 1998; Lindholm-Leary, 2001).
• Academic performance for all students will be at or above grade level. The same academic standards and curricula that are in place for other students in Austin area school districts will be maintained for students in our TWI program as well. Academic requirements are not diluted for TWI students, and the same levels of academic performance are expected for both TWI students and students enrolled in other programs. As indicated previously, evidence that this goal is attainable has been documented in recent empirical studies (Cazabon, Nicoladis, & Lambert, 1998; Lindholm-Leary, 2001; Thomas & Collier, 2002)
• All students will demonstrate positive cross-cultural attitudes and behaviors. Because our TWI program will provide instruction in an environment that is integrated linguistically, racially and ethnically, and socio-economically, it will allow students to learn first hand about cultures that are different from their own. There is evidence of positive cross-cultural attitudes being developed through participation in TWI programs as children, families and educators work together (Cazabon, Lambert, & Hall, 1993; Freeman, 1998).

International Baccalaureate

The purpose of International Baccalaureate (IB) world schools is to develop "internationally minded people who, recognizing their common humanity and shared guardianship of the planet help to create a better and more peaceful world in an academically rich and advanced program." As an accredited International Baccalaureate PYP (Primary Years Program) school, Austin Community School will be helping to lay the foundation upon which global citizenship will develop and flourish.

What is the IB Primary Years Program?

The IB Primary Years Program, for students aged 3 to 12, focuses on the development of the whole child as an inquirer, both in the classroom and in the world outside.

The Program:

• encourages international-mindedness
• encourages a positive attitude to learning by engaging students in inquiries and developing their
awareness of the process of learning so that they become lifelong learners
• reflects real life by encouraging learning beyond traditional subjects with meaningful, in-depth inquiries into real issues
• emphasizes, through the learner profile, the development of the whole student–physically,intellectually, emotionally and ethically.The IB Primary Years Program frames the learning activities of the school community. The framework is flexible enough to incorporate national curriculum requirements. It is used in national and international, state and privately funded schools.

The Written Curriculum

The most significant and distinctive feature of the IB Primary Years Programme is the six transdisciplinary themes.
These themes are about issues that have meaning for, and are important to, all of us. The program off ers a balance between learning about or through the subject areas,and learning beyond them. The six themes of global signifi cance create a transdisciplinary framework that allows students to “step up” beyond the confines of learning within subject areas:
• Who we are
• Where we are in place and time
• How we express ourselves
• How the world works
• How we organize ourselves
• Sharing the planet

The program puts great emphasis on learning about these transdisciplinary themes. Each theme is addressed each year by all students, with the exception of students aged 3 to 5, who may engage explicitly with four of the themes each year. The themes provide the opportunity to incorporate local and global issues into the curriculum. The traditional disciplines retain a role in the IB Primary
Years Programme. The six specified subjects are language, mathematics, science, social studies, arts,
and personal, social and physical education. The overall expectations for each subject area are defined for each year of the program.

The Taught Curriculum

The six transdisciplinary themes help teachers to develop a program of inquiries–in-depth investigations into important ideas, identified by the teachers, and requiring a high level of involvement on the part of the students.These inquiries are substantial, in-depth and usually last for
several weeks.

For example, in an inquiry about “Sharing the planet” for students aged 8 to 9, we might look at “Finite resources–infinite demands”. In order to understand better the central idea that “Our planet has limited resources that are unevenly distributed” and using water as an example, we would inquire into where water comes from, how different people and countries use water, how much water we use, what happens after we have used it, the distribution of usable water around the world, how human activity has affected the availability of water, and our responsibility for water conservation. To support this inquiry, students would develop knowledge and acquire skills derived from science and social studies. In addition, they would develop transdisciplinary skills such as critical thinking, communication and time management.

In an inquiry about “Who we are” for students aged 4 to 5, we might look at “Families and friends”. In order to understand better the central idea that “People need families and friends” we might look at how families are similar and different across cultures, how we make and keep friends, why we need families and friends, and families and friends through literature and the arts. To support this inquiry, students would develop knowledge and acquire skills derived from social studies, arts, and personal, social and physical education. In addition, they would develop transdisciplinary skills such as decision-making, listening,collecting data and working cooperatively.

Since these ideas are related to the world beyond the school,students see the relevance of the content and connect with it in ways that are engaging and challenging. Students who learn in this way begin to reflect on their roles and responsibilities as learners and become actively involved with their learning.

All students will know that a unit of inquiry will involve them in in-depth exploration of an important idea, and that the teacher will be collecting evidence of how well they understand that idea. They will expect to be able to work in a variety of ways, including on their own and in groups, to allow them to learn to their best advantage.

Students and parents will develop an understanding of the IB learner profile. The ten aspirational qualities of the learner profile inspire and motivate the work of teachers, students and schools, providing a statement of the aims and values of the IB and a definition of what we mean by “internationalmindedness”. IB learners strive to be inquirers, thinkers,communicators, risk-takers, knowledgeable, principled,open-minded, caring, balanced and reflective.

The Assessed Curriculum

Assessment is an important part of each unit of inquiry as it both enhances learning and provides opportunities for students to reflect on what they know, understand and can do. The teacher’s feedback to the students provides the guidance, the tools and the incentive for them to become more competent, more skillful and better at understanding how to learn.

Deciding on how best to teach and how best to assess student learning is a collaborative process within the school. The IB has developed a planning tool to support effective collaboration on the part of all teachers and the program coordinator.

Watch the short video below to get a better understanding of what an IB school learner is, as illustrated in the "learner profile."