ENROLLED
2016 Regular Session
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOL UTION NO. 136
BY REPRESENTATIVE MORENO
A CONCURRENT RESOL UTION
To urge and request the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education to study the
feasibility of establishing two-way dual language programs in public schools and to
submit a written report of its findings and recommendations to the House Committee
on Education and the Senate Committee on Education not later than sixty days prior
to the 2017 Regular Session of the Legislature of Louisiana.
WHEREAS, the Constitution of Louisiana provides that it is the goal of the public
educational system "to provide learning environments and experiences, at all stages of
human development, that are humane, just, and designed to promote excellence in order that
every individual may be afforded an equal opportunity to develop to his full potential"; and
WHEREAS, the state constitution requires the legislature to provide for the education
of the people of the state and to establish and maintain a public educational system; and
WHEREAS, in fulfilling this constitutional responsibility, it is important that more
instructional programs are provided for students from diverse cultural and educational
backgrounds with limited English proficiency; and
WHEREAS, although the state's total population of students with limited English
proficiency is still below five percent, in the last three years some schools have seen
dramatic increases in the number of such students they have served; and
WHEREAS, as of October 2015, five public school districts reported total limited
English proficient student populations above five percent including Jefferson (13%), Union
and St. Mary (6.5%), East Baton Rouge (5.9%), and Orleans (5.6%); and
WHEREAS, Louisiana's English language learners receive support through a variety
of instructional models including:
Page 1 of 4 HCR NO. 136 ENROLLED
(1) Structured English immersion programs that teach the students in English at the
level they can comprehend and that focus on grammar, vocabulary, sentence structure, and
pronunciation skills.
(2) Transitional bilingual education programs that provide students with instruction
in their native languages from bilingual teachers who gradually transition to English.
(3) Push-in and pull-out programs that provide support for students through tutors
or teachers who assist the students in their regular classrooms and provide more targeted
support outside of the classroom; and
WHEREAS, Louisiana currently offers one-way dual language programs in various
parishes in which the majority or all of the students in the class are native English speakers
who receive instruction in English and another language including the following:
(1) Spanish immersion settings in fourteen schools in Calcasieu, East Baton Rouge,
Jefferson, and Lafayette for students in prekindergarten through grade eight.
(2) French immersion settings in twenty-seven schools in Assumption, Calcasieu,
East Baton Rouge, Iberia, Jefferson, Lafayette, Orleans, St. Landry, and St. Martin parishes
and the International School of Louisiana, L'Ecole Bilingue, and Lycee Francais de la
Nouvelle Orleans, serving over four thousand students in prekindergarten through grade
twelve.
(3) Mandarin immersion programs in East Baton Rouge and Lafayette, serving
approximately sixty students; and
WHEREAS, Louisiana does not currently have any two-way dual language programs
that provide all content instruction to English language learners and native English speakers
in two languages; and
WHEREAS, researchers Wayne Thomas and Virginia Collier's eighteen-year
longitudinal comparison study of English only, transitional bilingual, and dual language
classes in twenty-three districts across fifteen states found that two-way dual language
models maximize benefits for English learners and English proficient students alike
including:
(1) Eliminating the achievement gap between English language learners and native
English speakers.
(2) Developing school cultures that are more inclusive of cultural differences.
Page 2 of 4 HCR NO. 136 ENROLLED
(3) Increasing parent involvement; and
WHEREAS, a more recent study of the impact of two-way dual language programs
in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school district from 2007-2010 found that students in two-way
dual language programs consistently outperformed non dual language programs and that the
two groups of students who benefit most from dual language instruction are English
language learners and African American students with both groups testing higher in reading
and math than their non dual language peers; and
WHEREAS, these studies identified that success across dual language programs
varied depending on the extent to which programs implemented specific practices and
recommended that all dual language programs include the following:
(1) A minimum of six years of bilingual instruction with English learners not
segregated.
(2) A focus on core academic curriculum and not remedial skills.
(3) A high quality language arts curriculum for both languages.
(4) A separation of the instruction of each language such as avoiding translation or
repeating the same instruction in both languages.
(5) Use of non-English language at least fifty percent of the instructional time and
as much as ninety percent in early grades; and
WHEREAS, districts and schools planning to implement two-way dual language
programs must consider increased initial start-up costs, teacher training and recruitment,
community demand, student demographics, and evaluation methods among other factors;
and
WHEREAS, the recently reauthorized federal Every Student Succeeds Act increases
the number of years before English language learners are required to take assessments in
English thereby providing the state and districts with the flexibility to foster both native
language and English language instruction; and
WHEREAS, in order that every student may be afforded an equal opportunity to
develop to his full potential as provided in the state constitution, including students from
diverse cultural and educational backgrounds with limited English proficiency, it is
imperative that proven methods such as two-way dual language programs are implemented
in public schools.
Page 3 of 4 HCR NO. 136 ENROLLED
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby
urge and request the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education to study the
feasibility of establishing two-way dual language programs - also referred to as dual
language, two-way immersion, or dual immersion programs - in public schools and to submit
a written report of its findings and recommendations to the House Committee on Education
and the Senate Committee on Education not later than sixty days prior to the 2017 Regular
Session of the Legislature of Louisiana.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
president of the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education.
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
Page 4 of 4