Special project: Evaluation of the Christina School District bilingual program

The English Language Institute was involved in a special project with the Christina School District during the first half of 2002: an evaluation of the district's bilingual education program. The report, written by ELI instructor Susan Coakley and ELI director Dr. Scott Stevens, indicates that the school district has a strong bilingual program with dedicated personnel.

The Christina bilingual program, for students with limited English proficiency whose first language is Spanish, has grown substantially since 1999. At that time, neighboring Red Clay School District found it could no longer provide bilingual classes for students in the Christina School District, as its own bilingual program was expanding. The Christina program now totals over 250 students, with 10 teachers, all of whom are fluent in both English and Spanish.

Students entering the Christina School District who do not speak English are placed into either the English as a Second Language (Limited English Proficiency) program or the bilingual program. In the bilingual program, teachers begin the year speaking mostly Spanish in class, but by the end of the year they are speaking mostly English.