BCPS announced today: Baltimore County Public Schools has announced the names of 15 elementary schools to become the third cohort to implement a Spanish language instruction program.
The new Passport Schools announced on Friday, Apr. 8, are Berkshire, Deep Creek, Deer Park, Grange, Halstead, Hillcrest, New Town, Pinewood, Red House Run, Sandalwood, Sandy Plains, Seventh District, Sparks, Stoneleigh, and Timber Grove elementary schools.
The new “Passport Schools” join 25 schools already participating in the program. The 10 original Passport Schools began offering Spanish language instruction to Grade 4 students in the 2014-2015 school year and now offer instruction to students in Grades 4 and 5. The second cohort of 15 elementary schools introduced the second-language program in Grade 4 this school year and will extend it to Grade 5 next school year. The new third cohort schools will begin offering Spanish instruction to Grade 4 students in the 2016-2017 school year.
“We are so pleased that this program is continuing to grow and that by next school year, it will reach more than a third of our Grade 4 students,” said BCPS Superintendent Dr. S. Dallas Dance. “Our students are eager for this instruction and are fully engaged in learning a new language as well as about other cultures. We know that offering them this instruction in elementary school will give them the opportunity to become proficient in a second language before graduation, and we know how much learning a new language will help facilitate their future academic and career success.”
The existing 25 Passport Schools are: first cohort – Bear Creek, Hampton, Johnnycake, Padonia, Pleasant Plains, Prettyboy, Reisterstown, Sussex, Vincent Farm and West Towson elementary schools; second cohort – Franklin, Fullerton, Glenmar, Glyndon, Halethorpe, Hernwood, Lyons Mill, Mars Estates, Perry Hall, Pine Grove, Randallstown, Seneca, Shady Spring, Warren, and Woodbridge elementary schools.
Selected schools were chosen from among schools that applied to participate in the program. The selection committee reviewed applications with an eye toward achieving geographic and student demographic balance.
Students at Passport Schools use both Middlebury Interactive and participate in conversational lessons taught by a BCPS elementary Spanish teacher. Middlebury Interactive is a research-based, interactive, self-paced program developed by Middlebury College and Middlebury Interactive Languages. The course focuses on listening and speaking.
As the Baltimore County Council reviews next year’s proposed BCPS budget, as well as the likely future of schools Superintendent S. Dallas Dance’s initiatives, they should likely take a closer look at Middlebury Interactive Languages (MIL), and the $7.5 million (!) BCPS contract spending authority—for test-phase Spanish-language software slated to run through the year 2029. While teaching a second language in elementary schools is a worthy endeavor, there are numerous problems with the MIL software program. Lesson questions are often in high school-level Spanish for fourth and fifth graders. So students say they simply guess. And many classroom teachers increasingly avoid using MIL because they and students see it as a waste of time. Prestigious Middlebury College, once affiliated with the program, divested two years go after professors there staged a no-confidence vote in the troubled program and for-profit partner K12, Inc. An outside evaluation, which cost more than $100,000, called students’ Spanish learning outcomes into question, indicating a need for more teachers, not computers. Others have noted that Spanish teachers have minimal interaction with students, creating exasperation even among board of education members. Evaluation: http://www.boarddocs.com/mabe/bcps/Board.nsf/goto?open&id=ADRKSJ50A92C Yet Middlebury Interactive Languages (MIL), the centerpiece of BCPS’ world languages Passport Program, is now EXPANDING to 40 elementary schools. MIL also exemplifies ongoing software and other fees. “Once the program is fully expanded to all schools, the anticipated annual fee will be $550,000 each year. The site license cost will be $5,000 per school once 51 schools are attained,” school board records show.… Read more »
p.s. As noted: in 2015, the Vermont college sold its 40 percent stake in Middlebury Interactive Languages to the for-profit K12, Inc., wanting nothing more to do with the software-based program.
A BCPS press release in mid-2016, however, still touted Middlebury College’s involvement.
http://www.bcps.org/news/articles/articl…
K12’s stake in the game: “K12’s five highest paid executives received a total of more than $12 million in compensation last year . . . Nearly 90% of K12’s revenues–and thus its huge pay for executives–comes from Americans’ state or federal tax dollars.”
http://www.prwatch.org/news/2016/01/1300…