Rather than being the subject of an educational study, New Vista High School students collaborated with the University of Colorado Boulder to create their own research study on how to extend elementary and middle school bilingual programs to high schools.
Students plan to share their recommendations at Tuesday's meeting of the Boulder Valley School Board. They also presented at this year's annual meeting of the Colorado Bilingual Education Association and the American Educational Research Association in Philadelphia.
“Our proposal could benefit a lot of people,” New Vista sophomore Reece Fassman said. “It's great to do something in school and get a sense of accomplishment. It brought out so many great things.”
A total of 27 students took this class as part of New Vista's community experience program. Some stay in classes all year, while others take classes for just a quarter or a semester.
“Community experiences are about passion projects,” New Vista Principal John McCluskey said. “You can really work on something that gives you a sense of purpose, like how can I solve a problem, how can I be helpful? It's an opportunity for people to get out into the real world. Bring kids into the community. You can have them participate.”
The weekly class was taught by Laura Mainzen, a doctoral student in the UW Boulder School of Education, and supervised by Michelle Renee Validares, deputy director of the National Education Policy Center.
Validares said the students learned research skills. We learned about bilingual education and its implementation in Boulder Valley. He collected data at elementary, middle, high schools, and universities within and outside the district, and attended classes at the CU Boulder campus. By using both Spanish and English throughout his work, he has developed his unique ability to be biliterate.
“We wanted to get a lot of different perspectives,” New Vista junior Patrick Martin said.
Maya Millan, a UC Boulder undergraduate student and teaching assistant for this class, is a graduate of Centaur High School. She is passionate about this research topic, and she said she was impressed by how engaged the New Vista students were.
“The hard labor was done by them,” Millan said.
The class began by reviewing research showing that multilingual students may benefit from continuing to develop their bilingual literacy skills through high school. However, in Colorado and nationally, most bilingual education programs end after elementary school. Some school districts offer middle school options, but few programs extend into high school.
Kristin Nelson Steinhoff, Boulder Valley's Director of Cultural and Linguistic Diversity Education, said Boulder Valley is committed to creating bilingual K-12 pathways and appreciates the opportunity to work with New Vista students. He said he is doing so.
“The fact that they are trying to figure out what that (high school admission) is going to look like is so exciting,” she said.
The district started by expanding middle school options, adding classes for sixth graders at three middle schools last fall. Over the next two years, additional bilingual classes for 7th graders and her 8th graders will be added. Boulder Valley also introduced a “Bilingual and Proud” campaign this year.
“We take a really systems approach,” Nelson Steinhoff said, adding that the goal is to create a high-quality, sustainable program.
Vista's new students translate club announcements and flyers into Spanish, conduct class tests in students' native languages, increase the number of bilingual staff members, add bilingual high school classes, and teach summer school classes in Spanish. He made various recommendations.
“It will help create a school where all students have an equal opportunity to learn,” said Hamilton Dunn, a sophomore at New Vista, adding that he especially wants the high school to foster a sense of belonging for Spanish-speaking students. Ta.
Junior Lily Thoresen said Boulder has a large Spanish-speaking population, including New Vista students whose native language is Spanish. She said high school students she interviewed who did not have bilingual options also reported feeling behind when trying to learn a second language.
“We want to provide more opportunities for people who don't speak English,” she said. “It will help the community and the school.”