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M-DCPS ANNOUNCES ENHANCED PATHWAYS TO BILITERACY IN ELEMENTARY EDUCATION Miami-Dade Superintendent Alberto Carvalho gave a progress report of the school district’s Extended Foreign Language (EFL) Program at a school board committee meeting today. The report addressed the recalibration of this program and the creation of an additional pathway to bilingual literacy. In 2012, the district introduced the expansion of the EFL choice program in order to add rigor to foreign language instruction at the elementary school level with progress checks along the way. “Now, after a few years of implementation, we have taken a long hard look at the scaling of EFL and have made adjustments in order to meet the needs of all of our students and the demands of our parents,” said Carvalho. “Producing bilingual and biliterate students is a core value of this district, and we are committed to implementing a world language program that does just that.” The expansion of EFL was spurred by growing parental concerns with the outcomes of the current Spanish S and SL programs. That move allowed students from Kindergarten to fifth grade to opt into foreign language instruction in the early years and increased instructional time from 150 minutes to 300-plus minutes per week. When compared to the legacy programs of Spanish S and SL, EFL is more rigorous, has yielded favorable academic results, and received numerous accolades since its implementation in 1997. The recalibration of foreign language instruction will address challenges in the implementation over the past three years, including a shortage of linguistically proficient teachers in selected schools and limited entry points into the program. In the summer of 2014, M-DCPS convened an EFL Task Force to get various perspectives and recommendations on how to best deliver bilingual instruction in the district. “The Board and I have historically supported bilingual and foreign language education,” said School Board Chair Perla Tabares Hantman. “It is a crucial component of a comprehensive academic program and the plan laid out today is evidence of the Board's commitment to maintaining robust foreign language programming in Miami-Dade Schools.” Moving forward, there will be a continuum of instruction within the EFL program from Kindergarten to fifth grade. Additionally, a parallel and new foreign language elective will be offered to students in grades 2-5, which will expand opportunities for bilingual instruction at the elementary school level. An advisory committee comprised of existing Spanish teachers, university professors, foreign language instruction experts, and advocates for bilingual education will be convened over the summer and will work throughout next school year to design the new grade 2 through 5 pathway for biliteracy. This program will be launched in the Fall of 2016 and will coincide with the district’s adoption of new foreign language instructional materials. ### 15-DGD/266/
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