(ELLs) of the same language, Illinois State law requires the district to provide a transitional
bilingual program teacher. District 7 currently operates bilingual (Spanish) programs at all four
schools and bilingual (Polish) services at the Early Childhood Center and Oakbrook School. In
recent years there have been numerous requests from our English speaking families to provide
foreign language instruction for their students. This year District 7 will be exploring the
implementation of a dual language program, as an innovative way to combine the need to
provide state mandated programming, along with the desire to offer foreign language
instruction to our English speaking students.
In dual language programs, ELLs, whose first language is Spanish, and English-speaking
students are provided with full day instruction in the same classroom. This unique environment provides a rich language and cultural learning environment for both groups of students. Dual language programs allow English proficient students to learn how to read and write fluently in Spanish, while Spanish speaking students become fluent in English. Since native speakers of both languages are learning a new language together, all students serve as language models for each other. Generally, dual language programs begin in kindergarten and continue until the end of elementary school, with some programs lasting into middle and high school. It is suggested that programs bridge into the middle and high school years, since the ultimate goal of dual language programs is to educate students to become both bi-literate and bi-cultural.
District 7 has formed a research committee to explore offering dual language instruction to our
students. Several school districts in Illinois and around the country offer dual language
programs. As part of our research, administrators, teachers and parents will attend conferences,
visit dual language schools, work with consultants, and read and study research. The committee
will provide regular updates to the Board of Education, with a final recommendation to come in
the spring. We will be posting additional information about dual language programs along with regular updates on our website (wd7.org). Should you have any questions or expertise in the
area of dual language programs, please contact Dr. Merri Beth Kudrna the District 7 Curriculum
Director.