The Department of Education says schools decide which languages to offer in response to students’ interest. But the teaching of Spanish as the only foreign language in many schools presents a question for educators: What to do with the tens of thousands of New York kids who already know it?
The answer the city has settled on is to teach Spanish speakers higher-level courses, often emphasizing literature and advanced reading and writing. The DOE's most recent tally shows some 270,000 students of all ages who reported coming from Spanish-speaking homes. (And the U.S. Census reports about 370,000 Spanish-speaking New Yorkers from age 5 to 17 who also speak English “very well” or “well” in 2006.) “For students who already speak Spanish, the schools design classes in Spanish for Spanish speakers,” says Maria Santos, chief of the DOE’s Office of English Language Learners and Foreign Languages. “They focus on developing more of their literacy in Spanish.”
Santos says her office and DOE are working to promote Advanced Placement courses for higher level Spanish speakers. Some educators say such “dual language education” can benefit students and help them master English. “It actually improves their literacy in that native language that then transfers into English as well,” says Rosa Riccio Pietanza, the city director of the New York State Association of Foreign Language Teachers, a professional organization.
But in many schools, the decision denies students who already know Spanish the chance to take a more challenging curriculum with a broad selection of language classes. “We are not giving them the option, however, of learning other languages,” Pietanza says. “Foreign languages have been put on the back burner.”
Students are generally required to take three years of a foreign language to earn an advanced Regents diploma. But they can earn a basic Regents diploma with just one year of language instruction, and Pietanza says Spanish speakers can place out of that requirement by passing a proficiency exam.
Even the focus on higher level literature and AP classes can shortchange students, particularly immigrants who studied Spanish literature in their home countries, says Deycy Avitia, education coordinator for the New York Immigration Coalition. The issue is a symptom of a broader concern that the city schools do not provide a rigorous curriculum for many students, Avitia says.
“If the students themselves are interested in pushing themselves to learn a third language, then they should have that option and not be tracked to only Spanish literature,” she says. “It’s an issue of equity and making sure that students have an equal opportunity to be prepared for college, and have those options that will enable them to stand out on their college applications.”
DOE language chief Santos says the department is increasing language options, including expanding offerings of Chinese and French in communities where students are interested. But it’s clear that in some schools language options were once much richer. Barry Johnson, a bilingual social studies teacher, has taught at IS 302 in Cypress Hills for 29 years. He says at one point the middle school offered French, Italian and Russian, as well as Spanish. Today, the school offers no foreign language classes at all.
