Lessons from a generation of dual language learners

By JEFF MORRIS 

The long-awaited results of a study of the district’s Dual Language Bilingual Education Program, conducted by the Center for Applied Linguistics, were presented at the Board of Education meeting May 27.

While the presentation itself, by Analleli Hernández, director of Dual Language and Multilingual Education at the center, took 20 minutes, the board’s discussion afterward lasted nearly an hour. Members clearly were interested in digging into specifics in order to better understand what the study showed and how it can be used to continue improving the program.

The district began its Spanish-English program in 2014, and in 2025, with the first Dual Language Bilingual Education Program student cohort poised to graduate from Fox Lane High School, it was thought to be important to undertake a comprehensive external program evaluation. 

The Center for Applied Linguistics was selected to conduct the review, with funding included in the 2025-26 budget.

There were three questions that guided the study: Are the policies and practices for serving students representative of research-based, effective practices in DLBE programs, and are the policies and practices implemented appropriately? Given available performance data, how are DLBE students performing academically and linguistically? And, what do staff and stakeholders believe is working well and what needs improvement?

The DLBE program is housed at Mount Kisco Elementary School. The decision to house the program at the school was driven by the fact that it has the largest concentration of English Language Learner-eligible students who share Spanish as a home language in the district. 

One observation in the report is that the proportion of Spanish-speaking students at MKES decreased from 69.7% in 2023-2024 to 62.1% in 2025-2026 — a decline of 7.6 percentage points — while the proportion of English-speaking students increased correspondingly from 28.8% to 36.1% over the same period. 

The report says of equal significance is that the proportion of students currently identified as English language learners has increased over the three-year period, rising from 45.5% in 2023-2024 to 49.5% in 2025-2026. 

This means that approximately one in two students is currently identified as an English language learner, a proportion that has remained consistently near or above 49% even as overall enrollment has declined.

After sixth grade, a ‘cliff’

Students who choose to continue in the program for one more year can do so at Fox Lane Middle School, notes the report, but the program does not continue beyond grade six — something described as a “cliff” by every stakeholder in the evaluation.

Hernandez’s presentation stressed a lot of the report’s positive findings, including that over six years, Center for Applied Linguistics opt-out and opt-in rates have remained relatively stable, with slightly more families opting in than out.

Also, teachers demonstrate a strong commitment to collaboration, consistently finding informal ways to connect and co-plan despite the absence of protected, structured time.

And target language use was consistently observed during classroom instruction. Families across both language groups report feeling welcomed and well-supported by teachers and staff and high school students offered compelling testimony about the program’s inclusive community, describing it as a space where cultural identity is celebrated and bilingualism connects students to peers, family, and the broader community.

A written commitment

Among the report’s chief recommendations, from a long list, is to convene an advisory group, and develop a written commitment to families articulating the program’s scope, expectations, and goals. It also recommends establishing a unified professional development plan designed for a dual language biliteracy context, developed with teacher input and vetted through a bilingual lens, and investing in a proactive, sustained public communication strategy that accurately represents the mission and outcomes of the program.

The need for that last item became clear during board discussion, when trustee Betsy Sharma wondered about the goal of the program, and whether it was aimed at having English language learners exit the program or at making students proficient in two languages.

Confusion about goals

Trustee Leo Sposato said that was illustrative of the need for better communication; Steven Matlin agreed that there was confusion about the goals of the program.

Trustee Prasad Krishnan wondered about the thoroughness of observations, based on CAL making a single three-day in-person visit to 23 classrooms in October 2025. Others further questioned some specific aspects of the report, including the number of participants in focus groups. Board president Gilian Klein told Hernández that her questions were not meant as criticism. 

“It’s a great report and it was done well,” Klein said, “we just want to have the most accurate information in it so we can move forward in implementing necessary changes.” 

Additional study

A number of comments from the board took the form of suggestions for additional study, to which Hernández readily agreed. Board members were appreciative overall of the report’s breakdown of recommendations into action areas, though Hernández emphasized that CAL was not recommending specific actions to take, which will be up to the district to decide.

“We’re excited — we have something to sink our teeth into,” said Superintendent Robert Glass. “We have a lot here in this report.”