Saucon Valley leaders review CAL findings; district to survey parents on kindergarten and 50/50 dual‑language model

The Saucon Valley School District on April 8 presented two evaluations by the Center for Applied Linguistics examining the district's Spanish immersion program and services for English learners, and said the full reports and a short parent survey will be posted and sent to families before the board considers formal recommendations in about two weeks.

The CAL report on Spanish immersion recommends several changes, including beginning the program in kindergarten, adopting a 50/50 language model (equal instructional time in English and Spanish), and increasing outreach to recruit more Spanish-speaking and English-learner (EL) students so the program could evolve from a one-way immersion into a two‑way dual-language program over time. The district's presentation on the report also listed recommendations on curriculum alignment, teacher professional development (including training on translanguaging), assessment practices to reduce duplicate testing, and family/community engagement supports.

Why it matters: Board members and district staff framed the report as guidance to broaden access to the program and to ensure students receive explicit English literacy instruction alongside Spanish-language instruction. In particular, CAL and district staff said the current model's reliance on parents to provide early English instruction limits who can succeed under the existing structure and prompted the recommendation to consider kindergarten entry and a shift to 50/50 instruction.

District staff summarized the current model and CAL's key findings. Under the existing program, grades 1'2 are taught primarily in Spanish with the expectation that ELA (English language…