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Teachers urge Board to sustain dual-language program as district outlines new bilingual assessments
Summary
Two dual-language teachers told the Community Consolidated School District 59 board they fear losing support for biliteracy; district leaders said they will build a multi-measure dual-language assessment and pilot Spanish-reading diagnostics to better evaluate program outcomes.
Several teachers appealed directly to the Community Consolidated School District 59 Board of Education on Oct. 2 to preserve and strengthen the district—s dual-language program, saying families and students need stability and trust to achieve biliteracy.
"I'm reminding the board tonight of their commitment to move forward and continue to build trust and a sense of belonging by pursuing a common goal of improving our dual language program with staff, students, and families," said Katie DeLuca, a Bird School teacher who spoke during public comment.
A second speaker, dual-language kindergarten teacher Angie Schreiber, described what she called a legacy of curriculum and resource gaps worsened by COVID. "When TBE students exit the program, they transition to English-only classrooms often with little to no support," Schreiber said, urging the board not to revert to a TBE model and instead to invest in program stability and authentic biliteracy resources.
Why it matters: Dual-language instruction is central to the district—s stated equity and biliteracy goals and influences staffing, curriculum, and assessment. Parents and teachers said recent discussions raised anxiety that the district might change course.
District response and next steps: Administrators told the board they are already working on a multi-year project to develop better assessment and measurement for dual-language students. The district plans a multi-measure assessment framework that will combine proficiency measures in English and Spanish with academic literacy indicators.
Tom Luloff, who led the fall benchmarking presentation, said the district has been working with outside experts as part of a "bilingual trajectory" project and is preparing to pilot Spanish-reading diagnostics alongside existing iReady measures. He said the vendor has indicated a normed Spanish diagnostic may be available next year but that the district is also preparing contingency plans in case timing or norms change.
What the board asked for: Directors requested clear metrics and multiple measures before using English-only benchmark scores to judge dual-language outcomes, and they asked staff to provide periodic updates as assessment work progresses. Administrators also committed to sharing research and proposed measures with the Dual Language Task Force and the board as they are developed.
Closing: Teachers who spoke asked the board to reconfirm the district—s commitment to biliteracy and to ensure that any changes are driven by validated, bilingual-aligned measures rather than English-only benchmarks.
