Clear Creek ISD Blog

Bilingual and English Second Language (ESL) programs in elementary school have long been established in the Clear Creek Independent School District (CCISD). The bilingual program was originally developed to support the linguistic and academic needs of Spanish-speakers, while the ESL program was developed to support speakers of other languages. As the number of Vietnamese, Urdu, and Mandarin-speaking students increased, CCISD developed additional bilingual and native language support programs for these languages. 

Traditionally, the focus of all these programs was on meeting the policy set by the Texas Education Agency in servicing English language learners; however, in 2004, a paradigm shift occurred at McWhirter Elementary. The Estrellas Two-Way Immersion program was launched.  In this program, English and Spanish-speakers share a classroom and receive instruction in both languages. Students are able to learn from each other, share cultures, engage in authentic language acquisition, and excel in an enrichment model of bilingual education. The students who began the program in 2004 are now in 7th grade and continue receiving instruction in both languages in the Estrellas Intermediate Program at Clear Creek Intermediate School.

As a district, we are entering into another exciting period of offering even more language learning opportunities at the elementary school level. Brookwood will become the district’s fifth Spanish-English bilingual campus in the 2012-2013 school year.  Bilingual classes will be offered in PK-5, and a Foreign Language Enrichment Program will be offered to entering Kindergarten students. This program will combine Spanish and English-speaking students for part of the school day, with students receiving science instruction in Spanish and math instruction in English.

Stewart Elementary, an established bilingual campus, will begin a dual language program in the 2012-2013 school year. Students entering Kindergarten are eligible to apply for this program, in which English and Spanish-speaking students will receive instruction in both languages based on a model which implements a language of the day for instruction.

This is an extremely exciting time for CCISD as we continue to grow linguistic opportunities for our students. Research from the Center for Applied Linguistics cites a variety of benefits to second language acquisition, such as a positive effect on intellectual growth, flexibility in thinking, and enriching and enhancing cognitive development. While these are important benefits, the philosophy of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages may best exemplify why these linguistic enrichment models are so powerful: Language and communication are at the heart of the human experience. The United States must educate students who are linguistically and culturally equipped to communicate successfully in a pluralistic American society and abroad.

We are excited to prepare students for the human experience that occurs beyond the school door.

Tacy King
Director of Instructional Services for ELLS

Read more on this subject at: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/18/opinion/sunday/the-benefits-of-bilingualism.htm?_r=1&scp=1&sq=bilingual&st=Search

The Clear Creek Independent School District is driven by the spirit of exploration. We work tirelessly to provide our students opportunities to demonstrate the Courage, Collaboration, Innovation and Self-Direction to succeed in the 21st century. For more than five decades, Science Fair has been one of those hallmark activities where we ask, and in many grade levels require, students to complete their own independent science project and compete against their peers. Many of our students have embraced Science Fair and successfully competed nationally and even globally with their projects. Tyler Raboin, Kusal Kadakia and Ashwin Varma are such examples. Their science fair projects earned them 2011 Broadcom Math, Applied Science, Technology and Engineering for Rising Stars (MASTERS) award. There are many more stories of successful science projects including a young homeless boy who told his teacher that his science project is what kept his mind off of his living environment. Science Fair has also become a family and community affair, where hundreds come into our schools to view some outstanding work.

Science Fair in CCISD is not going away. However, the 50-year tradition is in need of a few adjustments.  Over the last several years, parents have voiced concerns that Science Fair had become synonymous with CCISD’s science curriculum versus serving as an enrichment opportunity. Their concerns have not been about requiring students to conduct their own science experiment but rather how the district utilized competition guidelines as parameters for approving and conducting projects. CCISD’s Science Fair guidelines are in line with the Science Engineering Fair of Houston and the International Science Engineering Fair.  One of the top concerns among parents is that students’ project ideas were denied because those topics had been covered in previous Science Fair competitions, thus preventing students from pursuing topics of interest. These parental voices include NASA researchers and biotechnology engineers. I was in one meeting where an engineer feared we were unintentionally driving students away from pursuing higher levels of science.  Unfortunately, he may be correct. A district-level team has been reviewing this issue and discovered there are significantly fewer students participating in Pre-AP science classes than Pre-AP math classes. We also examined a CCISD survey that sampled secondary-level teachers’ attitudes toward requiring outside, independent science projects. The survey indicated most teachers felt that our curriculum should have a stronger emphasis on scientific inquiry during the school day. The surveys also showed that teachers do not feel that requiring outside science projects promotes student enthusiasm for science.

Here are the steps CCISD is taking to promote science, maintain the rigor of our standards in science and keep the long-held Science Fair tradition alive in CCISD:

Beginning 2012-2013 school year

• CCISD teachers will provide students increased opportunities to participate in experimental design during science classes and assign homework to reinforce those activities. Experimental design is the process in which you create an investigation to answer a question. To view what experimental design looks like at the elementary level, click here. To view what experimental design looks like at the high school level, click here.
• Experimental design in Pre-AP and AP science will mirror the College Board’s philosophy of ‘inspiring deep thinking’. Although Science Fair is not required, students still need to demonstrate, through teacher-led projects and assignments, mastery of experimental design from posing the question to developing the research/investigation to answer the question.   
• CCISD’s Science Fair will continue on a voluntary basis.
• After-school clubs or teams at the intermediate and high school will be encouraged to fuel science fair interest and collaboration.

While Science Fair will be a voluntary activity, creating an environment where students can excel in science, exploration and discovery is still very much required in CCISD!