ASPIRA Schools Prove the Benefits of Bilingual Education

Philadelphia, PA, December 18, 2016 --(PR.com)-- Students in economically underprivileged areas may benefit from bilingual education models, according to academic performances at two Philadelphia charter schools.

“With bilingualism linked to enhanced academic and social skills, educators say dual-language programs can be used to narrow the achievement gap and equip underserved students for a future in a competitive workforce,” a recent article states, in the Hechinger Report.

ASPIRA Schools integrate bilingual education into the Language Arts curriculum. Standardizing education to include a diverse language arts program has profoundly impacted school performance and school climate. Recent school achievements and a survey conducted by the Penn Graduate School of Education demonstrate the benefits of a bilingual education model.

In October 2016, The School District of Philadelphia ranked ASPIRA’s Eugenio Maria de Hostos Charter School among the top 10 charter schools in the city. The ranking system is encompassed in the 2016 School Performance Profiles for schools across the district. The 2016 SPP calculates varying weights of PSSA or Keystone performance, Indicators of Closing the Achievement Gap, Indicators of Academic Growth/PVAAS and metrics associated with school climate.

Compare the 2016 Pennsylvania System of School Assessment results. Hostos Charter School’s PSSA English Language Arts scores showed 57.7 percent proficiency, according to the Pennsylvania School Performance Profile.

As a whole, Philadelphia School District’s ELA scores showed 38.9 percent proficiency, according to results on the PA DOE website.

Place the PSSA ELA scores against the English Language Learner populations. Despite scoring more than 30 percent higher than the district average, HCS’s ELA population is almost 20 percent higher, according to data from the PA DOE.

Another bilingual school, Antonia Pantoja Charter School, placed among the top performing Title I schools in Pennsylvania, according to Pa DOE Division of Federal Programs Chief Susan McCrone.

“This year, we will be using the approved ESEA Flexibility Waiver designation of ‘Reward: High Achievement’ and ‘Reward: High Progress,’” McCrone states. “High Achievement schools are the highest five percent of Title I schools based on aggregate math and reading PSSA or Keystone scores. High Progress schools are the highest five percent Title I schools based on a composite of the math and ELA PVAAS indices.”

In both the Hostos and Pantoja Charter Schools, economically disadvantaged students account for more than 72 percent of the student populations, and have numbers of both English Language Learners and Special Education students that are well above the state and city averages according to the schools’ PA School Performance Profiles. The historical outcomes for with students in the aforementioned demographics have been on the decline in most city schools over last five years and Hostos and Pantoja have made significant gains with those students in the same time frame.

The schools’ growth in PSSA performance indicators demonstrate the positive impacts potentially offered from bilingual education and show that all students can benefit from this educational model.