Opinion

Committee Did Its Research
I am a parent of children at Shelter Rock Elementary School and a member of the Foreign Language Committee. I am responding to a Feb. 1 letter to the editor regarding the extension of a foreign language program to second-graders.
It bothers me that the Foreign Language Committee is accused of not "re-evaluating the program to see if it could be expanded more rapidly." This accusation occurs as I sit at my desk looking at three inches of research gathered over one and a half years' time. The authors of the previous letter are all mothers of first-graders. Only one of the authors has asked me about our recommendations and not one has asked me what research the committee has done. I can appreciate these parents wanting to extend the program to their children, but their suggested solution does not have as its basis the best interest of the community and all students. Other parents may argue why not add the program to the third, fourth, fifth and sixth grades, too?
The Foreign Language Committee was formed in September of 1999 to evaluate the possibility of starting a foreign language program in our elementary schools. The impetus for its formation was a $50,000 grant by the Tower Foundation to start the program. The committee is composed of parents, faculty and administration. The committee's goal is to build a foreign language program that would provide our high school graduates fluency, enabling them to be multi-lingual in a global community.
Offering foreign language instruction to all grades in both schools at once is a wonderful thought. Unfortunately, a successful program that has expanded quickly has not been found and, in fact, too-quick expansion is cited as a reason for failure of many programs.
Some reasons too rapid an expansion fails, include:
€ Failure of finding foreign language and elementary certified teachers.
€ Development of too many different curricula at once.
€ Not incorporating foreign language programs into the elementary curriculum.
€ Not providing enough time into the school program for foreign language.
€ Not preparing the middle and high school curricula for students with a foreign language background.
The committee does realize the importance in trying to provide as many students as possible with foreign language teaching. We are currently reviewing the impact of adding this program to other grades that may not cause as much disruption at the upper schools (ex. sixth grade).
I have forwarded three articles that provide an overview of the many articles we reviewed to all the mothers who wrote the previous letter. I will happily answer any questions they may have.
Every member on the committee is saddened that we have researched and found that to extend the program to all grades would jeopardize the program's success. I have a first-grader and a second-grader who will not benefit from learning a foreign language in their elementary school. Unlike the authors of the letter, I have done my research and made my decision with the other members of the foreign language committee in the best interest of all the students in our schools.
Maria Misthos, MD