Cobb School Board Hears Dual-Immersion Supporters at Meeting

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Parents who would like to see their youngsters be taught lessons in a second language during their formative years turned out to support the proposal during Thursday’s Cobb County Board of Education meeting.

Supporters of the proposal laid out by new Smyrna-area school board member Susan Thayer took to the podium during the public comment session and asked the board to continue to examine the matter and to give it final approval soon enough that elementary dual-immersion education could begin by the start of next year.

According to the Marietta Daily Journal, Thayer asked the district’s chief accountability and research officer Greg Ewing to investigate dual-immersion programs at other school systems and to determine how best to implement a similar program for Cobb County.

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Ewing presented his findings to the board during a work session held on March 15. According to the MDJ, the full dual-immersion program Ewing described consists of elementary school students being taught in a foreign language for half of the school day, followed by English instruction for the other half. Schools would be able to choose which foreign language it provides for immersion, and teachers who provide the immersion instruction must also be qualified to teach other subjects.

Studies have shown consistently that students who are exposed to a second language at an early age not only have an easier time mastering the new language, but also have improved English and math skills, the MDJ said.

Should the Board of Education eventually sign off on a dual-immersion program, elementary school principals would reach out to their parent communities to determine what language their children should be taught. It would then be up to each school to find qualified teachers.