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Key Findings

1. Teachers in two-way dual-language immersion classrooms consistently implemented key instructional practices targeted by the school district.
2. Teachers strongly adhered to guidelines about language use: For classes that were supposed to be taught in a partner language, teachers stayed in the partner language for the entire period in 57 percent of the observed classes; in 40 percent of the observed classes, they did so for almost the entire period.
3. Students were less consistent in their language use during partner language lesson activities: Students fully adhered to the partner language while speaking to teachers in 27 percent of the observed class periods; they did so while speaking to peers in only 20 percent of the observed class periods.

Dual-language immersion programs — in which students learn core subjects (language arts, math, science, and social studies) in both English and a "partner" language — have been gaining in popularity across the United States. Such programs may use a two-way model, in which roughly half the students are native speakers of the partner language and the other half are native speakers of English, or a one-way model, in which most students are native speakers of a single language. The growing demand for these programs is due in part to studies that have linked dual-language immersion to academic and cognitive benefits for students, regardless of their native language or socioeconomic status. Based on these findings, many educators and policymakers see dual-language immersion, and particularly two-way programs, as a promising way to close achievement gaps and foster academic success for English learners and other disadvantaged students.