The Future of Dual Language

With the integration of the Early College High School (ECHS) program, the future of the dual language program may face a significant decline in students, staff and longevity. As students begin to choose Early College over Dual Language, each generation decreases in number. 

“Over the course of the past two years, roughly from the past two generations, we’ve seen a drop off for Dual Language and a gain towards ECHS of about 10-15 students,” Dual Language department head Jose Rodriguez said.

Since its integration, many incoming middle school students have begun to choose Early College over Dual Language, as ECHS has more perks than Dual does. This competition is the main reason for the decrease in class sizes, courses provided, and teachers available. 

“The main factor here on MacArthur campus is obviously the competition of ECHS, it’s hard to compete with an almost free degree in a sense,” Rodriguez said. 

Another factor contributing to the decrease in students is the distance of the school from students’ home campuses. Students who attend middle schools such as Lopez or Eisenhower would have to sacrifice their time to a long drive in order to attend the program. 

“Across all the other middle school campuses, it’s really hard to convince certain dual language students to move on from their home pipeline,” Rodriguez said. “With Reagan in particular, the biggest reason is distance- it’s a good 20-30 minute drive for them, so it’s a big sacrifice. We have had students from there in the past, but it’s challenging.”

Staff losses have also contributed to the ongoing decrease. The unfilled teacher positions in Dual Language are quite hard to fill, as someone with certain qualifications, such as Spanish speaking and certified in a certain subject, has to be found. 

“Even this past year, for example, we lost Mr. Cintron, our history teacher, and finding someone with all those qualifications is extremely difficult,” Rodriguez said. “We were able to find someone for science, but we’re splitting that person between chemistry and iCSI.”

Recruiting efforts have been made over the years, such as hosting parent meetings at the high school level and visiting middle schools to influence more middle school students to continue in Dual. 

“Through elementaries it’s still being advertised. It still hosts a couple of parent meetings throughout the year, the same thing with the middle school level, and then we have some parent meetings at the high school level,” Rodriguez said. “We’ve tried to increase our recruiting efforts as far as high school goes, so for the past few years we’ve visited each middle school in hopes of recruiting more Dual Language students to continue in the program.”

The opportunity for a thriving Dual Language program is still alive as efforts to provide more advanced class options in Dual, such as dual credit classes. The addition of these courses may lead to an increase in students who stay in the program, as they add more value and perks to the program. 

“I would just like to add that the opportunity to have a very successful dual language program here at Mac is there,” Rodriguez said. “ I know it’s really hard to grasp the attention of other students who are going through different school pipelines, but I think it’s there, it’s possible. I believe it.”