Horne debuts new data analysis at State Board of Education meeting proving English immersion is superior to dual language

For immediate release: October 23, 2023
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Newsrooms: Charts with data are attached.

Horne debuts new data analysis at State Board of Education meeting proving English immersion is superior to dual language

Proficiency rates soar with immersion method

PHOENIX – State schools superintendent Tom Horne revealed a new data analysis at today’s State Board of Education meeting that conclusively demonstrates that structured English immersion is far superior for the academic success of students as opposed to dual language.

Horne stated, “In 2000, the voters overwhelmingly passed an initiative to require structured English immersion, not bilingual education for English Language Learners. When I took office in 2003, my predecessors had not enforced that initiative. I was the first one to do so. We just completed current analysis comparing the five dual language schools with the best scores to the five structured English immersion schools. Both historic and current data demonstrate that structured English immersion is far superior for the academic performance of students as compared to dual language.”

He continued, “Lisa Graham Keegan, who was schools chief from 1995 to 2001 had reported to the legislature that, under bilingual education, only 4 percent of students became proficient in English in one year. After I had an opportunity to implement structured English immersion and teachers were trained in its implementation, the rate of proficiency in one year soared to 31 percent for the three-year average room from 2008 to 2011. “

Horne added, “Chart two in this analysis compares the five top English immersion schools in blue with a five top dual language schools in orange. One compares the top structured English immersion school on the right side with the top dual language school on the right side of the orange bars, the second highest on the right, with the second highest in orange, and so on. Generally speaking, the structured English immersion schools perform approximately three times better than the dual language schools.”

He concluded: “For people whose focus is on the academic performance of students, and who studied the data, it is clear that structured English version is vastly superior to dual language. Those advocating dual language are focused an ideology, rather than what is academically best for students.”

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