Stbmom, I will happily believe that you meant no harm by your comments. In addition, I see that we agree on a lot of issues. I worry a lot about the new immigrant children in my son's school. I see how bright they are and yet they get discouraged because they are not able to show what they know because of the language and cultural barriers. (The standardized tests have so much cultural bias, it is truly appalling, which I think accounts for some of the discouraging data you quote.) And when they get discouraged and frustrated they drop out.
That is why I love the idea of the dual-immersion programs; it allows the immigrant children to ease into American school, while allowing them to learn academic content, instead of waiting until they get fluent in English before they can really learn and show what they know. It also allows English speaking children to learn a new language and culture (and I hope appreciate differences, as you said). Although, I have not seen the data, I would hope that this approach would allow the immigrant children to "track" higher. I think that by putting our children in such a program, whenever we can, we are not only supporting our children, but also other children in our community who need us.
Frankly, I have my son in a mixed level, ethnically diverse, public school primarily because we do value differences. I feel that he has much to learn and much to contribute in that envirnoment, even if it does mean that he has less academic challenge. We just try to make up for the difference at home.
Cheers!
