Center for Research on Education, Diversity and Excellence

Elementary two-way immersion (TWI) programs continue to proliferate throughout the United States, but the number of successfully implemented secondary TWI programs remains small. Many districts with TWI cohorts that are reaching the upper elementary grades must now make complex decisions about whether and how to extend their programs into middle school and high school. For this report, telephone interviews were conducted with project coordinators from seven schools that have secondary TWI programs. Their responses provide a preliminary sense of the key challenges confronting TWI programs operated above the elementary level along with some experience-based options for meeting these challenges. Issues addressed include program planning; language distribution, curriculum and materials; student participation and motivation; attrition and late entries; student scheduling; teams, clusters, and houses; staffing; transportation; and parent involvement. A general overview of each program is included.