entering a school, the guest is surrounded by signs and symbols, often revealing identity and mission. One-fourth (25%) of responding principals report that prominent school symbols are intentionally culturally diverse and inclusive. And in 21% of responding schools, school signage is displayed in Spanish and English.
Worship Life
When asked about prayer and liturgical experiences, more than one-third of respondents (36%) reported the inclusion of Spanish-language components in school liturgies, and that school prayers are written and shared in Spanish (35%). Overall, 60% reported that school liturgies and prayers reflect and embrace the Hispanic culture in some ways.
Principals and school leaders who are fluent in Spanish, have participated in Hispanic ministry and theology training, or have participated in cultural competency training to work with Hispanic Catholics in the United States were substantially more likely to say that their school’s liturgies included Spanish-language components and that prayers are written and shared in Spanish.
Academic Culture
An inclusive academic culture is central to creating a culture of welcome and is marked by intentional programming to support and advance a diverse student population. Catholic schools often build on the principles of Catholic social teaching, which emphasizes human dignity and the common good, to develop service delivery systems that welcome all students. An inclusive approach is necessary where service delivery is integrated into the “heterogeneous school community” and where students’ needs are met in ways that keep them included rather than in manners that exclude them.32 A principal reported: “We think that parents want their kids to have roots and wings. Therefore we offer our immersion program in Spanish/English…Hispanic families/students are interested in a school that offers Spanish and other Hispanic cultural events that the children will not lose their roots.” This approach is the ideal. Yet our research reveals the predominant model among responding Catholic schools is not necessarily one of integration but one that relies on separation and an assumption that a second language is a deficit.
Over half of the respondents (58%) reported offering at least one or more programs for students who spoke Spanish at home. No one program was offered by all respondents but rather several programs were cited including: tutoring (43%), remedial instruction (40%), before- and after-school instruction (20%), pull-out programs for every grade (17%), and English as a foreign language programs (14%). Forty percent reported in-class assistance and 13% noted other programming. Only 4% of respondents indicated participation in a bilingual program, which research shows is one of the better instructional models for ensuring academic achievement for pre-K – 8 grades.33 Regionally, responding schools in the Northeast report the highest percentage (50%) for remedial instruction initiatives, 30% for second- language programs, and 26.7% offer pull-out programs. Only 20% of respondents in the Midwest provide before- and after-school instruction for students who speak Spanish at home. In the West almost half (46%) offer tutoring and 44% of respondents provide in-class assistance to this student population.
Respondents who indicated “other” available programs shared a variety of approaches while others explained that there is no need to provide such programs because the majority of their Hispanic students are bilingual and speak English. Alternatively, some respondents reported the requirements for Spanish classes and others described the use of Title I funding to support initiatives such as extended-year summer programs or extra tutoring. The use of instructional software (e.g., Rosetta Stone, Tell Me More) was noted as well as reading/resource programs and partnering with public schools for ELL services.
FIGURE 2
ACTIONS TO INCORPORATE SPANISH LANGUAGE AND HISPANIC CULTURE % OF RESPONDENTS ENGAGING IN EACH ACTIVITY
Supporting Families
Environments with little or no sense of welcome or acceptance lead to conditions where community members feel disconnected and marginalized. Unknowingly, some Catholic schools exhibit what has been described as a “chilly climate” when hosting Hispanic families. Study respondents reported a number of programming efforts designed to create responsive school cultures and enhance enrollment among Hispanic families. Targeted programs to intentionally create a sense of community for Hispanic families are cited as a desired strategy. One principal reported: “The school for its part needs to work on providing a culturally welcoming environment and move Hispanic parents into positions on the school board and parent guild that give the Hispanic population a voice in the school.” Another principal shared: “At our school we have started a Spanish PTO.…” Other respondents refer to positive responses to personal invitations, presenting information in Spanish and English, and being and speaking at Spanish Masses.
When asked directly about support for Hispanic families and the provision of bilingual materials, the responses varied. Overall, schools reported providing bilingual liturgies (21%), second-language classes for families (7%), and other initiatives (14%). These other initiatives included: prominent school signage displayed in Spanish and English; hosting Hispanic religious and cultural celebrations on occasions such as the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Día de los Muertos, or Cinco de Mayo; international/Spanish masses; specific parent programs such as parent teacher organizations in Spanish. Respondents were also asked if a language-development program was provided for families for whom language is a barrier. Some variations of these programs are offered at 31% of respondents’ schools. Other school leaders indicated that the school offers language-development programs through their affiliated parish, but not directly by the school.
Clearly, based on these examples, there are sincere intentions to create more inclusive environments; however, they appear to be in only a small percentage of the responding schools. Since a key defining characteristic of Catholic education is to create educational communities of persons and genuine communities of faith,34 these findings reinforce the need to actively welcome more Hispanic families into Catholic schools and to collaborate with them to achieve genuine intercultural community.
TWIN-CS
Two-Way Immersion Network for Catholic Schools
TWIN-CS is a major initiative profoundly transforming how Catholic schools serve culturally and linguistically diverse students. Former monolingual schools recognize today that bilingualism is an asset and acknowledge that the Two-Way Immersion (TWI) model provides an opportunity to “reflect the values of Catholic social teaching, emphasizing human dignity, the common good, and a preferential option for the marginalized.”35
TWI education aims at achieving the following three goals:
1. Academic excellence
2. Bilingualism and biliteracy
3. Cross-cultural appreciation36
Student populations are balanced among students whose native language is English and those whose mother tongue is the paired target language, typically Spanish. Students are grouped together, simultaneously building content knowledge while developing bilingualism and biliteracy.
Boston College, through the Roche Center for Catholic Education in the Lynch School of Education, launched TWIN-CS in 2012 with 11 member schools. Today 17 schools located in 11 states are part of the network, constituting 94% of all TWI Catholic schools in the United States.
Led by a design team of Boston College faculty, Roche Center professionals, and doctoral students, TWIN-CS schools have introduced a bilingual classroom to a new grade level each year.
