Ratios matter

There is a lot of confusion and discussion about best practices for language immersion programs. One area is the talk around ratios - student/teacher ratios, English to Mandarin instruction time, and student body ratios of English-proficient kids to Mandarin-proficient kids.

Right now, my child is in a 50:50 program. Half the day is taught in English and the other half is taught in Mandarin. But our school does not have any requirements around student body ratios. In fact, I would say that the one thing they don't allow are students who are from households that are non-English-proficient. So technically, this would be called a One-Way Immersion program, wherein the instruction goes "one way" from teacher to student. This "one-way" term is for the "language immersion" part. (Don't confuse it with all the talk about "flipped" classrooms or "multi-modal" learning, etc.)

Dual immersion programs, or "two-way," are required to have specific student body ratios in order to be effective. The most ideal is considered the 1/3 split - i.e., that in a single classroom, the students are comprised of groups of kids who are 1) English-proficient only, 2) bilingual in both English and Mandarin, and 3) Mandarin-proficient only. The 1/3 split means that each of these 3 groups would be equal in number in that single classroom. This is what is then called "balanced."

But since many MI programs these days are taking root in communities with a severe shortage of Mandarin-proficient kids, then some programs have resorted to the 50/50 ratio. Half kids from English-proficient backgrounds and half from Mandarin-proficient. Whether the Mandarin-proficient kids are English-proficient or not is ignored. And whether the English-proficient kids are proficient in some other language altogether is ignored. Sort of.

Dual programs are also usually tiered in the instructional language mix, heavily weighted in the minority language in the early years K-3, and then going to a 50:50 day in 4th grade. Fourth and 5th grades are then 50:50, while 6-8th grades are reduced further to 20-30% of their day or even less.

My child used to be in one of these programs for K-2. We switched during 2nd grade (for multiple reasons which I'll illuminate because these are the problems with MI programs that parents need to watch out for). The program we were in was supposed to use the Dual Language Immersion model. But they did not keep to the student body ratios, not the 1/3 rule and certainly not the 50/50 one. This resulted in a very unbalanced classroom for which there was no hope for the poor teacher.

That brings us to the student-teacher ratios. The program we are in right now has 2 Mandarin teachers per 20 kids. So for that half day of instruction time, there are 2 adults tending to 20 kids (sometimes less, given attrition). This was not the case in the previous program. That school had a student-teacher ratio of 22 to 1. Yikes.

There are other schools with this student-teacher ratio but they are going with a 50/50 instructional day model. This can make a big difference. The thing is, the kids need something to grab onto as they progress. Parents make the mistake of thinking kids are very compliant and well-behaved from ages 5 to 6 and then to 7 and 8. They are not. Without being intellectually engaged, then kids fall off the tracks, tune out and make trouble. With so much instruction in a language they don't really understand, then they don't develop. With a classroom student body that is so heavily skewed toward kids who don't understand the language of instruction, then either they need more attention from adults guiding them toward the right direction, or they need more time in English so that they can follow instructions, feel successful, and develop intellectually.

Feeling successful is critical. That is why the ratios are critical. Feeling successful is tied to engaging in a language that you understand. Unfortunately, "feeling successful" at MI programs that are so improperly implemented has meant a total dumbing down of the curriculum, which translates into a total dumbing down of the entire school day.

But all that for another day. Today's post is focused on Ratios. Ratios are critical to the success of a Mandarin Immersion program. Don't let anyone tell you anything different. If your program doesn't have the right student body ratio, then that set of conditions needs to be met with a different instructional day ratio and/or student-teacher ratio.