Seventh International Conference on Immersion and Dual Language Education

Strand III: Program Design, Development and Evaluation

Not language specific

Middle School/Junior High

As cohorts of elementary school students articulate from elementary school to middle school, districts across the country are struggling to identify a continuation plan that both meets the content and language development needs of students and also fits within the complex scheduling paradigm of the middle school. Come learn how Gwinnett County Public Schools in Georgia plans to meet these challenges as our first cohort of students leave elementary school and enter middle school. During this session we will discuss briefly our elementary program model and its results and move quickly into more detailed discussion of the many factors taken into consideration in developing our middle school model incliding; hiring and certification, Gifted Education, ESOL, Special Education, balancing student interests, parent expectations, refining of language with an eye toward AP, and other factors affecting our program design. This session will provide many opportunities for open discussion and Q&A.