Twenty-one North Carolina schools spread across 11 districts recently received awards from the Howard N. Lee Institute and VIF International Education for efforts in language immersion programs.
VIF International Education presented the 2012 Champions of Equity and Opportunity in Education awards.
The schools were honored for utilization of VIF’s “Splash” language program which is designed to help students become bilingual and to also become more globally aware.
The honored schools:
- Elon, Smith and South Graham in Alamance-Burlington;
- Glen Arden in Buncombe;
- E. E. Miller, Owen, Howard Hall and Morganton Road in Cumberland;
- E. Iredell in Iredell-Statesville;
- Selma and Cooper in Johnston;
- Eastfield in McDowell;
- Forest Hills in New Hanover;
- Clyde Erwin, Hunters Creek and Sand Ridge in Onslow;
- Hopewell in Randolph;
- Marvin, Shiloh and Sun Valley in Union;
- Jeffreys Grove in Wake
The program has “generated remarkable gains in advancing student achievement,” according to VIF. “The results from the 2011 end-of-grade examinations found that students in Splash classrooms continue to outpace non-immersion peers in their schools on standardized tests, regardless of their background or socio-economic status. Of the programs with tested students, 85 percent passed the reading exam and 95 percent passed math, 23 and 11 percent higher, respectively, than their peers.”
