April 2013

Purpose of the Survey Provide opportunity for all Herndon Elementary constituents to give feedback on the proposed transition from French Partial Immersion to Spanish Two-Way Immersion. Gather specific information about potential impacts (positive and negative) of changing the current language program. Provide quantitative and qualitative data to the school administration to inform final decision.

Respondents 294 Total Respondents Responses collected via survey: March 14 – 27, 2013

Respondents Report on Interest in Child Learning a 2 nd Language Are you interested in your child learning a second language? N = 289 Not At AllMaybeSomewhatVery Much 2.4%6.2%5.9%85.5%

Respondents Report on Current Participation in the French Program Does your child currently participate in the French Partial Immersion Program? N = 283

Respondents Report Interest in Participation in the French Program If your child currently is not in the French Partial Immersion Program, are you interested in your child participating? N = 159* Not At AllMaybeSomewhatVery Much 24.5%15.7%9.4%50.3% *Represents only qualified responses (i.e., those answering “No” to the prior question)

Respondents Report Age of Child If you answered “Somewhat” or “Very Much,” what age is your child? N = 79* PreschoolKindergarten 49.4%50.6% *Represents only qualified responses (i.e., those answering “Somewhat” or “Very Much” to the prior question)

Respondents Report Previous Participation in the French Program Has your child previously participated in the French Partial Immersion Program at Herndon ES? N = 246

Respondents Report Reason for Leaving French Partial Immersion Program If your child no longer participates in the French Partial Immersion Program, please indicate the reason(s) why he or she left the program. N = 60 Too much pressure to learn a second language Second language not needed Interferes with learning English Not enough time to study other school subjects Too early in schooling process to start a second language Other 15.0%1.7%5.0% 13.3%*60.0% * 36.7% NA; 11.7% Program not well suited for student; 8.3% Child no longer attends school; and 3.3% Issue with the program organization

Respondents Report Interest in Participation in the Spanish Program Are you interested in your child participating in the Spanish Two-Way Immersion Program? N = 252 Not At AllMaybeSomewhatVery Much 36.1%15.1%8.3%40.5%

Respondents Report Age of Child if Interested in Spanish Program If you answered “Somewhat” or “Very Much,” what age is your child? N = 93* PreschoolKindergarten 60.2%39.8% *Represents only qualified responses (i.e., those answering “Somewhat” or “Very Much” to the prior question)

Respondents Report How They Became Aware of the Proposal How did you become aware of the proposal to phase out the French Partial Immersion Program and phase in the Spanish Two-Way Immersion Program? N = 264 PTA Meetings School Admin. Teachers Other Staff From Parents Thursday Packet From Letters Home Community Meetings Other Respondents were able to select multiple responses to this question. The numbers represent the number of respondents selecting each response.

12 Major Themes from the Feedback 81 supported the proposal. 49 supported the current French program. 33 did not support the proposal. 31 suggested having both languages. 24 said teaching Spanish is a way to serve the greater community. 22 displeased with the proposal process. 20 felt Spanish is a more useful language. 16 concerned about having siblings in different language programs. 12 concerned about the resources for the language program. 11 expressed that the decision is being made too soon. 10 felt demographics should not be a factor in the decision making. 10 wanted more information about the details of the proposal.

Additional Analysis Further analysis revealed that support for the proposed Spanish Two-Way Immersion program was impacted by whether the respondent has a child in the French Partial Immersion program: Those who had students in the program were less likely to support the new proposal than those whose students did not participate.