Are students in immersion programs screened?
As in most immersion programs, at the entry level there is no screening process. While most immersion educators believe that the program is suitable for learners of all ability levels, there is also general consensus that children with serious delay in first language development or auditory processing, auditory memory, or general auditory impairment should not be in an immersion program. The immersion program has unique aspects which may extend the process of identifying a student’s learning disability. The most appropriate time to show an academic delay is after one to two years of reading instruction. Since children begin Spanish reading in first grade, the optimal time for the school’s child study team to evaluate a child is usually at the beginning of second grade. Therefore, immersion students may not be eligible for some academic support programs until the formal introduction of English reading the second semester of second grade.
