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• Position: UPFRONT - Splash language-immersion program - Column

Last month, I joined business and education leaders to see firsthand how global learning takes place in a local school. In the Splash language-immersion program at Sun Valley Elementary in Monroe, 90% of the core curriculum is taught in Spanish. While mastering basic courses, kids become bilingual and biliterate. It's definitely not your father's lectura, escritura and aritmetica. But there's more to it than that.

Not only do these students learn a second language, a valuable tool they need to compete in an increasingly interconnected world, but the rigorous academic standards that are required hone their skills in their native tongue as well as other subjects. "In Splash classrooms, our teachers use a balanced literacy model," Karl Rectanus says. "This includes equal time on reading, writing and word recognition/vocabulary. So in terms of research findings, the data is stronger for the end-of-grade reading tests starting in third grade. Since our work reinforces English language arts common-core standards, which have a particular focus on critical thinking and application in writing, we have high confidence in the teachers' reports about increased writing ability"

Rectanus is director of partnerships for Chapel Hill-based VIF International Education, part of The Center for International Education Inc., which creates global-learning programs and coordinates teacher-exchange programs. More than half the language-immersion programs in the state use VIF Splash. Results from 2011 end-of-grade exams showed their students outperformed those in traditional class settings...