COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE (Public)
Report No. 15-108
21 September 2015
French Instruction in Kindergarten and Primary Early French Immersion
Key Contacts: Susan MacDonald, Superintendent of Instruction, 613-596-8287
Nadia Towaij, Superintendent of Instruction, 613-596-8211, ext.8886
PURPOSE:
1.
To present, for discussion, proposed revisions to the delivery of kindergarten and
primary French to enhance instructional practice and equity of opportunity for
student learning involving:
 the amount of French instruction in kindergarten;
 the amount of French instruction Early French Immersion (EFI) grades 1 to
3; and
 the entry point to EFI.
CONTEXT:
2.
As of September 2014 full-day kindergarten (FDK) became available in all OCDSB
school sites that offer kindergarten. With FDK fully implemented we are now in a
position to consider important program refinements.
Children entering kindergarten vary in their levels of development and previous
learning experiences; recognizing this the overall expectations for the FDK
program are designed to be achieved by the end of two years in kindergarten. This
shift in thinking from discrete junior and senior kindergarten (SK) program
expectations to a two-year kindergarten experience necessitates that we reexamine the structure of kindergarten programs in the Ottawa-Carleton District
School Board in order to remove barriers to creating an optimal two-year learning
experience for our youngest students.
The proposed refinements to the kindergarten program will impact the amount of
French offered in both years of kindergarten, resulting in an opportunity to also
make refinements to the EFI program. The changes are recommended in order to
enhance equity of opportunity and access for all students to both program
pathways – English and EFI; and ensure that both pathways provide all students
with the opportunity to develop competency in English and French. This work flows
out of and is consistent with the principles of the French as a Second Language
(FSL) review undertaken by the Board in 2007, which resulted in greater
consistency in program delivery across the District and improved
accessibility/equity of access to FSL programs.
Report 15-108 French Instruction in Kindergarten and Primary Early French Immersion Page 1
In 2009, a working group consisting of central staff, teachers, instructional coaches
and administrators was established to determine an interim plan for French
instruction (Immersion and Core French) during the five-year implementation of
full-day kindergarten. In order to maintain consistency in the amount of French
instruction in the half-day and full-day kindergarten programs, the working group
recommended a 50/50 model in EFI SK and 20 minutes of daily French instruction
in the English kindergarten program, with the intention of revisiting the
recommendation at the end of the five year implementation of FDK.
KEY CONSIDERATIONS:
3.
Kindergarten and Primary French as Second Language Instruction Model
Currently at the OCDSB, the following delivery model is used for kindergarten and
primary FSL instruction
Grade
JK
SK
1
2
3
Minutes of French Instruction
English Program
Early French Immersion Program
20 min/day
20 min/day
20 min/day
150 min/day (50 percent)
40 min/day
300 min/day (100 percent)
40 min/day
240 min/day (80 percent)
40 min/day
240 min/day (80 percent)
Children in the first year of kindergarten currently receive 20 minutes of French
instruction daily. Under the current program pathway structure, parents are asked
to select either an EFI program or an English program at the end of junior
kindergarten (JK).
(Note: there are 300 minutes in the instructional day. In grades 2 and 3, English as
a subject is introduced to EFI students.)
4.
Kindergarten Configuration
The current model of EFI instruction, which has an entry point in the second year
of kindergarten, presents a significant challenge to creating a seamless two-year
kindergarten experience in the OCDSB. The program is different in terms of
language of instruction, and peer groups are separated into either English or EFI
classes at the end of the first year of their kindergarten program. This is
disadvantageous because research shows the importance of the potential for
forming relationships over two years of the kindergarten program, “Young children
experience their world in an environment of relationships, and these relationships
affect virtually every aspect of their development.” (National Scientific Council on
the Developing Child, 2004)
5.
Supporting Parents in Making Informed Program Choice
It is evident that parents in Ottawa are interested in early second language learning
opportunities for their children. Over the past five years, the trend in enrolment in
SK EFI as compared to the regular English SK program reflects a continued
increase in SK EFI registrations, from 60 percent in 2010 to 68 percent in 2015. It
is anticipated that this trend will continue in the District.
Issues to be addressed in program refinement
6.
Report 15-108 French Instruction in Kindergarten and Primary Early French Immersion Page 2
In reviewing the delivery of kindergarten and primary FSL instruction, several
issues required careful consideration:
 Supporting a 2 year kindergarten model – the FDK program is a two- year
program, but the current model of French language instruction is based on
the former JK/SK structure;
 Enhancing learning opportunities – programming should support and
enhance the development of strong oral language skills in English and
French in the early years;
 Equity of access and opportunity – ensuring the delivery model provides
equitable opportunity for all students to learn French, including English
Language learners and students with special needs;
 Numeracy – ensuring the program delivery model supports our commitment
to enhancing numeracy;
 Supporting Informed Parent Choice – ensuring the delivery model supports
parents in making program pathway decisions; and
 Staffing – ensuring the delivery model optimizes the allocation of staff
resources and balances class size.
7.
Amount of French Instruction in Kindergarten
The first issue of consideration was equity in the delivery of French instruction in
the full-day kindergarten program. The kindergarten curriculum provides for “rich
language activities and resources that build on prior knowledge, that are relevant
to the lives of young children, and that provide the opportunities for thinking,
problem solving and experimenting.” (The Full-Day Early Learning Kindergarten
Program 2010-2011, p.18) This is the optimal environment in which to develop oral
language skills that will form the basis for literacy, thinking and relating in both
French and English.
Moving to a 50 percent English and 50 percent French model in both years of
kindergarten in all schools would ensure all learners would experience a rich
foundation in both official languages that would prepare them to continue in either
the EFI or the English program in grade 1. A 50/50 program would also address
equity of access to program pathways, and provide parents with richer information
on which to select a program pathway (English or French Immersion) for their child
at the end of the kindergarten program, rather than in the middle of the program.
Following a 50/50 program, parents who have selected the English program for
their child at grade 1, can be confident that the strong foundation in French
established through the two-year kindergarten program will support the further
development of FSL proficiency through Core French. Likewise, students entering
the EFI program will continue to develop strong English language skills.
In consideration of the above, it is recommended that commencing in the
2016/2017 school year, the two-year kindergarten program in the OCDSB shift to a
50 percent English, 50 percent French delivery model.
8.
Amount of French Instruction in Grades 1-3 EFI
Currently, there is no English language instruction in grade 1 EFI. English
language instruction does not begin until grade 2 in EFI, where English as a
Report 15-108 French Instruction in Kindergarten and Primary Early French Immersion Page 3
subject is introduced for 60 minutes per day. This model continues for grade 3 EFI
students.
One of the challenges of the current model is that learning difficulties are often
more apparent once formal English instruction is introduced, but when this does
not occur until grade 2, valuable early intervention opportunities are missed.
French Immersion students in kindergarten and grade 1 in Ontario are generally
not assessed for reading problems until grades 2 or 3 when English is introduced.
This is disadvantageous as low achieving readers should be identified as early as
possible and provided with explicit sequenced activities to reinforce phonological
awareness. Furthermore, the gap in skills between students increases
unnecessarily during the earliest immersion years without intervention. (Wise and
Chen 2009)
The research surrounding effective intervention for struggling reading in French
Immersion suggests that (a) identifying children who may be struggling as readers
in their earliest years sets them up to experience success; (b) English tests of
phonological awareness can be effectively used for students in SK or grade 1 EFI;
(c) instructional interventions in English and French can then be implemented while
the gap between strong and weaker readers is small. (The Modern Languages
Council article “Inclusivity and Students with Special Education Needs”, 2014) At a
District level, the introduction of formal English language instruction in grade 1 EFI
will provide the opportunity for teachers to use the Levelled Literacy Intervention
(LLI) program, and other evidence informed interventions, with struggling readers
in kindergarten and grade 1.
Introducing 60 minutes of instruction in English (as a subject) to grade 1 EFI
students would address these issues and ensure continued development of strong
English skills in the EFI program, increasing opportunities for early literacy
intervention. This increase in English instruction, combined with a 50/50 program
in both years of kindergarten, will provide greater opportunities for identification of
learning difficulties in both English and French.
9.
Supporting Numeracy
Currently, the language of instruction for mathematics in grades 1-3 EFI is French.
However, the language of instruction for mathematics in grades 4-12 in all
programs in the District is English. This creates an important transition in learning
for students, which may affect achievement. As achievement in mathematics
continues to be an area of focus for improvement in our District, it is believed that
instruction of mathematics in the English language at the primary level would
support greater understanding, development and application of mathematics skills
and concepts.
A change to the delivery model to provide mathematics instruction in English in
primary EFI (grades 1-3) would better support our focus on early identification and
intervention of learning challenges in mathematics. It would also facilitate the ease
of transition from the primary division to the junior division as the language of
instruction in math is English in the junior, intermediate and senior divisions in the
OCDSB. This change is also supported by parental feedback collected in the 2007
OCDSB Review of French as a Second Language Programs, Elementary Phase.
Report 15-108 French Instruction in Kindergarten and Primary Early French Immersion Page 4
A higher proportion of parents responding that they believed that the best language
of instruction for mathematics in primary EFI, would be English (45 percent) versus
French (41 percent).
This change is also consistent with the practice in other high performing districts.
A number of the top achieving districts in Ontario with respects to provincial EQAO
mathematics outcomes provide instruction of mathematics exclusively in English at
the primary levels (Ottawa Catholic District School Board, Halton District School
Board). Principals frequently site the instruction of mathematics in French as a
determining factor shared by parents that make the decision to remove their
children from French Immersion.
10.
Recommended Changes to the Delivery Model
The current EFI program in the OCDSB vastly exceeds the number of French
instructional hours required by the Ministry of Education. The Ministry of Education
defines a program as EFI, if it meets the following two requirements:
(1) a minimum of 50 percent of the instruction is in French in every elementary
year once the Immersion program begins, and
(2) a minimum accumulated total of 3800 hours of instruction in French by the
end of grade 8.
The present model for the EFI program in the OCDSB has a total of 5546 hours of
French instruction by the end of grade 8, exceeding the Ministry requirements by a
total of 1746 hours.
The following changes are recommended to the EFI delivery model:
Grade
JK
SK
1
2
3
Grade
JK
SK
1
2
3
Current Model
Minutes of French Instruction
English Program
Early French Immersion Program
20 min/day
20 min/day
20 min/day
150 min/day (50 percent)
40 min/day
300 min/day (100 percent)
40 min/day
240 min/day (80 percent)
40 min/day
240 min/day (80 percent)
Proposed Model
Minutes of French Instruction
English Program
Early French Immersion Program
150 min/day (50 percent)
150 min/day (50 percent)
40 min/day
180 min/day (60 percent)
(60 minutes English and 60 minutes Math)
40 min/day
180 min/day (60 percent)
(60 minutes English and 60 minutes Math)
40 min/day
180 min/day (60 percent)
(60 minutes English and 60 minutes Math)
Report 15-108 French Instruction in Kindergarten and Primary Early French Immersion Page 5
This model achieves the following:
 Increases French instruction in JK for all students by 130 minutes per day
providing consistency in delivery of French instruction in JK/SK (50-50
model with 150 minutes per day);
 Increases the number of minutes of English language instruction for grade 1
students from 0 minutes per day to 120 minutes per day (French instruction
300 to 180 minutes); and
 Increases the number of minutes of English language instruction for grades
2 and 3 students from 60 to 120 minutes per day (French instruction 240 to
180 minutes).
Even with the proposed changes to the number of hours of French instruction in
EFI, the OCDSB program would exceed, by 1464 hours, the Ministry requirements.
There would also be a significant additional benefit achieved by increasing the
amount of French in the first year of the kindergarten program from 63 hours in the
current model to 470 hours in the proposed model. When you consider these
changes over the course of the student’s learning from JK to grade 8, the following
changes occur:
 French instruction for students in the English program increases from 1134
hours of instruction to 1948 (+814 hours); and
 French instruction for students in the EFI program decreases from 5,546
hours of instruction to 5,264 (-282 hours) however, this is still +1464 hours
in excess of the Ministry’s requirement for French Immersion programming.
11.
Ensuring Equity of Opportunity and Access
A culture that continually balances equity of opportunity and access for all is one of
the five goals of the OCDSB’s Strategic Plan 2015-2019. Students who have the
ability and confidence to communicate in both official languages have access to
numerous advantages. These advantages include greater employment options
and earning potential, enhanced problem solving skills, greater creativity, and
increased cognitive flexibility and ability to formulate concepts. (Alberta Education,
2009) Despite these advantages, not all sub-groups are represented equally in
French Immersion programs.
National studies have demonstrated that a greater proportion of families of high
socio-economic status enroll their children in French Immersion as compared to
English programs. (Final Report, Review of French as a Second Language
programs, Elementary Phase, OCDSB, September 2007, p. vii)
International assessment data shows a higher percentage of girls enrolled in
immersion, and this is consistent with OCDSB data indicating that there are 10
percent more girls in EFI than boys. (2009, French as a Second Language Report)
In terms of both English language learners and students with special needs, both
of these groups of students are represented at a lower rate of enrolment in
immersion as compared to the English program at district and national levels.
Students with special needs can learn second languages. As with other subjects,
they need accommodation, but there is nothing inherent in the learning of a second
language that precludes special needs students”. (Archibald, 2006)
Report 15-108 French Instruction in Kindergarten and Primary Early French Immersion Page 6
Despite research to the contrary and considerable work in our District to address
this issue, misconceptions persist that FSL programs are not suitable for English
Language Learners (ELL). This statement is not supported by research. In fact,
research indicates that exposing ELLs to FSL has a positive impact on their
English language acquisition. (Lapkin, Mady & Arnott, 2008, p.11) Other studies
have stated that learning a second language facilitates the learning of a third
language. (Hoti et al., 2011)
At the end of a bilingual two-year kindergarten program, students will be prepared
to continue building their language skills, in both French and English, in either the
Immersion or English/Core French pathway. Further refinements to the EFI
program in grades 1 to 3 are suggested to increase opportunities for
accommodations, based on earlier identification of learning needs.
RESOURCE IMPLICATIONS:
12.
Staffing
In addition to the learning and equity benefits already discussed, the proposed
recommendations would result in benefits from a school organization and staffing
perspective. Based on the 2014-2015 enrolment data, adopting the 50/50 model in
both years of kindergarten would result in an overall reduction of 5 kindergarten
homerooms, a savings of approximately $500,000. This savings is because of
greater flexibility in being able to create combined classes across the District.
Under the current model, first year kindergarten students cannot be combined with
second year EFI kindergarten students, and students in EFI cannot be combined
with students in the second year of the English kindergarten program. Although
there would be 5 fewer classes across the District, class sizes could be more
evenly distributed as there would no longer be sites in dual-track schools with class
size discrepancies between the two programs.
Using the 2014-2015 enrolment numbers, the 50/50 kindergarten model would
result in a decrease of 101 English FTE teachers and a gain of 95 FTE FSL
teachers. This change would be mitigated entirely through the proposed
introduction of 300 minutes a week of English language instruction in grade 1 EFI,
and the change in the language of instruction of mathematics at the primary EFI
level (grades 1-3) from French to English.
13.
Financial
In addition to the potential for positive impacts on student learning and well-being,
there would also be positive financial implications associated with the adoption of a
50/50 kindergarten model. The District would receive an additional $2 million in
revenue based on 2014-2015 enrolment data as a result of the additional FSL
grant. It is also unlikely that the OCDSB would experience any decline in
enrolment as a result of this program change, as our coterminous English board
also offers a 50/50 program in both years of kindergarten.
The option to decrease the proportion of French language in the primary EFI
program would not impact the funding for students in grades 1-3 as they would still
meet both the annual requirement regarding the proportion of French hours, as
well as the overall hours by grade 8 to be defined as an Immersion program.
Report 15-108 French Instruction in Kindergarten and Primary Early French Immersion Page 7
An initial investment in English Mathematics resources for primary French
Immersion classes, and French resources for English kindergarten classes, would
be required as a result of the proposed changes. It is also anticipated that there
will be the need for some professional learning opportunities for teachers required
as a result of the proposed changes.
COMMUNICATION/CONSULTATION:
14.
This kind of program change requires effective community consultation with both
internal and external stakeholders. In order to make decisions in time for
implementation in the 2016-2017 school year, a decision is required prior to
kindergarten registration in January. To meet this timeline, preliminary discussions
have been scheduled with principals and the Ottawa-Carleton Elementary
Teachers’ Federation (OCETF).
A more detailed consultation plan will be presented to COW on 6 October.
Currently the following approach is being considered:
Decision Making timelines:
21 September Discussion report to COW
6 October
Consultation plan presented to Board
17 November Report on Consultation to COW with recommendations
24 November Report to Board – approval of recommendations
Consultation Strategy:
The consultation will invite feedback both electronically and through established
stakeholder meetings, plus an additional series of consultation meetings hosted in
dual track schools in different locations across the District.
1 October
2 October
3 October
14 October
15 October
21 October
22 October
1-31 October
Electronic communication to all elementary teachers, early
childhood educators, and educational assistants advising of the
proposed changes and inviting feedback electronically
Announce consultation to school councils, parents, and
stakeholders through website, school council newsletter and
school newsletters
Consultation session 1:00 p.m. at end of School Council Training
Day
Presentation to Parent Involvement Committee (PIC)
Presentation Ottawa Carleton Assembly of School Council (OCASC)
Presentation to Special Education Advisory Committee (SEAC)
Presentation to Advisory Committee on Equity (ACE)
Possible School Council agenda item
Report 15-108 French Instruction in Kindergarten and Primary Early French Immersion Page 8
STRATEGIC LINKS:
15.
The District is committed to its strategic plan to reduce barriers to learning to
improve equity of access and opportunity for all students, and to improve and
increase access to the educational pathways for every student.
GUIDING QUESTIONS:




Why is kindergarten an ideal environment for developing foundational oral
language skills in both official languages?
How might the change in the language of instruction of Mathematics in
primary EFI contribute to improved student achievement?
How would the proposed changes improve equity of access to both the
English and French Immersion Program pathways?
How would the proposed changes support the early identification, and
intervention, of learning difficulties in both literacy and numeracy?
SUBMITTED FOR DISCUSSION
Susan MacDonald
Superintendent of Instruction
(ext. 8287)
Jennifer Adams
Director of Education and
Secretary of the Board
Nadia Towaij
Superintendent of Instruction
(ext. 8886)
Report 15-108 French Instruction in Kindergarten and Primary Early French Immersion Page 9