Is Language Lab a Good Idea for Berkeley Schools?

made a huge stride last year, meeting all of its state and federal academic achievement targets for the first time.

Principle Paco Furlan attributes the rising student success rate to a number of changes at the school, including the new "Language Lab" program.

All students participate in this 40-minute session four days a week. The program is intended to provide intensive literacy training to classes of five to twenty children per teacher, grouping students by ability level. English language learners focus on their English skills, while students in the two-way immersion program practice their Spanish. Students excelling in English take part in enrichment classes, reading and discussing works of literature, while struggling students take part in reading intervention sessions.

The result was 10 percent more students reaching Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) targets in 2010-11, according to Furlan. In addition, the school's Academic Performance Index (API) score surpassed 800 for the first time. 

As part of Berkeley Patch's series on the strategies behind the successes at Berkeley schools, we would like to hear from parents, teachers and community members about Language Lab and the idea of daily intensive literacy coaching. 

Does your child participate in Language Lab at Rosa Parks or a similar program at another school? Tell us about your experience.

If not, do you think these intensive literacy sessions should be expanded to all Berkeley schools? Or should the two hours and 40 minutes a week be spent on something else? Let us know in the comments.

If you're a Rosa Parks parent or teacher who would like to share their thoughts on Language Lab, or a parent or teacher in the district with opinions about the concept, please contact us at Berkeley@patch.com.