Mom feels HISD doesn't 'want us to advance' amid shift in 50-50 teaching method

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Houston parents like Jessica Campos are angry, claiming HISD dual-language schools are moving away from the 50-50 teaching method and shifting to focus more on English.

"This is how the students are coming home feeling like they are dumb, like they are not smart enough," Campos said.

Campos is a mother to a Pugh Elementary School student and volunteers with other students. She said they're telling her some subjects at the dual-language school are now only being taught in English, impacting students' ability to keep up and learn.

"It almost feels like they are doing this on purpose to us. Like, they don't want us to advance. Like, they don't want us to have two languages," Campos said.

In a statement, HISD said in dual-language classes from third through fifth grade, reading is taught in Spanish every other period and that they are dedicated to sticking with the 50-50 model. They also said teachers are granted the flexibility necessary to give additional time to support students learning.

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This statement is a shift from previous remarks made by HISD Superintendent Mike Miles to our partners at the Houston Chronicle, who said he wouldn't be tied to the 50-50 model even if it meant losing funding.

"It's problematic for students' identities, for students' attitudes towards school, but above all, it's detrimental to their learning in English," Melissa Gallagher, a professor at the University of Houston who studies bilingual and dual-language learning, said.

She says that by far, the 50-50 method is proven to be the way to go.

"Trying to force kids to try and decode in English when they have Spanish as a resource is contrary to any linguistic approach. Spanish is so much more phonetic and decodable. So teaching kids to read in Spanish and then having them transfer those skills into English is one of the best ways to build on phonics between the two languages and leverage the home language as a resource," Gallagher said.

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