Faculty from the U of A world languages and education programs met with the new Arkansas Secretary of Education, Jacob Oliva, on Feb. 21 to present the Spanish language roadmap report they developed and discuss collaborative opportunities to move the needle in world language education statewide.

Attending the meeting were Freddie Bowles, professor of curriculum and instruction and current president of the Arkansas Foreign Language Teacher Association; and faculty of the Department World Languages, Literatures and Cultures, including Chair Linda Jones and professors Raquel Castro Salas and Luis Fernando Restrepo.

Oliva, who previously served in top educational positions in Florida, including interim commissioner of the state's Department of Education, has seen first-hand the positive results of dual language education and International Baccalaureate Programs.

"The data of schools like the Dreamers Academy of Sarasota, Florida, a dual language public charter school, clearly support the overall academic benefits of these programs," Oliva said. 

Professors Bowles and Restrepo mentioned that they participated in the successful establishment of the Arkansas Seal of Biliteracy, led by Tina Howlett, a U of A assistant professor of TESOL Education at the time, and representatives from the Arkansas Foreign Language Teacher Association, Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages programs and the Arkansas Department of Education. Since 2018, the seal has awarded certificates to nearly 5,000 students from 100 high schools across the state for their proficiency in English and 24 other languages.

Professor Castro Salas, who co-directs Sin Límites, a biliteracy service-learning program for elementary-level Spanish heritage speakers, highlighted the importance of starting language programs at the elementary level. In October 2023, world language professors Restrepo, Castro Salas and Magnetti published the bilingual report, Arkansas Participation in a 500 Million People Community. Building Capacity for Spanish Teaching Statewide, funded by a Chancellors Humanities and Performance Arts Grant. 

The group discussed forming an ad hoc committee in collaboration with the Arkansas Department of Education to gather the information necessary to start dual language programs in Arkansas. There are nearly 5,000 dual language programs in the nation, but there are no such programs in Arkansas to date. The promising news is that Act 663 of 2021 makes it possible to implement such programs in Arkansas schools.

For more information on the forming dual language ad hoc committee, contact professor Freddie Bowles at fbowles@uark.edu or Luis Fernando Restrepo at lrestr@uark.edu.