As we head into the winter holiday break, we wish all of our students, families, and staff a restful and joyful time of celebration. For those who may need support over the break, mental health resources can be found at SummitK12.org.
 

This month, we are excited to share encouraging news that affirms a long-standing Summit School District commitment: dual language education is a powerful, proven pathway to long-term academic success.
 

The Biliteracy Payoff: Long-Term Outcomes for Dillon Valley's Dual Language Graduates
 

For years, our educators have championed biliteracy, knowing that the true benefits of dual language instruction take time to emerge. Now,  large-scale national research and our own local data from Dillon Valley Elementary (DVE) confirm what we’ve long believed—biliteracy leads to long-term academic achievement.
 

A Breakthrough in Biliteracy Research
 

Renaissance Learning, in partnership with the Literacy Squared team at the University of Colorado Boulder, recently released groundbreaking research based on assessment data from over 13,000 dual language students across the U.S. The findings provide a “biliteracy trajectory”—a clear roadmap for understanding how students build literacy in two languages over time.
 

Key findings:

• Biliteracy development takes time, typically about six years to approach grade-level proficiency in a second language.
• Students in dual language programs often outperform monolingual peers by middle school.
• Bilingual learners must not be measured by monolingual standards—true progress involves transferable skills across both languages.

Dillon Valley's Data Mirrors the Research
 

Using this framework, we’ve tracked students who spent five or more years in DVE’s dual language program and followed their performance through middle and high school.

• Native English speakers: DVE students begin outperforming district peers in ELA by 4th–5th grade. By 6th grade, 75.0% met the CMAS reading and writing benchmark, compared to 55.6% district-wide on last year’s state assessment.
• Native Spanish speakers: These students take a longer path, consistent with second-language research, but by 8th grade, 20.8% met the CMAS reading and writing benchmark, compared to 6.8% of their peers.
• The accelerated achievement continues into high school. On the Evidence-Based Reading and Writing (EBRW) portion of the PSAT/SAT, 83.9% of DVE native English speakers met the college readiness benchmark this year, outpacing the district average of 75.2%. And 33.3% of DVE native Spanish speakers met the college readiness benchmark, exceeding the district average of 24.0%. These students spent their elementary years learning to read in two languages, and by high school, they're leading their peers.

Why This Matters Now
 

Until now, we lacked both the data and tools to explain to families what “on track” looks like for bilingual students. The new research allows us to move beyond early-grade comparisons and instead focus on the full trajectory of student growth.

The research helps explain why: dual language programs allow Spanish-speaking students to build on the linguistic assets they bring to school rather than treating their home language as an obstacle to overcome.
 

Summit School District will continue to:

• Support families in understanding that biliteracy is a journey
• Provide professional learning for teachers to apply biliteracy-informed practices
• Use long-term data to evaluate and strengthen our dual language programming
• Ensure that our dual language program serves students of all backgrounds

We are deeply grateful to the families who have chosen this path, the dedicated educators who make it possible, and the students who show us every day what bilingual excellence looks like.
 

Our dual language students reflect our Graduate Profile: they are courageous, curious, globally aware, and prepared for a future that values bilingualism and cultural competence.
 

Looking Ahead: Silverthorne Elementary
 

While Dillon Valley’s data covers many years, our growing dual language program at Silverthorne Elementary is also showing strong momentum. The school exited turnaround status in just two years, and as current students move through the program, we expect to see similar long-term success. We’re proud of the progress and excited for what’s ahead.

With gratitude,
Dr. Tony Byrd
Superintendent, Summit School District

Laura Cosapas

Chief Transformation Officer