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Education Minister Kelly Lamrock wishes to thank all those who took time to submit comments.

Please note that we will only post submissions from people who have given us explicit consent to do so. We will not post the following:

Submissions received on-line that indicate "Not public" on the web form
Submissions sent direct by email, letter or fax which do not explicitly ask us to post their comments or which divulge personal information about third parties (in order to comply with the Protection of Personal Information Act)
Submissions that contain statements considered to be defamatory, libelous, hateful, or of a commercial nature.
Duplicate submissions

Please also note that because each submission must be reviewed in the context of the above, there will normally be a time lag of between 2-3 days between receiving a submission and posting it on the website.

As of 4:30 p.m. Friday, July 25, 2008, the French Second Language consultation has concluded. Any comments received after that time will not be posted, but will be brought to the Minister's attention.

Improving French Second Language Programming Within a Quality Education System(pdf)

Comments appear in the language received.

Je pense que l'immersion précoce ne peut pas être abolie, car ce programme connaît un très bon succès, contrairement à ce que vous dites. Je pense que le français intensif est aussi une bonne idée, car le Core French ne fonctionne absolument pas. Toutefois, ce nouveau programme ne doit pas remplacer un programme qui fonctionne bien.

Vous pourriez rendre le français intensif obligatoire pour tous les élèves et avoir une voie enrichie pour les élèves d'immersion précoce. Si vous visez le 70% de bilinguisme, vous ne pouvez pas abolir l'immersion précoce, car je vous assure que le bilinguisme sera à la baisse. Rappelez-vous, M. le ministre, qu'aucunes recherches scientifiques ne justifie votre décision d'abolir l'immersion précoce et que les données ont été falsifiées!

Je recommende aussi plus d'options de cours en français à l'école secondaire. Si les options de cours sont favorables en anglais, c'est certain que vous perdez des élèves dans le programme d'immersion au secondaire.

Enfin, de plus en plus de gens se sentent impuissants envers les politiciens qui refusent de les consulter avant de prendre une décision. Une décision politique comme celle que vous proposez implique énormément de conséquences quant à l'avenir du bilinguisme au Nouveau-Brunswick.

Je trouve que les anglophones bénéficient d'un avantage énorme en apprenant le français dès la première année et c'est triste de voir que vous êtes la seule personne qui trouve acceptable de voir le programme d'immersion précoce disparaître. Le pire, c'est que votre décision repose seulement sur votre conviction personnelle et non sur des faits, des recherches, des opinions de spécialistes ou même du public qui veut maintenir l'immersion précoce.

Enfin, cette consultation dite plublique, accentue seulement mon mécontentement envers la manière que vous prenez vos décisons. Ce n'est pas ethique de falsifier les données d'une recherche et imposer une décision sans fondements. C'est anti-démocratique!

Peu importe mon opinion et mon expertise, je sais que la décision d'abolir l'immersion précoce est déjà en place. Cette consultation vituelle n'a pour objet que de respecter la décision de la cour. Malheureusement, je trouve que c'est une perte pour la démocratie au Nouveau-Brunswick et je vous assure que mon vote, aux prochaines élections, ne vous sera pas favorable.

I just came from my son's awards ceremony at middle school. In the Honours category, there were a lot more of the French Immersion students who received honours in each grade than the English students. That alone has to say something for the program and it's abilities! I have 2 of my children in the Early immersion program and I have one more who would be starting it as well in the 2009 school year IF it is left the way it is and she is able to! I would like her to have the same priviledge as her brothers to learn French and not have that right taken away from her. I believe whole-heartedly that the younger the kids are, the quicker they are at picking up things. Grade 1 entry is the best time to enroll students into an immersion program!!

Mr. Lamrock,

Thank you for the bold decision in regards to education in our province. I have been reading many of the submitted comments and it irritates me to read about the life stories of all those successful EFI students. Anyone who has been remotely involved in their child's school is aware that streaming is happening in public schools.This is not about French or English or parents "crying" over their child not being able to enter the hierchy of EFI in grade 1; this is about EDUCATION. Although my children are grown I am a parent that supports equal education for all students and this will only happen if your changes are implemented. I think it is insane to apply the same straetgy over and over (EFI and Core) and expect different results (better test scores). I do not feel resources in the ANGLOPHONE sector should be spent on teaching a SECOND langauge. Parents who are so desperate for their child to learn a second language should place them in an Franchophone school if they are constitutionally entitled. If they are not constitutionally entitled pay for private tutoring and instruction or have faith in the new system. Parents these days seem to have enough money for video game systems and expensive sports why not personally invest in french? I do not think you should bow down to public pressure of a few loud talkers and special interest groups.

Mr. Lamrock

It is apparent from your many comments in the press and in the Legislature that no-one in your department or your consultation team or yourself or anyone that you know is aware that there is a vast amount of research available on EFI. I therefore provide a partial list below of studies and reports (including some that have been released since your decision) that could help you become a little better informed, and that also provide some suggestions for improving the system. I found most of these reports simply through Google, and through a search of some university library indexes. Interestingly, although I tried very hard, I could not find one piece of research to support your position other than the Croll/Lee report, which has now been relegated to the waste basket. It's a good thing that Legislature is now over for the summer, as it appears you have a lot of reading to do. I hope your interpretive skills are up to snuff, as it appears that you have difficulty actually hearing what people are saying, and find it much easier to twist statements to fit your own opinions. Although I am highly skeptical, I sincerely hope you will read these reports and be able to comprehend how your plan apparently goes against every bit of research available.

HamLit (31 pages) http://hamlit2008.googlepages.com/

Beyond Hysteria (53 pages) http://www.cpfnb.com/reports/BeyondHysteria.pdf

Rehorick reflection (4 pages) http://www.cpfnb.com/articles/FI_position_pape.htm

Genesee, Literacy outcomes in French immersion http://acpi.scedu.umontreal.ca/pdf/nouvelles/literacy_outcomes.pdf (8 pages)

Genesee, What do we know about bilingual education for majority language students? http://www.psych.mcgill.ca/perpg/fac/genesee/HDBK%20BILINGUAL%20EDUCATION.pdf (35 pages)

Any of Dr. Genesee's research on immersion (pick one)
http://www.psych.mcgill.ca/perpg/fac/genesee/fredad.html

StatsCan Early Immersion 30 Years Later (4 pages) http://www.statcan.ca/english/freepub/81-004-XIE/200406/imm.htm

L2RIC response (Second Language Research Institute of Canada) (6 pages) http://www.unbf.ca/L2/Resources/PDFs/FSL%20Review/REPORT-REACTION.pdf

L2RIC letter to Premier (10 pages) http://www.unbf.ca/L2/Resources/PDFs/FSL%20Review/Premier_letter_2.pdf

L2RIC Problems with results (7 pages)
http://www.unbf.ca/L2/Resources/PDFs/FSL%20Review/FSL_ReportData_Mar10.pdf

Letter to Lamrock from Consortium (3 pages)
http://www.unbf.ca/L2/Resources/PDFs/FSL%20Review/OpenLetter_Lamrock.pdf

Position paper by L2RIC submitted to Commissioners (11 pages)
http://www.unbf.ca/L2/Resources/PDFs/FSLCommission_L2RIC_Nov9.pdf

Netten/Germain letter disassociating
http://timestranscript.canadaeast.com/opinion/article/244302

Shannon Lebrecque Backgrounder (2 pages) http://educationinnb.wordpress.com/documents/backgrounder/

Letter from UNB Math department (2 pages)
http://www.educationnb.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=GkEGaGrpq7k%3d&tabid=130&mid=471

Report of Current Research on the Effects of Second Language Learning on First Language Literacy Skills (38 pages) http://acpi.scedu.umontreal.ca/pdf/report.pdf

Impact of Second Language Learning on First Language Learning (Edmonton Public School Board) (19 pages) http://www.cpfnb.com/reports/Impact%20of%20Second%20Language%20on%20First%20Language%20Learning.pdf

MacKay report (347 pages - but there is an author's summary which is considerably shorter!) http://www.gnb.ca/0000/publications/mackay/mackay-e.asp

Pricewaterhouse Coopers report 2000 (96 pages) http://www.gnb.ca/0000/publications/comm/fsl_raportfinale.pdf

French Immersion Education in Canada
http://www.ccl-cca.ca/CCL/Reports/LessonsInLearning/LinL20070517_French_Immersion_programs.htm

Cummins, Immersion Education for the Millennium: What We Have Learned from 30 Years of Research on Second Language Immersion. http://www.iteachilearn.com/cummins/immersion2000.html

Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition http://www.carla.umn.edu/immersion/bibliographies/index.html

Learning Difficulties in French Immersion http://www.cpfalta.ab.ca/Parents/LDinFI.htm

Worswick, School Program Choice and Streaming: Evidence from French Immersion Programs (38 pages) http://www.cerforum.org/conferences/200305/papers/S3worswick.pdf

U of Calgary, Review of the literature on Second Language Learning (85 pages) http://education.alberta.ca/media/349348/litreview.pdf

State of French Second Language in Canada 2006 http://www.cpf.ca/english/Resources/FSL2006/2006%20Index.htm

When kids come first (see in particular page 33 bottom of page) http://www.gnb.ca/0000/publications/comm/A%20Benchmark%20Report%20WKCF.pdf

ERIC (Education Resource Information Centre) What Parents Want to know about foreign language immersion programs. http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICDocs/data/ericdocs2sql/content_storage_01/0000019b/80/1b/8e/67.pdf

From ERIC website (only a few of the over 600 articles that came up when I searched "french immersion") - these articles are not available online

Genesee, "French Immersion and At-Risk Students: A Review of Research Evidence." Canadian Modern Language Review, v63 n5 p655-687 Aug 2007

Lazaruk, "Linguistic, Academic, and Cognitive Benefits of French Immersion." Canadian Modern Language Review, v63 n5 p605-627 Aug 2007

MacIntyre, et al. "Sex and Age Effects on Willingness To Communicate, Anxiety, Perceived Competence, and L2 Motivation among Junior High School French Immersion Students." Language Learning, v52 n3 p537-64 Sep 2002

de Courcy et al. "Children from Diverse Backgrounds in an Immersion Programme." Language and Education, v16 n2 p112-27 2002

Rehorick report Part 1 (39 pages) http://www.cpfnb.com/articles/FI_position_pape.htm
Part 2 (13 pages) http://educationinnb.files.wordpress.com/2008/03/part2rehorickreport.pdf

Final Report and Recommendations of the Minister's Review Committee on French Second Language, submitted April 14, 1989.

I certainly agree with Mr. Lamrock's decision that major change is necessary. The early immersion program is not working in its current form. We were told that it is designed for children whose parents do not speak french; however, I'm not sure how you are suppose to help your child with sight words etc. when you do not know yourself what they are. The current program is geared for those with french speaking parents and I have heard many complaints by those parents (who in some cases speak french at home and have their children in french daycare) that the program is not advanced enough. For french speaking families there are french schools, so please quit complaining and send you children to the appropriate school. Either the french immersion program needs to be eliminated, or brought down to a level that encourages choosing the correct school. I believe that this program encourages dropouts because too many of the children already speak french which unfairly raises the bar that the others must try to live up to. It should not be necessary for english speaking parent to hire tutors. The current system is two tier, not based on the ability of the children but on that of the parents.

That being said, I do believe that some french exposure during grades K- 4 would probably be of some advantage.

Thank you Mr. Lamrock for having the courage to stand up and make change.

You have a staff; experts and countless reports. Please follow through now. It is in the best interests of the Province that something is done; not to consult forever.

I support the two recommendations made by the Ombudsman and urge you, the government, to respect this request. I feel uncomfortable with the present consultation process and hope that the decision will be made based on expert opinion and ensuring the decisions made are the best for our children- not the presently proposed plan. I believe we need change, but I do not think the proposed 6 weeks of consultation is sufficient. Please delay the decision for the upcoming year. I will write more later if I feel the consultation period is not just a sham.

The two recommendations that were issued are:
1. The Minister immediately confirm plans with the school districts to allow parents to register Grade one students in French immersion in September.
2. The Government defer the consultation announced by Minister Lamrock and delay implementation of the elimination of early French immersion until September 2009, pending the outcome of a public engagement process as outlined in the provincial government's recent report, authored by the province's Advisor on Public Engagement, Don Lenihan, and entitled: "It's More than Talk: Listen, Learn and Act: A New Model for Public Engagement." Further, that the services of a highly qualified consultant, such as Mr. Lenihan, be retained to carry out the process, concluding in time for the next (2009-2010) school year.

My view is that you need to first take a step back. Interview the families that have taken their children out of the immersion program and the families that have plced their children in private schools and are home schooling and ask them why.
We are parents who are educated and know we have choices and have exercised our right to choose the best that there is for each of our children.
For instance we have three children of which one we have moved to private school because his needs were not being met in the public system.

With the reallocation of the resources with the proposed school changes we were addressing the gaps in our educational system as well as our social system.

The bottom line is that I agree that our whole system in NB is flawed, we have awesome teachers who are burnt out in the many roles they are now fulfilling. We need to change the future of our province from the children up.

As someone who moved to New Brunswick nine years ago, I have found it both a privilege and a challenge to live in an officially bilingual province. Though I am in the unusual position of not needing French to work here (I am an English literature professor), my husband's situation was different. We quickly discovered that without his fluent bilingualism in French many professional doors would have been closed to him. We were fortunate-my husband had the prior education to compete for bilingual jobs, and we have made a conscious choice to educate our children at French schools to ensure that they too can stay and work and live in New Brunswick throughout their lives if they so wish to. Thus, I am appalled and dismayed by the decision made by Minister Kelly Lamrock to cut Early immersion altogether from New Brunswick schools, and instead only offer late immersion which has been shown to be much less successful in creating functionally-bilingual adults. What Minister Lamrock is essentially doing is ensuring that the next generation of New Brunswick children will not be able to work or live in their own province because they will not have the skills to communicate in French required for many jobs in both the public and private sectors in New Brunswick. Kelly Lamrock's legacy will be one of cultural, social, and linguistic illiteracy, the very thing that he claims to be addressing in his plan of action. I am left wondering why the Liberals have wasted time and money on the creation of a Population Growth Secretariat when they are not even working to retain the population we already have, the children whose skills and talents ought to be properly nurtured to ensure that that they remain New Brunswickers in the decades to come. Minister Lamrock needs to resign, and his plan sent back to the drawing board before we experience a more serious and systematic population decline thanks to his arrogance.

I am pleading with the Liberal government to please abide by the Ombudsman's recommendations. It is crucial to our children's future that their right to learn a second language be considered.

As a teacher I am only expressing my views in a this forum as my Association has directed me to this forum as a way to professionally express my views, and that the dept of ed has asked teachers to give their input on this site.
There are many, many very obvious ways to improve the literacy skills of NB students. Simply think of ways you'd improve the system if EFI didn't exist, and then do that!!
Continue putting MORE literacy specialists in the schools to focus on struggling students. This has to be done whether EFI is eliminated or not. In fact, whether EFI is eliminated or not, interventions and focused attention will be required.
The point I am trying to make is that the elimination of EFI in all regions of the province will only remedy a very small number of the issues involved in literacy problems. The interventions needed to improve literacy will still need to be done.
In some regions of this province EFI is absolutely necessary. I live in a francophone community, and my children require an opportunity to learn french before grade 5. The regular community activities are conducted primarily in french, anglophone students require instruction in french to have access to activities that their peers in anglophone communities enjoy.
I don't dispute the fact that french instruction in grade 1 or 5 isn't a crucial in some areas, but I know that the grade 1 entry point is essential in other communities. Instituting a universal program is as shortsighted as a teacher instituting a universal lesson plan to cover an outcome. We allow students to meet outcomes in many different ways, and vary our instructional methods to meet their diverse strengths and needs. Shouldn't the goverment policy also consider the various needs and strengths of the diverse communities of the province? The minister wants community schools, but if anglophone students in francophone communities can't learn french until grade 5, then they are limited in their participation in the community.

I hope that the dept will consult not just with the teachers and specialists in the field, but with language/literacy experts. Many, many more than they have already. Realize that their suggestions can be implemented into non-EFI classes, or EFI classes wherever the struggling reader, or writer exists.
In my school kids who struggle with language get interventions regardless of the program they are in. My son is in EFI and receives interventions as his writing levels were at ED. He isn't kicked out of the program. Research shows that students who struggle with language will do so in english or french, so in our school we leave them in their program and target the need. After the intervention, my son is at AD. This was true for kids targetted in both EFI and core classes. Again as I stated over, and over again above, it is the targetting of interventions that will improve literacy.
Eliminating EFI only dilutes the problems. The same interventions will still need to be done!
These interventions cost money, but if we really want to build the best educational system we'll need to fund it. This means a continuation and an increase to the number of literacy specialists in the schools, increased training and PD for teachers. This should be done while the EFI program remains in force. It's existence has far too many benefits to communities, students, and schools to be destroyed unnecessarily.

Dear Mr. Premier, Mr. Byrne,

I am writing to let you know that I fully support the reasonable and rational recommendations made today by the NB Ombudsman's office.

Recommendations:

1. The Minister immediately confirm plans with the school districts to allow parents to register Grade one students in French immersion in September.

2. The Government defer the consultation announced by Minister Lamrock and delay implementation of the elimination of early French immersion until September 2009, pending the outcome of a public engagement process as outlined in the provincial government's recent report, authored by the province's Advisor on Public Engagement, Don Lenihan, and entitled: "It's More than Talk: Listen, Learn and Act: A New Model for Public Engagement." Further, that the services of a highly qualified consultant, such as Mr. Lenihan, be retained to carry out the process, concluding in time for the next (2009-2010) school year.

Post the other reports which are referred to in the discussion paper. People need to know what they say in order to comment on them.

Post the professionally developped and formally submitted proposals you have received. People need to know what they are in order to comment on them.

The Minister should comply in full with both of the Ombudsman's recommendations:

1. The Minister immediately confirm plans with the school districts to allow parents to register Grade one students in French immersion in September.

2. The Government defer the consultation announced by Minister Lamrock and delay implementation of the elimination of early French immersion until September 2009, pending the outcome of a public engagement process as outlined in the provincial government's recent report, authored by the province's Advisor on Public Engagement, Don Lenihan, and entitled: "It's More than Talk: Listen, Learn and Act: A New Model for Public Engagement." Further, that the services of a highly qualified consultant, such as Mr. Lenihan, be retained to carry out the process, concluding in time for the next (2009-2010) school year.

I feel that your announcement that you may move ahead with changes this September, but we won't know what those changes are until August, puts many parents in an even worst position than previously. Not only may our (grade one) registrations not be respected, but we won't know whether they will be or not until August.

So, I recommend that you follow the Ombudsman's recommendations:

Confirm plans with the school districts to allow parents to register Grade one students in French immersion in September.

The Government defer the consultation announced by Minister Lamrock and delay implementation of the elimination of early French immersion until September 2009, pending the outcome of a public engagement process as outlined in the provincial government's recent report, authored by the province's Advisor on Public Engagement, Don Lenihan, and entitled: "It's More than Talk: Listen, Learn and Act: A New Model for Public Engagement." Further, that the services of a highly qualified consultant, such as Mr. Lenihan, be retained to carry out the process, concluding in time
for the next (2009-2010) school year.

I recommend that you follow AEFNB's recommendations.

Call a one year moratorium on changes to the education system.

Call a general assessment during that year of the state of public education with a view to defining the objectives that New Brunswickers want to see implemented in the province's schools.

Dear Mr. Lamrock,
I urge you to abide by the recommendations of Ombudsman B. Richard and allow a period of a year for consultation. I also call upon you to stop using the discredited Croll and Lee report for support. By failing to do so, you are showing blatant disregard for proper process and the work all the FSL experts who have spoken out in opposition to your plan.

I feel very sure that you yourself could create an alternate plan with integrity, one that would involve providing resource help and TA's to children in EFI so that parents and teachers would not feel that the only thing to do was to put students in Core so they will receive the help they need.

I speak from experience;
although my children attend school in New Brunswick, I teach EFI in Nova Scotia. A student in my grade one class has just as much access to extra help in reading, writing and math as a student in our Core program. My colleagues and I regularly teach students who are having difficulty meeting the outcomes. A former classroom teacher is now the school's full-time Resource and "Reading Recovery" teacher and was able to train while working in our school to fulfill this role. Because of access to these programs, there is significantly less attrition and parents of exceptional children really are able to choose and stay with this option.

I refer you to researchers such as Joseph Dicks, Fred Genessee and Gene Ouellette. Also, you should go back to look at the Rehorick report and its recommendations to make EFI more inclusive. By following their recommendations, you will alleviate streaming (which you have exaggerated). You will also improve the current level of bilingualism upon graduation, not by changing the definition of bilingual, but by truly enabling more kids to reach it. As for the argument some have made that students need their initial literacy training in their own language and not their second, it is sad to see a thinking individual with influence encouraging this misconception. We have years of second language research (from above scholars as well as others)and NB test results to show us EFI students perform well in both languages.

You must look to FSL experts and impartial reports to make this decision. You must not make a decision based on the flawed report from Croll and Lee or anecdotes people have provided. Finally, for this process to have any credibility in the eyes of the public you must follow Richard's strong recommendation and give it a year.