I heard on the radio earlier this week that a report on some national study had been released, stating that California was one of the “dumbest” states in the union. In fact, we were rated only higher than Mississippi, Nevada and Arizona in the “dumb” category. The study had compared the courses taken by the nation’s high school students and rated the quality of the courses in their ability to prepare graduating high school students to compete in college classrooms. California rated 47th overall, which means that graduating high school seniors in 46 other states are better prepared, based on the courses they took in high school, to compete on the college level.

In my school district, which was on the U.S.-Mexican border, we welcomed many children of immigrants, many of which didn’t speak a lick of English when they arrived on campus. However, instead of diluting the educational experience for everyone by trying to teach courses such as biology, algebra and science in two languages, the non-English speaking students were placed in a so-called English Immersion program where for the first year in our American school, all they were taught was to read, write and speak English. Then, in their second year, they would enter the regular classes that were taught exclusively in English. This was successful, and for many years our high school lead the nation in the highest percentage of students with Hispanic surnames who were attending college. (more…)

search for : California, high school students, non-English speaking students, English Immersion program

Sergio Keck came to the United States from Argentina when he was 14. He didn’t want to leave his friends, to learn another language, to start fresh. More than 20 years later, he’s using that understanding to build new programs and awareness as the Lansing School District’s bilingual education director.

Leaders hope changes this school year, including more language classes for students and more communication options for parents, will make a difference for families with the most limited English. That’s why he implemented longer, more intensive sequences of English language classes in more schools. For example, Everett now offers two hours each of basic and more advanced English as a second language classes every day, compared with only one hour daily last school year. Two middle schools, Pattengill and Otto, introduced or increased ESL classes this fall. Meanwhile, all of the district’s literacy teachers continue training on how to teach English-language learners. Among other things, they work to prevent kids from feeling embarrassed when they must start with basics typically learned in elementary school. (more…)

search for : bilingual education, English language classes, English as a second language, ESL, English-language learners

Mervet Elhamamsi and Shirley Velasco are fifth-grade students at Andrew Jackson Intermediate School who also play an important role in their classroom. They translate for their peers who have limited knowledge of English. Elhamamsi grew up in Egypt. She speaks English and Arabic and translates for Lina Khalafalla, who is from the Sudan.

The task Elhamamsi and Velasco are performing is called peer tutoring, and it is common among students in Jackson-Madison County Schools, according to Brian Ford, who coordinates the school system’s program for students who are learning English. That population is increasing, going from 214 students in 2003 to 302 this year. Most of the students in the English as a Second Language program are Spanish speakers, with Arabic the second largest group, according to school officials. Elhamamsi and Velasco are lifesavers for their math teacher, Kellie Cavitt, who does not speak Spanish or Arabic. (more…)

search for : Andrew Jackson Intermediate School, Jackson-Madison County Schools, English as a Second Language

This year the elementary school has expanded their Spanish instruction initiative to five classes; three fourth-grade classes and two fifth-grade classes. Money from the school’s Parent Teacher Association enables the school to keep and expand the instruction. Fourth-grade teacher Pam Merola, who wrote the grant that started the Spanish initiative at Cayuga, said teaching young people Spanish is important because our country is changing. (more…)

search for : learn Spanish, Cayuga Heights Elementary School, Ithaca Public Education Initiative

Ever the thought provoker, Seana Evans-Renaud fired a parting shot across the provincial government’s bow in her final speech as president of the P.E.I. Teacher’s Federation this week. Speaking to her union’s annual convention, Evans-Renaud said P.E.I. has been failing to set aside the necessary resources to educate the immigrants that we so earnestly claim to need for our provincial well-being.

In the example of a hypothetical inner Charlottetown school, a Korean youth with no English gets two classes in ESL (English as a Second Language) over a six-day schedule. For the rest of the time, the student is expected to go from class to class and pick up what he can until his English catches up. That leaves what? Most of math except the word problems, or those parts of gym that he can pick up by example? Would it be too much to hope that he would be able to intuitively take in the information from a chemistry diagram? (more…)

search for : educate the immigrants, ESL, English as a Second Language

As a school psychologist for 17 years, Charlotte MacNeice, of Cologne, Galloway Township, worked with some children who had been neglected or abused. hen she retired and learned about Court Appointed Special Advocates, or CASAs, she decided to put that experience to use. The CASA program, which began nationally in 1986, recruits, trains and supervises community volunteers.

CASAs spend time with the child or children they are assigned to, interview others involved and make recommendations regarding the child’s needs to a Family Court judge. Often it means working with the Division of Youth and Family Services, or DYFS, to help children find new homes. The goal is to find safe, permanent homes for the children and provide services to the children if needed.

MacNeice, who retired after working with the Mullica Township School District, was also a bilingual guidance counselor in Camden and has served as an education consultant, ESL teacher, VISTA volunteer in Puerto Rico and Peace Corps volunteer in Colombia. (more…)

search for : school psychologist, ESL teacher, VISTA volunteer, Peace Corps volunteer

The message that Hazleton Area School District administrators delivered to roughly 50 parents and students involved in HASD’s expanding English as a Second Language (ESL) program was simple. Parents, students and district staff need to keep an open line of communication. In conjunction with the federal Title III grant program, Deb Carr, director of curriculum and instruction, hosted an hour-long ESL parent meeting to discuss how HASD will use this year’s $146,000 Title III grant.

The state has stepped up exit criteria and began this year requiring ESL students to score proficient or better on the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) when exiting the program. Title III money has been used to install telephones at all schools that connect staff and students to people who could translate 150 different languages, Carr said. Staff and a student can use the phones simultaneously and a third line could connect a parent, Carr noted. HASD’s ESL programs are mostly “pull out,” except at Hazleton Area High School, where it is offered as a class. (more…)

search for : Hazleton Area School District, English as a Second Language, ESL, ESL parent meeting, Title III grant

No two kids fit into the same mold. But children falling behind their classmates in schoolwork are delivered to the same few categories outside the classroom, such as special education or English as a Second Language. These resources may or may not be specific to their individual needs.

Sailor is teaming up with the Illinois Department of Education to try a different model on schools in both states. The U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs has awarded KU a $1.5 million grant over four years to work with schools in Kansas and Illinois to test a Response to Intervention model. Under the model, schools would use three levels of intervention and monitor how students respond or progress in their work at each level. Children having persistent problems on the first level in the general education classroom are temporarily grouped in a smaller setting, the secondary intervention level. (more…)

search for : English as a Second Language