Several Lafayette administrators and teachers joined Mr. Chung, the president of a Chinese-American community association, in devising a proposal for a school specializing in international studies and submitting it to the department. At a public meeting, residents of the neighborhood lauded it. Meetings with department officials, he said, went amicably and productively.

At best, according to the department’s own projections, those schools will take in a total of 50 English-language learners, as students entitled to bilingual or E.S.L. classes are officially known, despite the heavy presence of Haitian and African immigrants in the surrounding neighborhood. Tilden’s current immigrant students will continue in the school until its complete shutdown. “Education involves trade-offs; it always does,” said John Lawhead, who has taught English as a Second Language at Tilden for three years. “But those trade-offs, in breaking up the big high schools, should be discussed publicly so you know what’s being lost as well as what’s being gained.” (more…)

search for : English as a Second Language

Switching between English and Spanish, Bertini tries to get them all up to speed in fractions. “You need to think before you open your mouth,” she said after some blurt out a wrong answer. “OK, vamos,” she said, diving back into the lesson with the Spanish word for “Let’s go.” For educators in schools as diverse as Ventnor Elementary, the challenges are growing. The complicated business of teaching children the English language, as well as how to read, write and do math, is nothing new. But the pressure to do it quickly is increasing.

The languages are diverse. One class of English as a second language (ESL) has five seventh graders with four native languages: Albanian, German, Spanish and Vietnamese. And here, even the Spanish speakers come from such far-flung places that they speak different dialects. New Jersey is one of a handful of states that require some schools to offer bilingual education. The theory is that students should not be left behind in content areas such as science and math as they get a grasp on English. Any district with at least 20 English-language learners who have the same first language must teach them in that language. New Jersey has maintained that policy even as states such as California and Arizona have abandoned bilingual education. In Ventnor, as in many New Jersey communities, that requirement applies only to Spanish speakers because the number of students speaking other languages is small. (more…)

search for : English as a second language, ESL

Those who have credentials to speak and teach in Spanish and English are a hot commodity for school districts these days. The growing need to provide students with a bilingual education has sent the Waco Independent School District looking far and wide. As a recruiter for Waco ISD, Gary Bender has traveled to California, New Mexico and the Texas Rio Grande Valley. He has persuaded only a few to relocate to Waco. “Once you leave the 100-mile radius of your area it is very difficult to bring them here,” Bender said. “They are more likely to stay where they are because of family and their desire to stay in their hometown.”

Many educators believe bilingual instruction has benefits for native Spanish speakers over ESL, in which classes are taught in English. Betty Johnston, Waco ISD’s bilingual and ESL education director, said research shows that the learning abilities of native Spanish speakers who are put in English classes at a young age tend to level off in junior high, causing many to drop out when they reach high school. “My hope is that they would be able to transfer their skills and become proficient in both languages, especially in English because that is the push of the state,” she said. Because recruiting bilingual teachers is so difficult, however, Waco ISD has fallen out of compliance with state guidelines. The district has had to apply for exceptions from the state to use ESL teachers instead of certified bilingual instructors. (more…)

search for : ESL, ESL teachers

Spanish-speaking immigrants now have another alternative when it comes to learning about the community and what services are available for their use. Sandra Anez Powell, the Hispanic outreach coordinator for Foothills Community Action Partnership and vice chairperson for Richmond’s Human Rights Commission, has spearheaded the Hispanic Resource Coalition, created to provide easier access to immigrants looking for basic services offered in the community.

The Hispanic Resource Coalition was founded Dec. 7, 2006, to provide better access to a broader range of services for Madison County’s Hispanic community. The coalition has representatives from the Madison County Health Department, the Richmond Police Department, St. Mark Catholic Church, Foothills Community Action Partnership, the Richmond Human Rights Commission, the adult education department at Eastern Kentucky University, Project Read, the English as a Second Language program for Madison County schools, Eastern Kentucky University and Berea College, along with human resource officers from five Madison County schools. (more…)

search for : Spanish-speaking immigrants, English as a Second Language

From hiring specialists to coordinating educational services for English language learners to publishing school newsletters written in Spanish, Jackson County public school officials are responding to a student body whose face is changing. Latino students continue to be a burgeoning demographic across Oregon.

The majority of English language learners in the county speak Spanish as their native language. Eagle Point, Phoenix-Talent and Medford are training droves of teachers in instructional methods that make lessons easier to understand for pupils with limited English. Other training — new this year — focuses on advancing pupils’ English vocabulary from conversational to academic. One of the challenges English language learners face is keeping their academic level as high as their native English-speaking peers while learning a second language, educators said. The Eagle Point district has taken significant steps to increase services to its rapidly multiplying Latino student body. (more…)

search for : Latino students, English language learners

For educators in schools as diverse as Ventnor Elementary, the challenges are growing. The complicated business of teaching children the English language, as well as how to read, write and do math is nothing new. But the pressure to do it quickly is increasing. Under federal education policy, the students who are just learning English are now held to the same expectations on standardized tests given in English as children who uttered their first words in English.

About 20 percent are considered English language learners. Another 30 percent more are now proficient at English, although it is not their first language. The languages are diverse. One English-as-a-second-language, or ESL, class has five seventh-graders with four native languages: Albanian, German, Spanish and Vietnamese. And here, even the Spanish speakers come from such far-flung places that they speak different dialects. New Jersey is one of a handful of states that requires some schools to offer bilingual education. The theory is that students should not be left behind in content areas such as science and math as they get a grasp on English. (more…)

search for : ESL

Many migrant workers and other foreign-speaking residents are taking advantage of the opportunities granted by IRCC, which has English classes at Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church, GED courses at Fellsmere Elementary School and office skills classes at Whispering Pines Apartments. More than 150 adults are currently enrolled in the English classes. The English and GED classes are free, but there’s tuition required for the office skills courses, Provost David Sullivan said. The classes are open entry, which means a student can enroll at any time, he said.

The classes are allowing many Hispanics to leave lower-paying jobs for higher-paying ones. Rosa Martinez, for example, was a gas station attendant before she started her classes. Now, the 40-year-old mother of two is an office manager for a local septic tank company. The college’s efforts in Fellsmere began almost nine years ago with English classes at one of the Head Start centers for the Redlands Migrant Christian Association, said Tom Manwaring, developmental education specialist. The association provides day-care services and early education for migrant families. The classes later moved to Our Lady of Guadalupe. The accommodations weren’t always ideal in the beginning, Manwaring said, but he was satisfied by what teachers and students were accomplishing. (more…)

search for : English classes, GED classes

A new program at Lime Kiln Elementary school has helped immigrant parents become more connected with their children’s schools and with their adopted language, school officials said. Over the last three months, the school hosted a free, 10-week English-as-a-second language program that allowed parents to study English with their children under the guidance of two ESL teachers.

The program, which was funded by the school district, was the brainchild of Lime Kiln Principal Lori Lowe-Stokes. A full one-third of Lime Kiln’s students, Lowe-Stokes said, are ESL students. “I was really working to make ESL students and parents part of the school community,” Lowe-Stokes said. About six or seven parents and 10 children – most of whom emigrated from Latin American countries or from Haiti – regularly attended the three-hour long classes, which were held at Lime Kiln’s library from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturdays. The classes covered language basics such as vocabulary and the use of verbs as well as school-related skills, including reading letters sent home by administrators and knowing which questions to ask teachers during parent-teacher conferences. One in-class discussion focused on the differences between American schools and the schools of the parents’ native countries. (more…)

search for : ESL student