Over the next three years, schools in Vista plan to revamp how they teach nearly 8,000 students who are learning to speak English.

In some Vista Unified School District campuses, English learners will begin to see small changes as soon as this fall. However, the changes will be more noticeable to teachers and administrators, district officials said.

They said the revised plan should help students whose first language is not English pick up the language more quickly, so they can be moved to English-only classrooms and perform better on state assessment tests. (more…)

ESL (English as a Second Language) tutor training will be offered at St. Peter’s Church, 217 Houston St., in Ripon.

Training will run from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 27, and again from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, May 31, according to a church press release.

Trainees only need to attend one of the sessions. There is no cost.

Volunteers will be trained to teach ELS classes to be held from 1 to 3 p.m. every Sunday at St. Peter’s, beginning June 1. (more…)

Eastern has recently become a host facility for English as a Second Language International. The program was started by the president of a Christian college to prepare students from non-English speaking countries to succeed in higher education. It is promoted throughout Asia, Latin America and the Middle East.

Most English as a second language programs only provide short-term language assistance. ESLI is different because it teaches students about American culture as well as language, MacTavish said. One level of the program replicates an American classroom, which involves active participation. After ESLI students complete the last level of the program, they move on to their degree program. (more…)

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Since implementation of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) mandates, much attention has been focused on the education of the rapidly growing English language learners (ELLs) in U.S. schools. Disaggregated accountability reports for subgroups are required as a result of NCLB. Schools must report yearly progress in ELL students’ growth in English proficiency, reading, and math tests, and schools must assure that all students are taught by highly qualified teachers.

Rural school districts are especially challenged to provide inservice teachers with face to face professional development to meet the needs of increasing numbers of English learners.

Rapid growth in the ELL and Hispanic student populations demands attention among educators and teacher education programs, as the academic success rate of Hispanic students nationwide and in Idaho has consistently lagged well behind the rest of the student population. (more…)

search for : No Child Left Behind, English language learners

For years, Pittsburgh has been an anomaly among urban districts because of its low number of ESL students. While districts in Texas, Florida and California have swelled with immigrants, Pittsburgh enrolled only 273 ESL students in 2004-05.

A sluggish job market may have been responsible for the low numbers, Tim McKay, the ESL curriculum supervisor, speculated. Now, affordable housing and immigrants’ family networks may be fueling an increase.

The number of ESL students jumped to 485 this school year and is projected to reach 1,085 by 2010-11. (more…)

search for : ESL students

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MLS Number: 50913

City: Valle Crucis, NC
Stories: 2
Bedrooms: 4 Baths: 4.5
Area: Boone-Blowing Rock, NC
Year Built: 1990
Plus Five fully furnished 1,400 sq. ft. Rental Cottages. Each built in 1996 on approx. 1/2 acre sites. Current cottage average annual rental income $150,000.

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5,200 sq. ft. main house built in 1990 on 1.24 acres.

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search for : Valle Crucis, NC, Blowing Rock, NC, Blue Ridge Mountains

Twelve-year-old Exsenhawer Tobon Galeano props himself on his elbow, scribbling out a dialogue that he will perform in a few minutes.

He and his partner work side by side in silence — a sharp contrast to their six other middle school classmates who are busy chattering away, mostly in Spanish.

It’s not unusual to hear foreign languages in this trailer classroom at Gardner Park Elementary. The students have been placed here in the Gaston schools’ “Newcomer Center” program because they’ve all come to the United States within the past year with little or no English.

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Public schools across the county are employing English as a Second Language tutors to help students who enroll with limited English skills. Their ability to speak, read and write English may not be at their grade level.

One such ESL program, which serves 498 students in the Hamilton School District, costs the school district $650,000 a year, with $410,000 of that coming from its general fund.

Data consistently shows a wide gap in educational achievement between students whose first language is Spanish and those whose first language is English, resulting in higher dropout rates and lower academic performance levels for the ESL students. (more…)

search for : ESL, ESL students