Education policy has rarely garnered our collective attention as it does now. With debates raging across the country about how to boost student learning and evaluate and pay teachers, and whether Superman will show up to save the most poorly performing schools, education is a hot topic.

One aspect that needs more attention, though, is the question of how best to educate students whose native language is not English. It’s a politically charged topic that rarely focuses on research and instead pits those who don’t want to spend resources on instructing children in any language other than English against those who believe bilingual education is a civil right. (more…)

English as a second language is second nature to the 37 Tallmadge City Schools students who exceeded the expectations on a recent federally-mandated test.

Ten different languages are represented in the 37 students studying English as a second language.

Recently, the students, ranging from kindergarten to 12th grade, met and achieved higher performances on the Annual Measurable Achievement Objectives tests.

These state-mandated tests are for limited English proficient students, in accordance with the federal No Child Left Behind Act from 2001, explained Dr. JoAnn Chirakos, director of student services.

The first objective on the test is progress and the target percentage was 75 percent. Tallmadge students scored 85.2 percent, according to test results (more…)

In the year and a half that Anita Minuth has been volunteering for Adult Literacy of the Middle Peninsula, she has helped numerous people earn their general education development, or GED certificates and learn English as a second language.

The Mathews woman has seen many adults who needed her tutoring skills come and go, but one pupil stands out in her mind.

The student, a woman from Thailand who moved to Gloucester, remains fresh. (more…)

The rapid growth in population of children of immigrants in U.S. schools continues to fuel opportunities for publishers and educators of ESL (English as a Second Language) students, according to the recently released ESL 2010 Insights Report from Zeldis Research Associates.

“Our study showed that there is real dissatisfaction with a range of currently used and available materials, and there are numerous gaps between what teachers want and what they currently have access to,” said Doris Kaiser, study co-author and Zeldis Principal. “Even in this struggling economy, educators are indicating a willingness to spend on new materials for ESL training, especially for video-and CD based media. (more…)

Tom Adams, born in Stockholm, educated in England, and onetime commodities trader from the Philippines to China, has taken his multilingual experience to help teach millions how to communicate in a foreign tongue and make his company money doing it.

Adams is CEO of the language-learning company Rosetta Stone. It’s a company that’s become wildly successful by replicating through computer technology the type of immersion in a foreign language that Adams got growing up in France and Britain, and by traveling much of the globe, from Germany to Mongolia. (more…)

Think back to the last time you had to take an exam. Was it in college or even earlier, in high school? For most people that experience is something happily forgotten: the anxiety, the blank spots in memory as you stared for ages at the same question and searched the multiple choice answers for any clues.

Now put yourself back in that same headspace for a moment. Feeling that same level of anxiety? Well, now add to it the stress of knowing that passing or not is directly tied to your livelihood. For hundreds of non-English speaking people in the restaurant community, this is a reality.

Restaurants are required by law to have at least one person on staff that has passed a Food Safety Manager certification exam. So, the most obvious candidate from the restaurant’s point of view is someone in charge in the kitchen – a very good thing and a no-brainer. Very often that person speaks English as a second language. They have great hands on practical experience in the kitchen, but often limited experience with formalized education, not to mention with taking anything like a multiple choice exam. (more…)

The Williamson County School Board has been developing a strategic plan that would serve as a road map for the district during the next five to seven years.

Input has been collected from the community at large, including business owners, residents, students and teachers. The actual plan is still being developed and should be complete by January, as it is a part of Director of Schools Mike Looney’s evaluation.

One aspect of the vision statement regarding student programs sets as a goal that the county will graduate students fluent in English and at least one foreign language. It doesn’t state what language that might be, or how the district will go about growing a program that would move children toward fluency in a second language. (more…)