States Ponder ESL Limits in Schools

Lawrence Jornal World (KS)

September 05, 2008

In a high school classroom, Xavier Chavez is trying to teach teenagers about Manifest Destiny — the 19th-century belief that the United States was divinely fated to stretch from sea to shining sea. But these students are children of immigrants, and they first have to learn English. They might soon have to learn it faster if Oregon voters approve a ballot measure in November to limit the amount of time students can spend in English-as-a-second-language classes.

Teacher's Challenge: Diverse 21st Century Class

Newsday (NY)

September 05, 2008

Imagine you are a first-year teacher standing in front of your class tomorrow on the first day of school. What do you see before you? If you're picturing a group of 15 to 20 well-behaved children from similar backgrounds with similar abilities and English-language skills, each prepared to absorb your words of wisdom, you are clearly not envisioning the 21st century classroom.

Teachers Can Be "Dream Makers or Gatekeepers"

Daily Herald (WA)

September 05, 2008

Teachers can be "dream makers or gatekeepers," said Consuelo Castillo Kickbusch, a retired lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army, where she became the highest-ranking Hispanic woman in the Combat Support Field. Kickbusch, 54, a motivational speaker who grew up in poverty in a Texas border town, encountered both kinds of adults at her high school.

Schools Prepare for More Refugees

Observer-Dispatch (NY)

September 05, 2008

More than 100 new Burmese refugees will enter the Utica City School District this fall, and another 15 are expected in Rome. To prepare, both districts are working to accommodate the needs of students — who do not speak English — as they look for more funding and new ways to teach the curriculum.

L.A. Unified Elementary School Experiments with Dual-Language Program

Los Angeles Times

September 04, 2008

Twenty kindergartners gathered expectantly around their teacher Wednesday, the first day of an urban experiment nearly two years in the making at Aldama Elementary School in Highland Park, Los Angeles. They are going to learn Spanish and English and, teacher Amanda Kunkel promised, have fun. Lots of mothers and fathers have a tough time letting go on the first day of school. But it was especially difficult for some Aldama parents who brought equal parts of idealism and economic reality to work with L.A. Unified officials on starting a Spanish and English immersion program at their neighborhood campus.

Measure 58 Gives English Language Learners a Deadline

Oregon Public Broadcasting

September 04, 2008

About 70,000 of the kids headed to Oregon public schools this week will attend special classes to help them learn to speak and read English. Many of these "English Language Learners" have been getting help for a few years now. But under an initiative coming to this fall's ballot, students would get cut off from such help after two years. Advocates of Measure 58 say that spending any longer is a waste of time and money. Critics say the deadline would make matters worse.

Jumping the Language Barrier

Benton County Daily Record (AR)

September 04, 2008

Beginning this semester, Decatur High School is offering one of the few "Spanish for Spanish speakers" classes in the area. This fall, foreign-language teacher October Vanegas, who teaches both Spanish and French, has six native Spanish speakers in her new class. Some of them are fluent in reading Spanish, and others are not yet literate in Spanish or English.

L.A. School Adds a Year to Keep Students on Track

Los Angeles Times

September 03, 2008

Armando Sosa's elementary school is just a quick scramble up a steep dirt path and over a crosswalk from his home in Ramona Gardens, an Eastside housing project known for its crime and violence. If he's late, he can hear the school bell from his bedroom. His mother, Liliana Martinez, loves Murchison Elementary but worries that Armando's zeal for learning will wither in middle school. She has seen too many children from the projects nose dive in sixth grade and begin gravitating toward the gang life that has devoured the youth of Ramona Gardens for generations. So, along with other mothers, most of them Mexican immigrants struggling for a foothold in U.S. society, Martinez helped start a movement to keep children at Murchison at least through sixth grade. That is typically the first year of middle school.

ESL Classes Breaking the Language Barrier

encToday.com (NC)

September 03, 2008

Anyone who moves to a new place must undergo an adjustment period while adapting to the new environment, but that phase is oftentimes longer and more strenuous for those arriving from other countries. In many cases, these new residents speak little to no English, which means a simple task such as going to school can become a burden to students. While adjusting to a new culture these students are sometimes faced with ridicule and hostility from natural born citizens. These students can find a safe haven within the Lenoir County Public Schools' English as a Second Language classes.

Familiar Tales May Help Break Down Language Barriers

Grand Rapids Press (MI)

September 03, 2008

Sandra Dymerski can't wait to share her language and culture with West Michigan children and a few adults. Dymerski, who is Mexican, is one of seven volunteers who will be telling stories in their native languages as part of the Kent District Library's bilingual story time program.

ELL Students' Class Time Isn't Great, But It's 'Good Enough'

Arizona Daily Star

September 02, 2008

When school started this year, districts across the state were supposed to put students with poor or non-existent English skills into language-development classes for four hours a day. Mostly, it's not happening. In part, it's because there were a number of exceptions written into the plan so schools with few English learners or schools participating in certain approved reading programs are excluded from the requirement.

Charter School Boasts Small Classes, Perfect Scores

The Villager (NY)

September 02, 2008

Last year was Manhattan Charter School's first year teaching third grade and its first year of state testing. All 19 third graders passed both the 2008 English Language Arts and math exams. In School District 1, 61 percent of students passed the English Language Arts exam and 86 percent passed the math.

Roanoke's Adult Education Program Shows It's Never Too Late to Learn

Roanoke Times (VA)

September 02, 2008

As more than 14,000 Roanoke County students head back to school today, some of their parents may be getting ready to go back to the classroom, too. Roanoke County's 2-year-old adult education program, which more than doubled in size in its first year, could well see another jump in enrollment when the fall classes resume Sept. 9. About 134 people took classes preparing them for a GED test, and 158 took classes to help them learn English last year.

ESL Students Outscoring Native Speakers

WIVB (NY)

August 29, 2008

Many students in the Buffalo school district speak English as their second language. New statistics show those students are scoring higher on tests than their English-speaking classmates.

Study Abroad Puts Language in Context

Daily Tellegram (WI)

August 29, 2008

When Randi Kay Johnson decided to improve her Spanish this summer she chose to live the language.

"If you want to be a teacher with Spanish as a concentration you need to be able to speak well," she said.

New Course for ELLs Off to Good Start

Arizona Daily Star

August 29, 2008

The first three Phoenix school districts to adopt a Spanish-English immersion program more than doubled the percentage of language learners who tested proficient in English in 2007-08 over the previous year, according to the state Department of Education.

Testing Change Raises Scores

Washington Post

August 28, 2008

A switch in testing for students who are learning English fueled a rebound in scores this year for immigrant-rich schools in Northern Virginia that had failed the year before to meet targets set under the federal No Child Left Behind law. Scores dipped last year when the federal government for the first time required Virginia school systems to give English learners the same reading tests as classmates who speak English fluently, a mandate that local educators vehemently opposed as unfair.

Dual Language Program in NC Speaks to Students

Daily Tar Heel (NC)

August 28, 2008

For some students at McDougle Middle School, walking into a history class taught completely in Spanish is not as intimidating as it sounds. It's a normal day for students entering into the new dual language program at the Chapel Hill school. "It's a very popular program," said Neil Pedersen, superintendent of Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools. Pedersen said initially the native English-speaking students learn slower in the dual language program, but they excel by the end of elementary school.

Critics Say NYC Schools Leave Kids Lost in Translation

New York Post

August 27, 2008

An alarming number of students who need extra help learning English are being let down by the New York City's school system, according to advocates. They are now calling on the state to intervene.

Sixty Languages Converge in Classroom

Daily Tar Heel (NC)

August 27, 2008

In Meg Lawrence's classroom, children speak Spanish, Cantonese, Mandarin, Thai and Telugu daily. "The key word in teaching is differentiation: Teaching has to be differentiated for different kinds of learners," said Lawrence, one of two English as a Second Language teachers at Chapel Hill's Seawell Elementary School. With students from countries across the globe speaking what she said is about 60 different languages, Lawrence has a lot of differentiating to do.