At a time when California educators and legislators are debating
how to best educate English learners, Aromas School says it has
developed a unique program that teachers and administrators alike
are praising for its effectiveness.
Hollister – At a time when California educators and legislators are debating how to best educate English learners, Aromas School says it has developed a unique program that teachers and administrators alike are praising for its effectiveness.
The school has a high ratio of students who are learning English and has created a method that groups kids by learning level and keeps them at school 45 minutes longer each day. Out of some 300 students in the school, about half are considered English-learners and as many as 70 participate in the English Language Development (ELD) program. Most are immigrants from Mexico or kids who were born in the U.S. but only spoke in Spanish before coming to school, while several speak other Mexican languages like Mixteco and Zapotec.
The goal of ELD is that after five years in the program, a child can be fully integrated into a English-only classroom. ELD coordinator Katy Stonebloom says there is proof the program is working because California English Language Development Test (CELDT) scores, the test English-learners across California are required to take, are improving. However, Aromas scored lower on every single category – Listening Comprehension, Reading and Writing – in nearly every grade than the state average.
Stonebloom said she has not had a chance to review statewide scores, but said the Aromas student population was unique and it is difficult to make comparisons because state scores lumped all levels of English-learners into the same category.
“Our English learner population is at least 80 percent migrant worker who are just coming into the school system,” she said. “You can’t compare these kids with those that have had the privilege of going to school since kindergarten.”
Aromas’ scores were higher only in the listening category for kindergarten and fourth-graders, according to California Department of Education data.
However, at least 51 percent of English-learners at the school gained one level in the past year, meeting the state standard, said Stonebloom. Aromas also gives its own test at the end of the year which provides teachers with a thorough look at a student’s strengths and weaknesses.
Stonebloom also defended the school’s program for having small classes that were targeted for individual student needs.
“If you look at individual scores for say third or fourth graders, you’re going to see a lag because they are still learning,” she said.
Despite Proposition 22, which reduced the number of bilingual education classes in the state when it passed in 1998, bilingual programs exist through a waiver parents can sign to keep their kids in such classrooms.
That’s a popular choice in Aromas because many of the parents there don’t feel comfortable speaking English.
“It works for them because then they can support their kids in their education,” said Stonebloom.
Every day English-Learners stay an extra 45 minutes after school to get specialized instruction in their new language. A beginner group of fourth and fifth graders use vocabulary flash cards while a younger group sings a song in both Spanish and English and then proceeds to answer their teacher’s questions. Most teachers are bilingual, but they use their Spanish sparingly to challenge the students and make them learn.
While 99 percent of foreign languages spoken at the school are Spanish, the school recently got a surprise – three kids ages eight, 10 and 14 from Oaxaca, Mexico, who spoke Mixteco and had never attended school before. Not only did they not know how to write their names, they had no concept of time, of sitting in desks or even how to hold a pencil. A teacher was selected to work full time with the family, who were kept together for the first couple of months. As the kids became more accustomed to school, they were put in a bilingual class and are now learning English, although they are still very shy and the least likely to participate.
“They had to not only learn how to be in school, but a whole new way of being, a language that is nothing like they have ever heard before,” said Stonebloom.
No matter how they learn, Stonebloom and other teachers say the goal of the program is to give students the tools they need to graduate from high school and be successful in whatever they do next.
“You just have to be persistent in working with them,” said Elva Aguirre, a bilingual education teacher at the school. “Sooner or later they’ll learn the language.”
Karina Ioffee covers education for the Free Lance. Reach her at (831)637-5566 ext. 335 or ki*****@fr***********.com
