Are immigrant students too isolated?

According to a report from the New York Times, English-language learners are one of the only groups still largely segregated from their peers at school.

While grateful to their schools for teaching them English, some immigrant students say they wish they were not so isolated in intensive English programs meant to help them acquire language skills quickly in order to prepare for state tests.

For the complete story, visit this link

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Video: Teacher Shares Opinion on Measure 58

The Defend Oregon Coalition has added a new video of a North Clackamas teacher sharing her opinion of Bill Sizemore's Measure 58. Measure 58 imposes a one-size-fits-all approach to teaching Oregon children. It also takes away local control from teachers, parents and school districts, who know what works best for their schools. What works best in Portland may not work well in Bend or Baker City.


For more information on Measure 58, please visit Parents & Teachers Know Better.

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Bilingual story misguides readers

Last week we reported on an article that appeared in a Salem Statesman Journal. The article titled "Bilingual Debate" included misinformation on Bilingual Education in Oregon. This letter to the editor appeared today clearing up the false notions so many like Bill Sizemore have and continue to perpetuate about Bilingual Education.

Bilingual story misguides readers
Salem Statesman-Journal
July 28, 2008

Your July 13 article "Bilingual debate" perpetuates the misinformed belief that bilingual education is delivered exclusively in the native language of the student.

In fact, the term "bilingual" means two languages. Students are always taught English. This article implies that a choice must be made to teach in English or the native language.

Learning English is essential to students' success in school and in the world at large. There is no bilingual education program that does not teach English as part of the core curriculum.

However, students who are learning English are unable to access the advanced English necessary to comprehend abstract concepts such as math, science and reading at their grade level. Bilingual education accomplishes this by presenting these abstract concepts part of the time in the native language.

No student is kept in a bilingual program for more years than necessary, usually two to three years.

Since 1974, a comprehensive body of educational research has shown that bilingual education is the most effective approach to ensure the academic success of English-language learners.

It is lamentable that a politician like Bill Sizemore can be seen as an authority on bilingual education. His initiative clearly shows his ignorance of what bilingual education is.

-Irma Fernandez Dash, Keizer and Susan Haverson, Keizer

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Editorial: Bilingual education getting dissected

This editorial appeared in the Woodburn Independent on Wednesday. The Woodburn Independent, a twice-weekly community newspaper serving the Woodburn and North Marion County community.

Bilingual education getting dissected
Woodburn Independent
July 23, 2008

The debate of whether or not schools should teach English as a Second Language (ESL) will swim to the forefront this election year. Initiative 19 prohibits teaching in a language other than English for more than two years.

So, if passed, according to the initiative itself, it “provides that no public school student shall be taught in language other than English for more than two years, with the exception for classes teaching foreign language to English speakers.” If it fails, it will “retain the requiring of English course for students unable to profit from classes taught in English, permitting multiple-language instruction to assist transition to English.”

There are pros and cons to both. The ESL program is very expensive and the program takes a long, long time. However, English immersion programs are showing mixed results around the country. A study from Harvard University showed that students in California and Arizona, two states that went to English immersion programs, were not acquiring English faster or doing better than they were before bilingual education was abolished.

The initiative’s bottom line is that it doesn’t want taxpayer money paying for these programs. We agree, however, the decision should be left up to individual schools districts, which make up their own budgets and know what they need on a year-to-year basis better than any state watchdog agency.

Each school board, or superintendent and his or her administrators should have the autonomy to do what works best for their district. If ESL doesn’t work in Hillsboro, but does work in Woodburn, those school districts should be able to make that choice on their own. If English immersion works better in Ashland or Burns, then they should not be under the same umbrella as the districts that don’t see the same benefits.

This is a problem that is becoming a national hot-button issue and when you have state and federal governments getting their hands in local school districts, usually it’s the students who suffer most.

link

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Oregon’s Anti-ESL Measure Debated

On Sunday, an article appeared in the Salem Statesman Journal addressing concerns over Bill Sizemore's anti-ESL ballot measure heading for Oregon's November Ballot. Aside from it's unintended consequences, the ballot measure would prohibit teaching a public school student in a language other than English for more than two years.

Although the article titled, Bilingual Debate, included several important points on why the measure is a bad idea for Oregon, it failed to address a couple crucial details much like the ballot measure itself. The article highlighted that if passed the measure would “take away the tools necessary for children to successfully master English", "would hurt the state's economy", and "create a one-size-fits-all model that takes local control of these programs out of the hands of teachers and parents".

What the article failed to make clear was that ELL students who receive some native language instruction are also taught in English. Studies prove time and again that this is how children learn a new language best. The measure would only change the time allowed for any native language instruction at all failing to account for specific needs of the individual child.

As the article does point out, language experts in Oregon and across the nation say it usually takes non-English-speaking children five to seven years of bilingual education instruction to be ready for mainstream English classes. The fact that some children grasp the new language faster than others shouldn't be a guide for every child. The fact is, how long a child should have support in their native language should be determined by the local community of parents, teachers, administrators and school boards, and not Bill Sizemore.

The second error in the article is Sizemore's description of 6-year bilingual courses. That has no basis in reality. The great majority of the state's ELL students are already taught mostly or exclusively in English. Bilingual education per se is relatively rare. And there are no "6-year programs," whether of bilingual education or any other model. Students are entitled to language assistance services until they become proficient in English, and that amount of time varies from student to student. None of the programs are designed to be 6-year programs.

The fact is Bill Sizemore's ballot measure is more confusing than anything else. It is not grounded in reality, nor does it lend itself to the understanding of Oregon's process for educating English Language Learners. This again begs the question if such an ill conceived and poorly written measure should even have a place on Oregon's Ballot.

The full article can be read by linking here.

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