Return-Path: <nifl-esl@literacy.nifl.gov> Received: from literacy (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by literacy.nifl.gov (8.10.2/8.10.2) with SMTP id h84JaB708481; Thu, 4 Sep 2003 15:36:11 -0400 (EDT) Date: Thu, 4 Sep 2003 15:36:11 -0400 (EDT) Message-Id: <000001c3731b$a9eeda20$1a01a8c0@cccchs.org> Errors-To: listowner@literacy.nifl.gov Reply-To: nifl-esl@literacy.nifl.gov Originator: nifl-esl@literacy.nifl.gov Sender: nifl-esl@literacy.nifl.gov Precedence: bulk From: "Sylvan Rainwater" <sylvan@cccchs.org> To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-esl@literacy.nifl.gov> Subject: [NIFL-ESL:9401] RE: Illiteracy X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook, Build 10.0.4510 Content-Type: text/plain; Status: O Content-Length: 6518 Lines: 115 Thanks for this excellent post. It is certainly true that when children don't get good early education, they are at a disadvantage, regardless of what language they are trying to learn in. In the Head Start program I work with, it's sometimes interesting to compare the immigrant kids with the Anglo kids here. The problems we are addressing are somewhat different, but with all kids (and the adults in our Family Literacy Program), we focus on literacy in developmentally appropriate ways. With the Pre-K children we work with, language development needs to be primarily in the native language, gradually transitioning to more English as time goes on. The 4-year-old classroom incorporates more English than the 3-year-old classroom. The Infant/Toddler classroom tries to be predominantly Spanish-speaking. A good solid grounding in native language development is the best foundation for learning English once children start school. With Anglo kids, obviously literacy and language development are equally critical, and sometimes just as difficult. We serve special needs children, too, of course, with various diagnoses of speech and/or developmental delays, and that requires special creativity and techniques on the part of the teachers. We work with our Education Service District to get help with that. In addition, many of those kids are dealing with home situations that are absolutely horrendous -- drugs, abuse of all sorts, neglect, as well as basic illiteracy on several levels. All of that has to be addressed in some fashion, or nothing will change in the life of that child. You can teach them phonics all you want and send them off to kindergarten, and it won't help much. With adults, no matter what language they speak, if they haven't had a thorough grounding in their native language -- in conversation, grammar, and/or literacy -- they are going to struggle with learning a new language, with basic job skills, and with figuring out how to teach their children. How can you ask a parent to read to a child, when the parent can't read? I completely agree that adult literacy is a crucial issue in this country, and I continue to maintain that the single best way to improve the education of the children is to improve the education of the parents, especially the mother or primary caregiver. ------- Sylvan Rainwater mailto:sylvan@cccchs.org Program Managaer Family Literacy Clackamas Co. Children's Commission / Head Start Oregon City, OR USA -----Original Message----- From: nifl-esl@nifl.gov [mailto:nifl-esl@nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Ken Taber Sent: Wednesday, September 03, 2003 5:49 PM To: Multiple recipients of list Subject: [NIFL-ESL:9390] Re: Accept English Only donation? Albert et al, The Pew Hispanic Research identifies the problem that Adult ESL Programs face in this country. It also confirms that it is actually easier to teach the foreign-born K-12 student than it is the adult. These frustrations lead us to ask the ultimate question. How do we solve the problem? In fact, the same is true for the American in this country that does not get a good early education. Nationally, 22% of Americans are considered functionally illiterate. That figure remains about the same. We used to have an educational system that supported the industrial age where teaching only 80% was acceptable. Now that we have entered the information age and their are less jobs in former industries, we must get near 100% literacy in this country. And of those 22%, and in some cities, that figure is much higher, only 5% of those needing adult education services actually receive them. The only answer the government has in more accountability but the numbers still have not changed. Even with a great title like the "No Child Left Behind Act," we are losing the battle of adult literacy in this country. The problem as was pointed out by some is adult literacy, and not just for the foreign-born, but for all Americans. There are American-born US citizens who speak English only that are illiterate. We have become experts at pointing the finger. We have a lot of research. What we need are applicable solutions. We know the problems, they have not changed. Our current solutions have not work. I have made some observations that deal with what all teachers should be doing. Teachers need high expectations for all their students. Teachers also need to know the how best to teach the diversity of students in their classroom. This requires staff development. Sometimes, it is simply the case of real research bang applied to an old problem. I actually had a principal from another school that told me that "Research shows that English-Only programs (for LEP students) were better." This myth has reached not only the some of the classrooms in my district but has reached its administration as well. These principals were sold a bill of goods from the English-Only Movement and are calling it research. The fact is the federal law allows for almost any program that can show results. However, it does not allow for an English Submersion Model, a sink or swim approach or dead end approach. There are some states that interpret the federal law to mean that they can run an English-Only Approach with no staff development of their teachers. When this principal made this comment, I asked whether this district had an English-Only Approach? The coordinator (with no ESOL training) who I had spoken to about the law said we have an Structured English Immersion Approach which we didn't because this approach requires a highly trained staff. We may have had a Structured English Immersion Approach on paper but we had an English-Only or English Submersion Approach in reality. The SC State House tried to write a bill (H3703) last year limiting LEP instruction to only the first two years foreign-born students arrive in this country and mandating a Sheltered English Immersion Approach. They claimed in their bill that English could be learned fast. Sheltered English Immersion is perhaps the least recommended approach but also the least costly. The only good part of the bill was that the state actually realized that it had a constitutional duty to teach these students. The bill never made it out of the SC House but it was interesting to see how legislatures don't understand the real problem or the legal history of LEP programs but most of all they do not understand that English-Only laws may be a civil rights violation in an educational setting. Ken Taber kentaber@inetgenesis.com
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