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Cheri Patterson can tell you the moment she knew the St. Joseph School District’s English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) program was working. Patterson, the district’s associate superintendent of curriculum and instruction, was a guest at Humboldt Elementary School’s 6th grade tea last May—one of 18 held at each of the district’s elementary schools at the end of the school year. Each school selects two 6th-grade students who exemplify learning and good citizenship to be named a Superintendent Scholar.
One of Humboldt’s honorees was a Hispanic student who once struggled with English, but was now able to thank his teachers in English for the honor. When his name was announced, everyone in the gymnasium applauded.
“Something is working in that school,” Patterson said.
Not only the school, but the entire district as well.
St. Joseph, Missouri, is a town famous for its history. It’s the birthplace of the Pony Express and the town where famed outlaw Jesse James drew his last breath. With a population around 73,000 people, more than 90 percent of them are of European-American descent.
The opening of Triumph Foods, a pork-processing plant, in January 2006 changed the city’s population. More Hispanics moved to St. Joseph to work in the plant and stayed.
By the fall of 2006, the number of language minority students in the district had more than tripled in one year. Only 57 students qualified to receive ESOL services in the fall of 2005. That number had grown to 199 students by October 2006. By May 2007, the number neared 300. The students arrived from all over the world and spoke a mix of languages—Mandarin Chinese, Arabic, and Russian—but it was the Hispanic population that grew the most. The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education identified St. Joseph as one of the fastest-growing ESOL populations in the state.
Making plans
The St. Joseph School District ESOL program is not new. By law, every American public school is required to provide a free and equitable education to all eligible children who reside within the district’s boundaries. This includes non-English-speaking students. However, as the number of language minority students attending St. Joseph’s schools increased, the district’s program needed to grow as well.
Superintendent Melody Smith credits former Superintendent Dan Colgan for the district’s foresight in planning for an increase in the number of ESOL students. Colgan asked Smith to organize a steering committee composed of district administrators, curriculum directors and content area coordinators in 2004, the year after Triumph announced intentions to come to St. Joseph.
“We began meeting monthly for two to three hours at a time,” Smith said. “We did that for 18 months before a single additional student arrived.”
There was much to discuss. The first issues addressed included the identification of ESOL students, ESOL endorsement for teachers, and models for providing service. Translating documents, providing interpreters, and purchasing instructional materials were some of the immediate concerns. Planning meetings also addressed parent involvement, implications for ESOL teachers from the No Child Left Behind legislation, discipline, the student drop-out rate, state testing, and student mobility. Following established federal and state guidelines for addressing the needs of language minority students and families without an increase in financial support from the federal government was, and continues to be, a challenge.
Administrators estimate the program costs nearly $1 million per academic year to operate. The St. Joseph School District’s ESOL program received only $14,771 in federal dollars for the 2006-07 school year, based on its number of language minority students the year before; that total increased to $190,000 in federal funding for the 2007-08 school year. The district receives additional funding from state resources. Triumph Foods has provided funding to the district since 2006, covering more than half of the district’s program costs in 2007-08.
With open arms
The district’s ESOL philosophy—integration, not assimilation—is visible in its ESOL office, appropriately called “The Welcome Center.” Located in the city’s midtown area and staffed with bilingual personnel, the office serves as an enrollment center for language minority families. Enrollment forms include questions regarding language as well as migrant status, and are available in English, Spanish, and Arabic. If a person is identified as a language minority student upon enrollment, the student is administered a language proficiency test. The results of the language assessment are used to determine what, if any, level of services is most appropriate for the student.
The ESOL tutoring program is recommended for language minority students who have some understanding of the English language. These students are referred to as English language learners (ELLs). An ELL student receives tutoring during the school day that focuses on the four modalities of language: speaking, listening, reading, and writing. Tutoring occurs in both small groups and one-on-one sessions, depending upon the needs of the student. All district schools have such a tutoring program. Middle school ELL students also have the option of sheltered language arts classes, during which ESOL-endorsed teachers provide direct language instruction to increase students’ language abilities. High school ELL students may take an ESOL language arts class.
Elementary school students who are non-English speakers or found to be low/intermediate ELLs based on the language assessment are referred to one of the district’s three center schools. Center schools are ESOL classrooms housed in elementary schools.
Students needing the most help split their school day between their regular classrooms and the center, which is run by an ESOL teacher.
ESOL coordinator Gena Villegas emphasizes that neither the tutoring program nor the center schools keep ELL students out of the regular classroom all day. “Studies have shown that students learn English by spending a good amount of time in a mainstream classroom,” she said.
A family affair
Research has found that educational achievement can be helped or hindered by several factors. For instance, students’ perceptions of their abilities, which contribute to their self-esteem and confidence, are related to educational achievement. Students who see themselves as competent and effective, with a realistic view of themselves and their abilities, are three times more likely to be high achievers. The characteristics of students’ families are also related to educational achievement. Parents who value education and support their child’s learning are apt to have children excited to go to school. Understanding this, St. Joseph’s center schools and Welcome Center also serve as a resource center and gathering place for students’ families.
Family outreach is the focus of bimonthly meetings that are held at the ESOL office. Family Fun Nights are regular events at the center schools, and all materials are offered in several languages. English classes are offered to students’ parents and other members of the family through the district’s adult English as a Second Language (ESL) program. St. Joseph’s Parents-as-Teachers program employs one bilingual parent educator and aggressively recruits non-English-speaking families. The ESOL staff is on hand to help parents negotiate parent-teacher conferences, and can provide a translated report card upon request.
“When students feel good, when their families feel good, they are more likely to learn the language and be involved in education,” Villegas said.
German and Guadalupe Cuevas moved to St. Joseph with their children Paulina and German, Jr. in the fall of 2006. No one in the family speaks English fluently, but all say they consider St. Joseph home. The warm welcome and assistance they received from the school district contributed to their feeling of belonging.
“I am grateful that the schools have accepted our children,” Mrs. Cuevas said. “The classes are at a level much higher than the small town I come from in Mexico. Our children have a lot of support of their bilingual tutor, they have friends, and they’re learning English.”
Still, it wasn’t easy. It was frustrating for both children not to be able to show their teachers what they knew because of the language barrier. Mrs. Cuevas said her children still get flustered, but the frustration is lessening as their English improves.
“I appreciate the Spanish materials that go with the textbooks,” she said. “Our children have used them a lot to understand what is happening in class.”
The family said the Welcome Center was a great help as they navigated their first months in St. Joseph. The staff helped the family through the enrollment process and continues to help them understand the public school system. Both German and Guadalupe Cuevas are enrolled in the district’s adult ESL program. Paulina sometimes attends classes in the evening. Both she and her brother have made friends; Paulina’s friends are mainly Hispanic, but German, Jr. has both English- and Spanish-speaking friends. The Cuevas family plans to stay in St. Joseph and, hopefully, buy a home soon.
“We would like to sell a small property we own in Mexico and buy property here,” Mr. Cuevas said. “I like how organized it is in the United States. People can relax and enjoy their time knowing they are safe.”
Looking ahead
As the school year progresses, the number of ELL students continues to increase in a pattern impossible to predict. Still, no matter the language, Villegas said, the district is aware of its responsibility and position in promoting integration of language minority families in the community.
“We want to provide the best possible education to all of our students,” she said. “As we live in an increasingly global society, building relationships with those of other cultural backgrounds is a skill that will promote personal and professional success for our students.”
District administrators hope to expand the ESOL program to include more cultural awareness programs in the schools. Associate Superintendent Patterson would like to see an after-school organization where ELL students can have an identity other than minority. Villegas said more ESOL-endorsed teachers are needed, as are translators in other languages. More federal dollars are needed to support ESOL programs, as is funding for community programs that reach out to the non-English-speaking population.
“The better the community does at helping these families, the better the chances the families will stay and our city will grow,” Patterson said. “I don’t think we’ve faced all the cultural issues. That will take more time.”
Meredith Hines-Dochterman is an Iowa-based freelance journalist with a background in education reporting.
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