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Further proof: English is answer Namely, that English language learners in public schools can do well on standardized tests if they get enough English-immersion classes. Clearly, California public schools face the biggest challenges in teaching English learners not only the language, but also history, science and math. According to a study released this month by EdSource, a nonprofit educational research organization, schools putting resources into English-immersion techniques scored highest on standardized test scores. The study's conclusion was profound: It is not quantity but the quality of the program that makes the difference. That means the most trained teachers and the more aligned programs are to state goals and standards, the better the students achieved. The best way to raise achievement of English language learners is to pull out those students struggling the most and give them one-on-one intensive English lessons, the study concluded. Some districts used to employ Reading Recovery but dropped it because it is expensive. Those that don't have enough pull-out programs such as Reading Recovery ought to reconsider or find the funds to implement such a quality program. One of the local districts highlighted as having some of the higher-performing English language learner students in the San Gabriel Valley was Garvey School District of Rosemead, which also has a majority of low-income students. Its English language learners scored 721 on average on the API scale, only 29 points below the district average of 750. That is evidence of closing the achievement gap. The average gap between the two groups in the Valley was closer to 45 points. In the Pasadena Unified School District, for example, the gap was 60 points. A key to Garvey's success, and that at many other local school districts, is to permeate English immersion in all subjects, including mathematics. This allows students to hear English spoken more often and in varying contexts. Since the passage of Proposition227, which mandated English immersion instead of bilingual education for all state students, English language learner scores doubled in four years. This has been a difficult challenge for California's public schools and for
the 1million-plus English language learners in Southern California. Now that the
latest round of API testing is over, it's rewarding to today's students,
parents, teachers and administrators to see the positive results of their hard
work.? |
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