Tough Dilemma

[George Sheridan <learn@jps.net>]

Tamra Taylor, the director of Program Improvement schools for the San Juan
Unified School District in Sacramento County, is making the right choice for
students, but the Federal Government is making her job harder.

School has 'tough dilemma'
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Successful language program is a drag on campus' scores
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By Kim Minugh - kminugh@sacbee.com

Last Updated Monday, June 9, 2008
Story appeared in MAIN NEWS section, Page A1
http://www.sacbee.com/education/story/998583.html


Nine buses lumber up to Will Rogers Middle School each morning, carrying
sleepy-eyed children who have spent as much as an hour on the road.

They are the children of immigrant families from Argentina, South Korea, Mexico
and Ukraine ? enrolled at the Fair Oaks school for an opportunity to quickly
learn the language of their new country.

Will Rogers is one of the San Juan Unified School District's language centers,
offering specialized lessons to any seventh- or eighth-grader who isn't fluent in
English.

This year, almost one-fourth of the school's English-language learners have
become fluent enough to shift into mainstream classes ? some after just a year.

But Will Rogers is failing under No Child Left Behind.

Because of its high concentration of non-English speakers, its scores on
standardized English tests have come up short six years in a row, landing the
school in the final stages of what the federal government calls "Program
Improvement."

San Juan administrators find themselves in a quandary: Either continue a program
they feel successfully serves English-language learners ? and suffer the
penalties of low test scores ? or disband the program.

"It's a tough dilemma," said Vice Principal Karen Baum. "Technically, the
district could get us out of Program Improvement by just not making us a
(language) center. ? Would that be the best thing for the kids? I don't know."

San Juan Unified officials will try to answer that question next year when they
review the district's programs for English-language learners, including the
language center model, said Tamra Taylor, the district's director of Program
Improvement schools.

Taylor said the district will not "cower" from No Child Left Behind. The fate of
the language center rests on what is best for English-language learners, she
said, not pressure from the government.

"We pay attention to the law, we don't break the law, we try to make growth," she
said. "But our impetus is not that there's a federal mandate called Program
Improvement. Our impetus is there's an achievement gap, and we want to close it."

Schools are labeled Program Improvement when they fail to meet federal targets
for two years in a row. Schools that continue to fall short of federal benchmarks
for more than two years face additional sanctions and ultimately can be taken
over by the state.


Culture of support

When Principal Monty Muller started at Will Rogers 18 years ago, the language
center had only 40 students. Today, enrollment ranges from 160 to 280, and
students speak 40 languages.

Grouping those students in language centers allows the district to save money on
staffing, technology and other costs.

But perhaps the biggest advantage, administrators and teachers say, is a culture
of support for students facing struggles in and out of the classroom.

Baum said many of her students are angry at their parents for bringing them to
the United States against their will. Some act out.

Others have trouble focusing on school because their families are in turmoil
while adjusting to a new country.

At the language center, teachers and administrators help students work through
those emotional issues.

"I think it gives kids a feeling of comfort ? and a feeling of safety," said
teacher Michelle Bebout. "It gives them a million opportunities to relate to
somebody."

Dariya Korzhuk, who came from Ukraine three years ago, appreciates being at a
school full of other students like her ? even if they don't share the same
background.

"You already know how they feel because it's the same as you," the 13-year-old
said.

Even after being in the United States two years, Korzhuk said she felt "shy to
talk" when she came to Will Rogers.

"If I say something wrong, people would make fun," said the seventh-grader. "Now,
I don't care. I know English."


Proper language required

During a recent lesson, Bebout asked her seventh-graders to write a letter to
incoming students, giving them advice on how to succeed at Will Rogers and in her
class.

She explained the instructions slowly, going over tough words and asking
questions to make sure her students understood them.

Bebout paused when one student used the word "stuff" and talked to the class
about the difference between slang and formal language.

"You are not employed by (Yo!) MTV Raps," she said, referring to the former
hip-hop cable TV show. "What kind of language will you be avoiding?"

"Wazzup," the students shouted.

She wrote it on a whiteboard as students called out other forbidden words ?
"Cuz," "Shorty."

That language is OK for text-messaging, she told them. But Bebout wants her
students to get in the habit of using proper language.

In a classroom across the hall, English teacher Laura Troppmann buzzed around the
room in jeans and flats.

Her students were designing an imaginary camp for young children. The lesson was
based on "The Acorn People," a book they'd read about physically disabled
students who attended a camp without proper accommodations.

Troppmann has been at Will Rogers eight years, but this is her first year
teaching English learners. She said there have been some unexpected challenges.

Her lesson about "The Acorn People" began with an explanation of what camp is;
many of her students had never been.

When she asked them to design brochures for their imaginary camps, they stared
back, blankly. No one knew what a brochure was.

"They're not dumb. They're brilliant," Troppmann said. "They just don't have the
background."


Expectations unrealistic?

Critics of No Child Left Behind complain that the law's expectations for English
learners are unrealistic and that punishing entire schools for those students'
struggles is unfair.

The federal law holds schools accountable for their overall test scores as well
as for the scores of groups of typically underperforming students ? like
non-English speakers or ethnic minorities. A whole school can be penalized if one
group repeatedly falls short, like at Will Rogers.

As California's immigrant population grows, and the above scenario becomes more
common, even No Child Left Behind advocates like Taylor question the law's
deadline for all students to be proficient in math and English.

"Can all kids be proficient by 2014? Let's get real," she said. "Especially if
someone just got to the country and doesn't speak the language."

Standardized test scores don't show everything, she said. Especially at schools
like Will Rogers.

Since 2002, the school has grown according to the state's measures ? its Academic
Performance Index score jumped 77 points to 715 (the state's goal for schools is
800).

In California, non-English speakers are tested yearly, and their English fluency
is scored on a scale of one to five. Some of Will Rogers' students are jumping as
many as two or three levels in one year, Baum said.

"I don't consider them a school that is failing," Taylor said.

Eighth-grader Lucas Sugliano, who didn't know any English when his family arrived
3 1/2 years ago from Argentina, is now considered fluent.

He remembers greeting people by saying, "bye" instead of "hi."

"I mostly learned English here" at Will Rogers, he said. "Difficult English. Hard
words and better phrases."

In the fall, Sugliano will enter high school as what one of his classmates calls
a "regular student."

George Sheridan