Hits: 0
WPCNR SCHOOL DAYS. By John F. Bailey. December 12, 2006: The Board of Education voted Monday evening to approve the development of a “pilot” dual language Kindergarten program at George Washington School to begin in fall 2007. A successful introduction next year could pave the way for Dual Language Kindergarten classes throughout the White Plains elementary schools in the near future. The program is being piloted because of the great success such programs have had in the New Rochelle and Port Chester School districts, according to Superintendent of Schools Timothy Connors.
A presentation by George Washington School Principal Terri Klem and Newcomer Center Director, Suzanne Lasser, showed how Dual Language programs in New Rochelle in place in that District were responsible for Elementary Hispanic and Black students in New Rochelle scoring 15% more passing grades on the ELA Performance tests in 2004-2005. She also noted how New Rochelle Blacks and Hispanics outperformed their White Plains counterparts head-to-head on the 04-05 ELA Assessments, attributing the difference to the New Rochelle Dual Language instruction in the lower grades. Photos, WPCNR News
The White Plains Board of Education voted unanimously (5-0, with Donna McLauglin not present), to pilot the program at a cost to the district of $60,000 a year. Principal Klem said that a state grant of up to $300,000 was available to pay for the pilot. The district is hopeful of securing this grant to pay for the pilot program.
Suzanne Lasser started the presentation by showing that Black and Hispanic Elementary school students in Two-Way Bilingual Programs between Kindergarten and Sixth Grade perform in the 70 percentile as opposed to Black/Hispanic students receiving traditional “pullout” from class ESL from grades K-6, who score in the 11th percentile when they reach 12th grade, according to An Assessmentof Diverse Children executed by the National Clearing House for Bilingual Education.
Students using content-based English Spanish Language instruction in the elementary grades, eventually score in the 22nd Percentile by 12th grade; When Bilingual Education is continued past 6th grade with ESL Content – percentile scores rise to the 65% percentile (passing), with students receiving “Two-Way Bilingual” in the lower grades scoring in the 70th percentile (passing).
The New Ro Story.
Lasser unfolded a success story that lifted my eyebrows. She showed charts demonstrating the New Rochelle School District progress in 2004-2005 that she said was attributed to New Rochelle installing Dual Language education in Kindergarten in 2001-2002.
Before Dual Language, 39% New Rochelle Blacks in the year 2000-2001 recorded passing grades at the 3 level on the ELA Test in 4th grade, and 18% scored at the “4” Level. In 2004-2005, the first year children exposed to Dual Language were taking the State Assessments in 4th grade, 50% of the Black students scored at the 3 Level and 28% Scored in the 4 Level.
For Hispanic Students, the difference was significant, 51% of Hispanic Students passed without Dual Language instruction, and 7% of them scored at the 4 Level. Hispanic Students exposed to Dual Language instruction, taking the 2004-2005 ELA 4th Grade Tests saw 53% Pass (achieving the 3 level), but more significantly 28% achieved scores at the 4 level.
A byproduct of the Dual Language program in New Rochelle is that it has improved performance of White Students too. A total of 43% the New Ro White Students not receiving Dual language instruction passed in 2000-2001, achieving the “3” level, and 36% achieved the “4” plateau. White students exposed to Dual Language taking the 2004-2005 Test saw 38% pass at the “3” Level, but a whopping 54% achieving “4” Levels. White Students passing went from 79% to 92%!
White Plains vs. New Ro — No Contest
The most telling chart was the comparison between White Plains 4th Grade ELA tests with New Rochelle.
Lasser showed a chart comparing passing rates of White Plains Plains Blacks (63%) being 16% below New Rochelle Blacks (79%), with the Hispanic difference less dramatic. New Rochelle Hispanic students taking the 4th Grade ELA Tests in 2004-2005 saw 78% pass compared to 68% in White Plains.
Lasser said the “traditional” ESL Pullout method according to research showed “little academic progress and once mainstreamed, rarely (do they) catch up.” She said “Late Exit Bilingual Education, “English Language Learners outperform students in English-only programs.”
She described the advantages of Dual Language Instruction, as “providing language enrichment, students from both language groups outperform students in any other bilingual program and score above the 50th percentile on standardized tests of English reading by the seventh grade.”
The Pilot model at G.W.
Ms. Klemm, the George Washington Principal, explained how George Washington wanted to implement the program.
Klemm reports the plan is to create two Kindergarten classrooms with two teachers handling a heterogenous group of students. Students, she said, “would travel from room-to-room for instruction in both languages.” Klemm said the Hola Espanol program now in place at G.W. has students writing in Spanish and English in second grade, and showed examples of their work.
Terri Klemm, George Washington School Principal last Night at the BOE, awaiting the Board vote.
The advantages of the Dual language instruction, Klemm noted these benefits that G.W. has already seen through the Hola Espanol program. She said the students develop first and second languages (English students, Spanish; Spanish-speaking students, English) and they help each other learn. She said the program “promotes bilingualism, biliteracy, and positive cultural attitudes. She described a “Homework buddies” program where English and Spanish-speaking students collaborate on homework and have playdates with each other – which has, she said, the beneficial effect of bring parents of Spanish and English students together.
She said both English-speaking and Spanish-speaking students become “enculturated” with the new languages.
Speaking to WPCNR after the meeting, Klemm said New Rochelle has been adding Dual Language classes each year.
Concern over the Tab.
The Board was impressed with the presentation, and Bill Pollak asked why it had not been done before. (As early as 2002, WPCNR had pointed out to certain Board of Education members, the success Port Chester was having with dual language, bilingual education in the K-6 levels.) Ms. Lasser said the Newcomer Center had to evaluate the programs it had in place. Superintendent of Schools Connors explained that at a recent meeting of school districts to discuss the Achievement Gap, the success of New Rochelle and Port Chester with Dual Language program was highlighted, and the suggestion for the pilot program came out of that meeting.
Terry McGuire, Board of Education, and Tim Connors, Superintendent of Schools.
Ms. Klemm did not indicate how much it would cost to install Dual Language Programs at all Kindergartens at G.W. – and did not have an estimate on the cost of such programs throughout the district. Terrance McGuire of the Board of Education said that he was concerned that “given all that we want to do (the capital improvements project,” he wandered how the District was going to pay for expanding this pilot should it be successful. Klemm had said earlier that her school had been very careful in hiring and had two teachers in place who were bilingual and could handle the two separate classrooms the conceived pilot requires. She said the cost to the district, should the grant not be forthcoming would be $60,000.
Bill Pollak of the Board asked Ms. Lasser what she would say to those who would say their grandfathers came over to the United States and they did all right learning English. Lasser answered saying studies of the immigrant generation showed that the vast majority stopped their education at the 8th grade level and it was not until the third generation that their grandchildren caught up with the rest of the population in education.