WHITE PLAINS CITIZENETREPORTER 3,374,995 VISITS IN ONE YEAR—65,000 VISITS A WEEK BY 985,281 VISITORS

Hits: 0

WPCNR SCHOOLDAYS. By John F. Bailey. February 11, 2004: Dr. Margaret Dwyer, Director of the City School District Newcomers Center program reported on a consultant’s evaluation of the Newcomers Center for non-English speaking children coming to the district, Monday evening at the Board of Education meeting. The School Board learned that Dr. Betty Smallwood of the Center for Applied Linguistics,(Washington, D.C., www.cal.org) who conducted the evaluation at the School District expense, gave the Center high marks and pointed new directions to explore.

NEWCOMERS CENTER DIRECTOR REPORTS:  Dr. Margaret Dwyer in the course of her remarks noted that the numbers of students joining the White Plains School District who come into the city school district two years or more behind grade level in educational development, increased from 26% of students in November 2002, to 44% of students being at least two years below grade level in development in November, 2003. Photo by WPCNR News

 

 

 

 

She reported that the collaborative teaching model developed in George Washington School and Mamaroneck Avenue School for handling ESOL students in regular classes who graduated from the Newcomers Center has been determined to be the most effective, rather than the “pulling out of class” model.

She also noted that an additional teacher was needed to trim class size from an anticipated 30 to a more effective 15 level at the 3^rd and 4^th grade class at Eastview.

 

Overview

 

The report on the Newcomers Center was requested by the Board of Education. The Newcomers Center, located at the Eastview School in White Plains,  serves students in grades 1-6, who come to the White Plains City School District who speak “little or no English,” according to the School District Calendar and Directory.  It was begun four years ago.

 

As of February 11, the Newcomers Center has 61 students enrolled. There are 24 students in the first/second grade class; 25 in the 3^rd and 4^th grade class, and 12 in 5^th and 6^th grade class. Each of the three classes has a teacher and a teaching aid.

 

The Center uses an “English immersion model,” where, according to School District descriptions, the staff deliver instruction to teach the children English and develop their academic skills and knowledge to grade and age level. In addition, the District “engages in outreach and support for the students’ families,” to help the families enter the school system. According to the District, students generally stay at the Newcomers Center for six months.

 

The Evaluator

 

The Center for Applied Linguistics is a Washington, D.C.-based “think tank” that studies methods for learning of new languages, according to its mission statement. It reports that it works for “improving communication through better understanding of language and culture, it —

 

      *         promotes and improves the teaching and learning of languages;

·         identifies and solves problems related to language and culture;

·         serves as a resource for information about language and culture; and

·         conducts research on issues related to language and culture.

 

Good Marks — Leader in the Nation

 Dwyer said Dr. Smallwood’s evaluation found that the Newcomers Center “is overall doing well.” She said the evaluation was “exhausting and exciting,” and thanked the School District for supplying the money to do it. She said she and her staff “chewed” on Dr. Smallwood’s ideas as a staff.

 

Dwyer noted that the State of New York had lowered the criteria for qualifying children for the ESOL- Newcomers Center program, implying that a higher number of children could be coming to the Newcomer Center in the future. On the other hand, she said the State Education Department was “raising criteria for exiting the ESOL-program.”  

 

However, she explained that those standards imposed by the state did not apply to the criteria by which children are approved for leaving the Newcomers Center. Timothy Connors, Superintendent of Schools, noted that the exact standards for exiting from ESOL programs are still under review and discussion by the state. “We are at the whim of the state,” he said.

 

State Wants More Attention for ESOL Students

 

“This was the intention,” Dwyer said, “they (the state) do intend for English Language Learners to be retained for a longer period of time with their setting higher standards and on curriculum development.”

 

Dwyer said Smallwood urged a “more uniform transition” when the Newcomer Center students move to their receiving schools.

 

Smallwood suggested the Newcomers Center and the Elementary Schools  “expand collaborative classrooms, and move away from traditional pull-out methods” of aiding English-Spanish Other Language students.

 

Collaborative Method Working for White Plains

 

Dwyer said in the two schools where the Collaborative Model was used  (George Washington School and  Mamaroneck Avenue School)  where additional teachers are in the main stream classroom to aid students every class) were more successful.  In  the 5^th Grade State Assessments, 82% of ESOL students met or exceeded assessment requirements, in the other, 65% were successful. In classes where “pull-out instruction” was used, only 40% of ESOL students met the fifth grade State Assessment Standards.

 

Dwyer told WPCNR the district was going to push to adapt the Collaborative Method throughout the elementary schools. Previously, she said it had been up to the Principals to decide on whether “Pull-Out” or “Collaborative Method” was conducive to the school operation. However, Dwyer indicated the superior results of the Collaborative models at George Washington School and Mamaroneck Avenue School were the way to go.

 

How it works

 

Dwyer described Collaborative Teaching of ESOL students this way: “The ESOL Collaborative Model consists of teaching English Spanish Other Language Students in main stream classrooms, specially trained, with a collaborating ESOL Teacher, available to assist ESOL-ers.  The Collaborating ESOL teacher co-teaches one period, and pulls out the ESOL students for general review for one period.”

 

Terri Klemm, Principal of George Washington School, commented to WPCNR Wednesday that Ms. Dwyer provides intensive staff development for the regular classroom teachers and the ESOL teachers. Ms. Klemm said “The Collaborative Method is working very well. It builds a relationship between the general education teacher and the special education teacher.”

 

Dwyer told WPCNR that the classes are taught in English. There is no bilingual instruction.  She described the Collaborative Method advantage as being one where the students miss less class time, fall less behind, as opposed to being “pulled out” for long periods of time. Dwyer told WPCNR she was going to observe bilingual class models in other districts in the very near future.

 

Other Commentary

 

Dwyer said that Dr. Smallwood stressed the need that all teachers be “crystal clear in content and language,” and the Center needed to finetune its curriculum, add helpers, and continue family outreach, which Dwyer said the Center has done from the beginning.

 

Smallwood suggested developing a library for the Newcomer Center, and integrating technology more effectively.

 

Dwyer noted to the Board that at the First Annual Newcomers Center Conference in Washington, the White Plains Newcomers Center was widely praised.

 

Trends

 

In comments, she noted that the Newcomers Center is getting more and more students who are as much as two grades behind their age in educational abilities. In November, 2002, she said, 26% of the Newcomer Center intake fit this profile. In November, 2003, 44% were two grades behind their age. She said she expected the number of children lagging two full grades in ability to rise to 30, and hoped the School District could provide an extra teacher to keep this needy group ratio 1 to 15, instead of 2 to 30.

 

The 15-per-class number she feels is much more effective with this critical segment of the newcomer population. To deal with this two-year learning gap, the children are given after school attention, and summer school attention to encourage retention over the summer. If they do not get summer school, “inevitably they’re going to glide back.”

 

Diverse Ages

 

She noted that the Newcomer classes are very diverse in age. In the 3^rd  and 4th grade classes, for example, she said it contains children 8 years to 11 years of age.

 

On the subject of new state standards for exiting students from the ESOL program, she said that the exit rates for White Plains would drop from 34% in 2002 to 3% in Spring, 2003. She noted that this does not involve exiting students from the Newcomer Center, but rather in exiting students from the needs for English Spanish Other Language programs by state standards.

 

She said the entry test for the Newcomers Center now “casts a much wider net” making more students eligible for Newcomers services, but did not elaborate.

 

Awaits  student-by-student “longitudinal data” on Newcomer Students from

Director of Research, Testing and Evaluation.

 

Dwyer said that as a result of the Collaborative Classroom model, the district is getting more “sophisticated” about collecting “longitudinal studies” of these Newcomer students to see how they perform as they progress from grade-to-grade. She said that the Director of  Research, Testing and Evaluation, Lawrence Killian, was working with the Newcomer Center to develop such streaming data.

 

“I don’t know when he’s going to be able to have it,” Dwyer said.

 

Dr. Dwyer is not the only one awaiting for longitudinal studies that it is hoped, will reveal precisely how good the District response to adjusting to the new state assessment tests and standards has been.

 

Bill Pollack, Board of Education member,  asked Mr. Killian and the former Assistant Superintendent for Business, Richard Lasselle, for this kind of data almost a year ago for year-by-year results of 5^th to 9^th grade students as they move through the system, broken down by race and testing results. The model apparently for doing such a valuable study has not yet been created by Mr. Killian and is still in the works after a year.  Pollack dryly noted the need for this kind of tracking for not just ESOL students but for all students.

 

Peter Bassano of the Board of Education member, after some discussion on the state standards for ESOL “Exiting procedures” strongly endorsed the need for “longitudinal studies” from Mr. Killian.

 

Dr. Dwyer concluded the presentation by noting that 60% of children coming into the Newcomers Center graduate into the elementary schools in six months or less. She also said that  87% of those graduating out of the Newcomer Center more than double the national standards of proficiency in English, and 75% of those triple the national standard scores.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hits: 0

WPCNR POTHOLE PATROL. February 10, 2004: The city has been moving around town with patching crews taking care of major holes previously sited on Hamilton Avenue (2 left to go)  and North Street. A spot patrol by WPCNR reveals that most neighborhood roads are in good shape on their surfaces with the main roads into and out of the city taking the brunt of the punishment plagued by deep holes and uneven surfaces: Old Mamaroneck Road, South Post Road, the well-traveled section of North Street opposite the high school, and the entrance to I-287 on North Broadway are the roughest roads spotted today. WPCNR Pothole Photographer highlights today’s troublespots motorists should be aware. WPCNR reminds readers that city, county and Department of Transportation crews cannot fix all the axle-busters right away.

POTHOLES OF THE DAY: CRATERS ON ENTRANCE TO I-287-EASTBOUND: North Broadway & I-287.Photo by WPCNR News.

HOLE IN BRIDGE Northbound: I-287 Overpass, North Broadway. Photo by WPCNR News.

RUT IN BRIDGE SEEM, NORTHBOUND I-287 OVERPASS, North Broadway. Photo by WPCNR News.

100 FEET OF BAD ROAD, OLD MAMARONECK ROAD AT SOUNDVIEW AVENUE. Photo by WPCNR News.

PITTED POST ROAD AT Post Road School. Photo by WPCNR News.

MOGULS ON MAPLE AVENUE EASTBOUND OPPOSITE CROWNE PLAZA. Photo by WPCNR News.

NICKED UP NORTH STREET SOUTHBOUND, OPPOSITE WPHS. Photo by WPCNR News.

Hits: 0

WPNCR’S ADAM IN ALBANY. From District 89 Assemblyman Adam T. Bradley’s Office. February 9, 2004: Assemblyman Adam Bradley (D-White Plains) announced Assembly passage of reform legislation aimed at ending abuses of the public trust by state authorities and public benefit corporations (A.9010).

 

“Public authorities exist enjoy the benefit of taxpayer funding with little or none of the oversight and accountability we demand from government,” Bradley said. “The public deserves to know that authorities are held accountable, and that’s exactly what this legislation does.”

The legislation that Assemblyman Bradley supported creates a public authority inspector general to make sure that authorities are given the kind of oversight they’ve been lacking.

 

“Last year, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s fare hike fiasco showed the entire state what happens when authorities think they have no one looking over their shoulder,” Bradley said. “We’re still paying for the MTA’s public deception and similar things have happened at other public authorities. With a strong inspector general, we can prevent these kinds of scandals from happening.”

 

The measures restrict certain lobbying practices. They ensure that there is no undue or improper influence when it comes to awarding authority contracts or spending taxpayers’ money, and require each authority to create a central procurement office to oversee procurement contracts. “Even the appearance of impropriety undermines the public’s trust,” Bradley said. “We can’t allow that to happen. Lobbyists and other outside interests need to be kept at arm’s length from the decision-making process.”

 

The bill would establish an Independent Budget Officer for public authorities and public benefit corporations as well. The IBO would be required to collect, distribute and assess information about the budget for each authority. The IBO would also make reports and provide information to the public and elected officials.

 

“Authorities operate with the public’s money.  Their decisions have already cost taxpayers millions of dollars, this will ensure that public authorities budget decisions will be scrutinized by independent experts,” Bradley said. “Rigorous analysis would go a long way toward warding off problems.

 

“We’ve seen way too many examples of abuse from public authorities over the past few years. Authorities need to be reined in and made accountable,” Bradley said. “The Assembly has taken the lead in making sure that these so-called shadow governments are brought into the open.  I call on the governor and Senate to join us in making sure that public authorities are held accountable.  We must prevent them from misspending taxpayer dollars, again.”

Hits: 0

WPCNR SCHOOL DAYS. February 10, 2004: White Plains High School Athletic Director, at the request of the Board of Education, delivered good news about injured WPHS Freshman, Brian Donahoe Monday evening at the Board of the Education meeting.

Mr. Scarano said he visited Brian Monday afternoon at Westchester County Medical Center, and reports that Brian said to tell his friends, “I’m doing O.K.”

Scarano reported that Brian had suffered a skull fracture behind the right ear, and a broken wrist, and that he expected to be in the hospital for another 5 days. The WPHS A.D. said that personnel at the high school at the time when Brian hurt himself  last Wednesday afternoon were “instrumental” in saving Brian’s life. Scarano added that Brian’s doctors at the Medical Center said “it’s a miracle he’s doing as well as he is.”

 

Hits: 0

WPCNR POTHOLE PATROL. February 9, 2004: Two snowstorms and two heavy rainstorms mixed with the salt and chemicals applied to keep White Plains roads clear have taken their toll on the roadways, main boulevards, and residential streets in the city, causing a number of washouts creating gaping potholes that slow traffic and are deep enough to break an axle. Not all roads pictured are White Plains responsibility, but motorists should be aware of  a few of the trouble spots.

THREE TRENCHES SLOW TRAFFIC ON WESTCHESTER AVENUE EASTBOUND. Photo by WPCNR News.

CRATER WESTBOUND ON WESTCHESTER AVENUE, Eastern Gateway. Another serious trench can be found at the fork some 100 feet west of this gaping hole. Photo by WPCNR News.

MORTER HOLES ON NORTH STREET SOUTHBOUND are deep enough to cause motorists to swerve in two-lane traffic. Photo by WPCNR News.

NORTH STREET WESTCHESTER AVENUE CUTOFF  DEPRESSION. Photo by WPCNR News

LUMPY MAIN STREET: The roughest street in the city is Main Street in front of City Hall. The three-block stretch from Mamaroneck Avenue to North Broadway, admittedly has been torn up by construction of City Center, however, the salt and chemicals appear to have made the street trickier to negotiate by depressing the temporary paveovers. Hamilton Avenue Westbound is smoother but has approximately 5 potholes in the West bound lanes. Photo by WPCNR News.

BRYANT WASHOUT at Grandview Avenue. Photo by WPCNR News

EXIT FROM THE WESTCHESTER…On WESTCHESTER AVENUE EAST is so deep, traffic backs up to avoid it. Photo by WPCNR News.