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WPCNR STARS AND STRIPES. By John F. Bailey. February 12, 2004: Today marks the birthday of Abraham Lincoln, whose Presidential performance during the Civil War (1861-1865) was perhaps the most troubled of any American President. He had to create things as he went, dealing with a complex political issue: slavery, while deciding to fight a war to preserve a divided nation. How did Abraham Lincoln handle pressure and political opportunists? He did not have press agents and spinmasters and talk show hosts critiquing his every move and loading him up with advice. Let’s take a look.
In the days of Lincoln, media coverage was simply print media, however, the amount of reporting on the burning issues of the day was far more detailed than today with dozens of newspapers presenting the chronicles of the burning issues. For Lincoln’s presidency was the presidency of the nation’s greatest crisis in its eighty-five year history: The Civil War. It is interesting to note how President Lincoln conducted himself in dealing with America’s interests, its factions, pulling him to free the slaves.



When Lincoln was running for the Presidency in 1860 at the Republican Convention in riproaring Chicago, he was up against James Seward, a powerful New York politician. However, the western states at the time were highly distrustful of the New York political machine. Lincoln won over support by taking a position of what was good for the nation as a whole.

Taking a Position and Working To it

Lincoln first gave notice of his potential for the Presidency when he impressed Horace Greeley, influential editor of the New York Tribune with a fiery speech at the Cooper Union in February, 1860, delivering a sharp criticism of the South, hard on the heels of South Carolina’s secession from the Union. The speech included these words,

You say you will not abide the election of a Republican President. In that supposed event, you say, you will destroy the Union; and then, you say, the great crime of having destroyed it will be upon us! (The northern states) That is cool. A highwayman holds a pistol to my ear, and mutters through his teeth, “Stand and deliver, or I shall kill you, and then you will be a murderer!”

Greeley printed the speech in his Tribune the next day, scooping the other New York papers, by simply asking Lincoln for a copy of the speech. The subsequent printing in the popular Trib, sent Mr. Lincoln on his way. As William Harlan Hale’s biography of Mr. Greeley (Horace Greeley: Voice of the People)describes the scene at “The original Trib’s” offices, as remembered by Amos Cummings, a young proofreader:

Amos Cummings, then a young proofreader, remembered the lanky westerner appearing over his shoulder amid the noise of the pressroom late at midnight, drawing up a chair, adjusting his spectacles, and in the glare of the gaslight reading each galley (of the Cooper Union speech) with scrupulous care and then rechecking his corrections, oblivious to his surroundings.

A Comeback President

Lincoln had been a highly successful politician from Illinois in the 1830s and 1840s. He was three times elected to the state legislature, and The Kunhardts’ The American Presidency reports he was “a recognized expert at forming collations…he learned how to keep secrets, how to trade favors, how to use the press to his advantage. And he cultivated his relationship with the party hierarchy.”

Graff’s book writes that Lincoln was described as “ruthless,” that he “handled men remotely like pieces on a chessboard.” Humor and frankness were character traits.

Lincoln was elected a congressman, only to serve just one term.

Lincoln had been practicing corporate law privately and had lost interest in politics by 1854, until the repeal of The Missouri Compromise, which had restricted slavery to the southern states. Lincoln felt stirred to come back. He spoke out against the spread of slavery, running for the senate in 1858 against William Douglas, unsuccessfully.

Saving the Union His Mantra

As the furor over slavery and the South’s threats to secede grew, a crisis of spirit and purpose in this nation which makes today’s concerns about terrorism as a threat to America, pale in comparison, Lincoln realized that the Union was the larger issue. He expressed this in response to Horace Greeley, editor of the New York Tribune, an influential figure at the Republican (Whig) Convention in Chicago in 1860. Greeley was the kingmaker at the 1860 Chicago convention who eventually swung the western states for Lincoln, giving the man from Illinois the nomination on the third ballot over William Seward, the candidate of the Thurlow Weed “New York Machine.”

Greeley then tried to influence the President-Elect to free the slaves. (Lincoln was being lobbied by the still-powerful Weed-Seward faction to compromise with the southern states on the issue of slavery).

Standing Tall Against Pressure.

Lincoln refused to free the slaves as one of the first acts of his presidency, standing firm to hold the union together, when he announced his attention not to do so, on his way to Washington after being elected. His words in this time of international tension, are worth remembering as America considers starting a war for the first time. Lincoln said:

I have often inquired of myself what great principle or idea it was that kept this Confederacy (the Union, he means), so long together. It was not the mere matter of separation of the colonies from the motherland, but that sentiment in the Declaration of Independence which gave liberty not alone to the single people of this country, but hope to all the world, for all future time. It was that which gave promise that in due time the weights would be lifted from the shoulders of all men, and that all should have an equal chance.

Seeing the Big Picture.

After Fort Sumter was fired upon, Lincoln was pressured harder to free the slaves. Still, Lincoln held firm. Mr. Greeley published a blistering open letter to the President, he called “The Letter of Twenty Millions,” meaning his readers (slightly exaggerated)in The New York Tribune. Greeley’s letter took the President to task for not freeing the slaves now that the Civil War was on, writing, “all attempts to put down the rebellion and at the same time uphold its inciting cause are preposterous and futile.”

President Lincoln responded with an open letter which Greeley published in The Tribune. President Lincoln’s letter is instructive as to how a President moves in crisis, when a nation is ripped apart to calm and state his position. He begins with a conciliatory tone, calming Greeley’s bombast:

…If there be perceptible in it (Greeley’s letter) an impatient and dictatorial tone, I waive it in deference to an old friend whose heart I have always supposed to be right.

As to the policy I “seem to be pursuing,” as you say, I have not meant to leave any one in doubt. I would save the Union. I would save it in the shortest way under the Constitution.

The sooner the national authority can be restored the nearer the Union will be – the Union as it was.

If there be those who would not save the Union unless they could at the same time save slavery, I do not agree with them.

If there be those who would not save the Union unless they could at the same time destroy slavery, I do not agree with them.

If I could save the Union without freeing any slaves, I would do it – if I could save it by freeing all the slaves, I would do it – and if I could do it by freeing some and leaving others alone, I would also do that.

What I do about slavery and the colored race, I do because I believe it helps to save this Union, and what I forbear, I forbear because I do not believe it would help to save the Union.

I shall do less whenever I shall believe what I am doing hurts the cause, and I shall do more whenever I believe doing more will help the cause.

I shall try to correct errors when shown to be errors, and I shall adopt new views so fast as they shall appear to be new views.

I have here stated my purpose according to my views of official duty, and I intend no modification of my oft-expressed personal wish that all men everywhere could be free, Yours

A. Lincoln

Wearied by War

Horace Greeley described the toll the Civil War had taken on Mr. Lincoln, seeing him in person shortly beforeGeneral Lee surrendered. Greeley wrote:

Lincoln’s face had nothing in it of the sunny, gladsome countenance he first brought from Illinois. It is now a face haggard with care and seamed with thought and trouble…tempest-tossed and weatherbeaten, as if he were some tough old mariner who had for years been beating up against the wind and tide, unable to make his port or find safe anchorage…The sunset of life was plainly looking out of his kindly eyes.”

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.