District Administration - February 2010 - (Page 36)

Raul Yzaguirre Charter School for Success in English on certain days, while reading, language arts and writing are taught in Spanish. Also on certain days, there is a “language of the day,” sometimes Spanish, sometimes English. “When students line up or go to the cafeteria, the entire school family, including teachers and staff, will speak to them in one language or the other, to help them become more familiar with English” by understanding the English equivalent of words familiar to them in Spanish, Barrientos explains. But Raul Yzaguirre still uses the transitional model in grades 3-5 for students who enter the school at those levels not speaking any English. By the time they get to fifth grade, most students move into all-English classrooms, but some stay in a bilingual program. After fifth grade, the school uses test data to monitor students’ progress in either English or Spanish and continues bilingual instruction for those who need it, Barrientos says. Farias points out that 85 percent of its graduates go to college and that the school’s dropout rate in 2008-2009 was 1 percent. “We’re extremely proud of that, because these are essentially high-risk kids who come from the regular public schools,” he says. He credits the low dropout rate partly to parental involvement, with more than 90 percent of them providing at least 36 hours of service in school-related activities during the school year. Whether chArter schools Are eFFective in helping youths leArn english is under debate in Massachusetts, where the state senate passed a bill in november, backed by gov. Deval patrick and Boston Mayor thomas Menino, to convert some low-performing public schools into charter schools as a way to improve students’ learning and performance. the house was expected to take the measure up some time in January. patrick has cited the failure of many ell students in traditional public schools to meet the state’s graduation requirements. But some other public officials and private organizations are questioning whether charter schools will help them do any better. “there is no empirical basis to support the notion that charters are the cure,” stated a september 2009 issue brief from Multicultural education, training & Advocacy (MetA), a national organization specializing in the educational rights of hispanics and other linguistic minorities. in the brief—“charter schools and english language learners in Massachusetts: policy push without the Data”—MetA maintained that charter schools in the state have not demonstrated that they educate ells better than regular public schools. it added that “for whatever reason,” most ell students do not even attend charter schools. it cited Boston, where approximately 20 percent of all students are ells, but ell percentages at charter schools in 2008-2009 were no higher than 3.8 percent. the center for research on education outcomes (creDo) at stanford university has taken a different view on the effectiveness nationally of charters on ells. in a report released last June—“Multiple choice: charter school performance in 16 states” (including Massachusetts)—creDo stated that “english language learners realize significantly better learning gains in charter schools” than in regular public schools. But it cited a wide variance in the quality of the country’s several thousand charter schools overall and concluded that in the aggregate, students in charter schools do not fare as well academically as students in traditional public schools. Do Charters Work for ELLs? Dolores Huerta Preparatory High School, Pueblo, Colo. y the time most students enter Dolores Huerta Preparatory High School (DHPH) in Pueblo, Colo., they no longer are ELLs. Even though 80 percent of the students are of Hispanic heritage, most students are probably fourthgeneration or earlier, says Jason Guerrero, chief financial officer of the Cesar Chavez School Network, which includes the high school. The few students who were ELLs before coming to DHPH learned English in the K8 Cesar Chavez Academy, a feeder school for DHPH, says Rich Mestas, DHPH’s principal. A husband-and-wife team, Lawrence and Annette Hernandez, along with community activists, founded the Cesar Chavez Academy in 2000 for underserved Latino students in Pueblo, a community characterized by poverty. They established the high school two years later as part of the school network, which now includes other schools in Colorado. About two-thirds of DHPH students are economically disadvantaged, but there is a degree of socio-economic diversity. Although it is part of NCLR’s Early College Project, DHPH considers college as only a stepping-stone for its students on a path to what it considers a more significant goal: a career. “We are committed to career preparation. That is the carrot we dangle out there for our students,” asserts Mestas. “We tell them that a career is different from a job. A job is something where you have to go to work and you’re looking at the clock. A career is something you get up for every morning and you’re passionate about and you love what you do and you can’t believe you get paid to do it. It’s really important to establish that for the students so they can understand the relevance of their education.” That’s what sets DHPH, with 443 students this year, apart from a traditional high school, Mestas declares. “They go to classes geared toward their careers, and they understand from day one what it’s all about here,” he says. Ninth-graders begin preparations not just for college—“how to study, take notes, manage your time, advocate for yourself with your professors”— but also for the workplace, by developing attitudes such as a strong work ethic and by learning skills such as how to dress for a job interview, Mestas says. Another commitment DHPH has made is to give students a head start into college by providing college-level courses for juniors and seniors through partnerships with Pueblo Community College and Colorado State University-Pueblo. District Administration 36 February 2010

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of District Administration - February 2010

District Administration - February 2010
Contents
Advertiser Index
News Update
Facilities Update
District Profile
Administrator Profile
New Books
Problem/ Solution
Pursuing Peace in Chicago
English Language Learner Charter Schools
Tweeting Your Own Horn
Tech Disruptions
Professional Opinion
Research Center
New Products
Product Focus

District Administration - February 2010

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