News (Noticias) Tagged ‘english language learners’

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Schools Chancellor Joel I. Klein today announced that New York City’s four-year high school graduation rate continues to push upward, as it has every year under the Administration. The City’s four-year rate reached a new high of 55.8 percent in 2007, according to data released this morning by the New York State Education Department, with more students earning Regents diplomas and black and Hispanic students narrowing the graduation gap with their white and Asian peers. The State’s rates now include students who met graduation requirements in summer school following their senior year. Excluding these students to allow for comparisons with previous years, the City’s graduation rate has risen 5.7 percentage points since 2005, and 2.4 points since 2006. By comparison, graduation rates Statewide have risen by 2.8 points since 2005 and 1.4 points since 2006. The City’s increases translate into more than 5,000 additional students graduating since 2005. In addition, the City’s dropout rate has declined since 2005 by 3.3 points, to 14.7 percent from 18 percent. The Mayor and Chancellor were joined at Department of Education headquarters in the Tweed Courthouse by Deputy Mayor for Education and Community Development Dennis M. Walcott, United Federation of Teachers ( UFT ) President Randi Weingarten, UFT Chief Operating Office Michael Mulgrew, and Council of School Supervisors and Administrators ( CSA ) Executive Vice President Peter McNally.

“The graduation rate is a crucial indicator of whether our school system is fulfilling its core mission - giving our children the skills they need to become successful adults,” said Mayor Bloomberg. “After a decade of near-stagnation, New York City’s graduation rate has climbed significantly since 2002. We clearly need to help larger numbers of students to graduate, but the progress we’ve made so far means that thousands more students are graduating today than would have six years ago.”

“Today’s numbers confirm once again that steady progress is now the rule, not the exception, in New York City’s public schools,” said Chancellor Klein. “Although I’m pleased that the overall graduation rate is continuing to rise, it’s especially encouraging to see that the biggest increases are among our black and Hispanic students. This is further evidence that we’re beginning to close the shameful racial achievement gap in this City.”

Because this is the first year that the State included in its calculation students who graduated in August after their final semester, comparisons to previous years must exclude August graduates. Excluding those students, the City’s four-year graduation rate rose to 52.2 percent in 2007 from 49.8 percent in 2006 and 46.5 percent in 2005. At the same time, the dropout rate fell to 14.7 percent in 2007, down from 15 percent in 2006 and 18 percent in 2005. The five-year graduation rate rose to 59.5 percent in 2007 from 55.7 percent in 2006.

“Today is a day to congratulate teachers, principals, students and parents for all their hard work in keeping the graduation rate going in the right direction,” said UFT President Randi Weingarten. “Tomorrow we must ask ourselves what more can we do to get our kids ready for college, to enter the workforce, to improve their life skills? That’s going to require continued collaboration by everyone with a stake in our kids’ education, and in so doing we will dramatically increase the graduation rates.”

“We are seeing gradual, steady increases in student graduation rates because school leaders, teachers and parents are truly working together to improve student learning and ensure every child receives a quality education,” said CSA Executive Vice President Peter McNally. “Student achievement has always been a priority for school leaders, and while there is still more work to be done, with the proper resources we will continue to make progress.”

The percentage of graduates earning Regents diplomas has increased along with the overall graduation rate. A new high of 69.8 percent of graduates in 2007 earned a Regents diploma, compared to 68.4 percent in 2006 and 64.3 percent in 2005 - a 5.5 percentage point increase over two years. Students must meet more rigorous graduation requirements, including higher scores on their Regents exams, to earn a Regents diploma.

The four-year graduation rate among black and Hispanic students is increasing faster than that of their white and Asian peers. Overall, 47.2 percent of black students in 2007 graduated in four years, compared to 43.5 percent in 2006 and 40.2 percent in 2005. This 7.0 point increase over two years compares to a 4.7 increase among white students and a 4.5 increase among Asian students during the same period. Overall, 43 percent of Hispanic students in 2007 graduated in four years, compared to 41 percent in 2006 and 37.4 percent in 2005, an increase of 5.6 points. Between 2005 and 2007, the gap in the graduation rate between white and black students was reduced by 2.3 percentage points, and the gap between white and Hispanic students was reduced by 0.9 points.

The graduation rate among English Language Learners rose 3.1 points to 23.5 in 2007, after falling from 26.5 percent in 2005 to 20.4 percent in 2006. The graduation rate among special education students rose to 19.8 percent in 2007 from 19.4 percent in 2006 and 17.2 percent in 2005, a two-year increase of 2.6 percentage points.

Beginning this year, the City and the State are using a shared methodology to calculate graduation rates. Previously, the City used its own methodology to calculate the rate. Because this formula remained unchanged since 1986; it is still useful for comparisons over time. Using the City’s formula, the graduation rate rose from 58 percent to 62 percent between 2005 and 2007, an increase that tracks closely to the State’s calculation. Since the Mayor won control of the school system in 2002, the graduation rate has increased 11.2 points, using the City’s methodology, from 50.8 percent to 62 percent. Conversely, the graduation rate had been essentially stagnant over the decade prior to 2002.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Stu Loeser / Dawn Walker  ( 212 ) 788-2958

David Cantor  ( Department of Education )
( 212 ) 374-5141″

Received via e-mail:

1. Attached is the press release from META and MALDEF on a very important Texas case on the education of English language learners and a copy of the decision.
2. META is the non-profit law firm that brought LULAC v. Florida Board of Education and handles the followup to implementation of the resulting Consent Decree.
3. Many of the Issues affecting English language learners in Texas are also concerns in Florida.

Release Major Ruling Texas English Language Learner.doc

Texas RECONSIDERATION DECISION FINAL.pdf

But a teacher at Johnson High School soon took note of Alonso’s quick mind and eagerness to learn English, and helped him to better his academic standing. And that summer, Alonso took part in Gainesville State College’s Steps-to-College program after learning about it at school.

Since 1999, GSC has hosted the Steps-to-College program for English language learners.”*

Students designated as English language learners (ELL) tend to go to public schools with low standardized test scores. However, these low levels of assessed proficiency are not solely attributable to poor achievement by ELL students. These same schools report poor achievement by other major student groups as well, and have a set of characteristics associated generally with poor standardized test performance–such as high student-teacher ratios, high student enrollments and high levels of students who live in poverty or near poverty. When ELL students are not isolated in these low-achieving schools, their gap in test score results is considerably narrower.”*

Report PDF

For service provided to English language learners, UC Riverside doctoral candidate Gregory O’Brien will be honored as a recipient of the 2008 Los Angeles County Bilingual Directors’ Award at a ceremony held June 7 at the Long Beach Hilton Hotel. O’Brien, principal of Sparks Elementary School in the Hacienda La Puente Unified School District, has dedicated his career to bilingual education.

He is completing work on his Ph.D. in parent involvement from UCR and has worked to enhance the power of immigrant parents at the school site and in their homes. His dissertation work addresses how culture influences the participation of Mexican immigrant parents in the formal schooling of their children in California.

“How fitting that Gregory’s award-winning service to English language learners is being matched by his intellectual contributions to Latino education through his dissertation work,” said Professor Robert Ream of UCR’s Graduate School of Education and co-chair of O’Brien’s dissertation committee.

O’Brien’s interest in bilingual education began early on when he attended college in Argentina and Spain, before graduating from the University of Minnesota with a BA in Spanish. He began teaching in the Hacienda La Puente Unified School District in 1995 where his knowledge of Spanish was essential in his bilingual classroom and with the majority of the parents of his students. After gaining experience at the elementary, middle and high school level, he worked for several years as a district program specialist in the Multilingual Office.

Each year, a category of education personnel is honored with the L.A. County Bilingual Directors Award. This year, the award is going to site administrators. In addition to Outstanding School Administrators who have made significant contributions to bilingual education, the organization will also be honoring Denise Moreno Ducheny, California State Senator, 40th District “*

Editor’s Note: Irantzu Pujadas, a reporter with EGP News in Los Angeles, talked to students about the challenges of going to school without knowing English. This story was supported through a New America Media education fellowship program.

“Not to be fluent in English is a disadvantage,” says Nalliber Ruiz, a 17-year-old Bell Gardens High School student from Colombia. “But at the same time, it is a challenge for me [to learn].”

Ruiz came to the U.S as a teenager. She says she was surprised to find most of her teachers spoke Spanish, which made it easier for her to adapt to the local school system. But, she adds, the results have been a little disappointing.”*

Greeley-Evans School District 6 officials last week got some news they hope will increase graduate rates.

English Language Learning students showed improvement or significant improvement in nearly every category and grade level in the Colorado English Language Assessment test. CELA is given to students who entered the district having no proficiency or limited proficiency in English. The assessment, given to 3,600 District 6 students in January, measures how well these students have progressed in learning to read, write, speak and listen in English.”*

*From: http://www.greeleytrib.com
Traducido: usando Google o Altavista/Babel Fish

Two-dozen third-graders are sitting in a Holmes Elementary School classroom, staring at computer monitors. The soft clicking of mouses and the tapping on keyboards is punctuated by yelps of excitement, as the students conquer one aspect or another of their educational video games.

There’s an overt, nervous excitement shared by the students, as they finish the final day of classes before the beginning of spring break. Their principal, Darlene Johnson, also is nervous, but her anxiety is rooted in a complex and long-term problem that has nothing to do with free time and fun.

When the next school year begins in August, the computer lab may be no more. The room is one of several that may be cannibalized to add seven new classrooms to implement the state’s new model for teaching English to students who speak a different native language. The English language learners program calls for at least four hours of intensive English instruction each day.”*

*From: http://www.redorbit.com
Traducido: usando Google o Altavista/Babel Fish

In the study “Breaking the Piggy Bank: How Illegal Immigration Is Sending Schools Into the Red,” the Federation for American Immigration Reform, a national anti-immigration group, estimated based on 2004 data that educational expenditures for illegal immigration were costing S.C. taxpayers $143.5 million dollars annually.

This cost was partially for educating students who were themselves illegally in the country ($59.8 million) and in part for the education those born in the United States to illegal residents ($83.7 million).

A University of South Carolina study, “The Economic and Social Implications of the Growing Latino Population in South Carolina,” acknowledges that some people fear Hispanic students increase education costs because they lack English skills, but English language learners represent only 2 percent of the total school population.”*

*From: http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com
Traducido: usando Google o Altavista/Babel Fish

After years of growth, enrollment in Hoover City Schools’ program for stu­dents with limited English pro­ficiency has dropped for the first time.

School officials say it’s an in­dication that some immigrant families may be moving out of the city in search of jobs or more affordable housing.

Hoover’s English Language Learners program, which pro­vides instruction to students who are not proficient in Eng­lish, is among the largest state­wide. The number of students in the program has increased ev­ery year since the school sys­tem’s inception in 1988. Between the 2002-03 and 2006-07 school years, ELL enrollment in­creased 77 percent in Hoover, compared with 63 percent state­wide.”*

*From: http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com
Traducido: usando Google o Altavista/Babel Fish

The Campaign for High School Equity, the only coalition of leading civil rights groups to focus on high school education reform, held a briefing for policymakers yesterday to address changes to the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) that would ensure stronger provisions for the more than five million English language learner (ELL) students enrolled in America’s public school system.

While ELL students represent the fastest growing segment of students, they are among the country’s lowest performing. For instance, in 2007, only 4 percent of eighth-grade ELL students scored at or above a “proficient” level on the reading portion of the National Assessment of Educational Progress, compared to 31 percent of non-ELL students. In addition, only 49 percent of ELL students graduate from high school on time, with a regular diploma.
“While we work on reauthorizing NCLB, we must keep in mind the civil rights of all students,” said Victor Goode, assistant general counsel of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). “Currently, NCLB doesn’t require states to assess ELL students in their native language.”

Phitsamay Uy, board chair for the Southeast Asia Resource Action Center, joined Goode and coalition members Peter Zamora, regional general counsel for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, and Brent Wilkes, executive director of the League of United Latin American Citizens, at the briefing. Uy stressed that the needs of many Southeast Asian students, especially those who are English language learners, are overlooked as a result of the model minority myth that stereotypes all Asian Americans as doing well academically.

“Many of these children are trying to learn a new language at the same time as learning a new subject. Their success needs to be defined by academic achievement, not English-language proficiency alone,” said Uy. She noted that, after Spanish, Vietnamese and Hmong are the two most common primary languages of ELL students.

Rep. Rubén Hinojosa (D-TX) and Rep. Mike Honda (D-CA) made remarks at the briefing, showing their support for the Campaign’s recommendations to safeguard the civil rights of those students whose proficiency in spoken and/or written English is not yet strong enough to permit them to succeed in an English-language classroom setting without extra support.

The Campaign called on Congress to incorporate the following priorities into NCLB reform:

– Require the public reporting of data broken down by students’ racial and ethnic backgrounds in order to highlight subgroups of students;

– Hold high schools accountable for increasing graduation rates for all student subgroups and consider graduation rates on an equal footing with high-quality assessments aligned to college and work readiness in determining high school quality;

– Provide high-quality assessments and instruction that help to improve student reading and math skills without sacrificing their access to high-level academic subjects;

– Give students excellent teachers, and provide parents with adequate supports so they can play a more confident and informed role in their children’s education; and

– Ensure that federal policy provides sufficient resources to serve all students, particularly ELLs.

For more of the Campaign’s recommendations on strengthening NCLB to better serve students of color, visit their Web site at www.highschoolequity.org.

The Campaign for High School Equity is a diverse coalition of national civil rights organizations representing communities of color that believe high schools should have the capacity and motivation to prepare every student for graduation, college, work, and life. The Campaign was formed to address the unequal public education system that fails to provide high-quality education to students of color and youth from low-income neighborhoods. Members of the Campaign include the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights Education Fund, the League of United Latin American Citizens, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials Educational Fund, the National Council of La Raza, the National Indian Education Association, the National Urban League, and the Southeast Asia Resource Action Center. The Alliance for Excellent Education serves as the Campaign’s convener and coordinator.”*

*From: http://www.hispanicprwire.com
Traducido: usando Google o Altavista/Babel Fish

More than 5 million English language learner (ELL) students are enrolled in America’s public school system, representing the fastest growing segment of the student population with the highest growth rates occurring in grades seven through twelve. As this student population grows in size across this country, they are being left behind in other respects. ELL students today are among the country’s lowest performing. For instance, in 2007, only 4 percent of eighth-grade ELL students scored at or above “proficient” on the reading portion of the National Assessment of Educational Progress, compared to 31 percent of non-ELL students. In addition, only 49 percent of ELL students graduate from high school on time, with a regular diploma.”*

*From: http://www.prnewswire.com
Traducido: usando Google o Altavista/Babel Fish

Xicalango Press announces the publication of the ¡BINGLéS! Workbook-on-CD, to accompany its game for Spanish speakers, ¡BINGLéS! La Lotería para Aprender Inglés. The game is already in wide use throughout the United States and Mexico.

With the addition of the Workbook-on-CD, ¡BINGLéS! is now one of the most enjoyable and cost-effective English courses for beginners available anywhere. Adapted from La Lotería, Mexico’s most popular card game, ¡BINGLéS! and the Workbook-on-CD feature the same ‘forties-style artwork that millions of Spanish speakers have known and loved all their lives.

Aside from ¡BINGLéS’s fourteen activities that teach beginning English skills, the Workbook provides forty pages of activities that teachers and program directors can print and photocopy to provide learning reinforcement for their students and clients.

The cost of the Workbook-on-CD is only $14.00 (plus tax, shipping and handling). The game is available in four different presentations, according to the number of language learners in the target group. The portable set for up to ten players costs only $19, while the 10-player box set costs $23. The set for up to 20 players is $27, and the 30-player set costs $33. Please add the cost of tax, shipping and handling to those prices.

At present ¡BINGLéS! has been enjoying great success in settings as diverse as adult schools and kindergartens, migrant ed. training centers and after-school programs, day laborer’s centers and senior centers. The games are in use throughout Mexico, in Cuba, El Salvador, Argentina and coast-to-coast in the United States. It was featured on Al Rojo Vivo with Maria Celeste, and drew crowds at FIL (Festival Internacional del Libro) in Guadalajara.

The innovative ¡BINGLéS Workbook-on-CD is widely available through Xicalango Press’s website, www.xicalangopress.com, and through nationally recognized distributors of ESL materials such as ALTA ESL and Delta Educational. “*

Eliana Rojas believes students learn mathematics better when taught in their native language, and she has federal backing to put her theory into practice.

The U.S. Department of Education recently awarded Rojas a $1.5 million grant “to prepare teachers of English language learners to accelerate their students’ academic achievement.”

The grant focuses on the preparation and professional development of bilingual and Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) math teachers, in order to provide appropriate and effective instruction to adolescents who are learning the English language.

“We will be focusing on math literacy in the Hartford and Willimantic schools, in grades six to 10, the school years when, besides coping with physiological changes, Latino adolescents are coping with issues of immigration, assimilating to a new culture, and learning a new language,” says Rojas, a former Hartford math teacher now an assistant professor-in-residence in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at the Neag School of Education.”*

“Of all the groups in California (including categories such as “low-income,” “Latino” and “African American”), it’s English language learners who are most drastically affected by poor school conditions. Eighty-five percent of English learners are Spanish speakers, largely from low-income communities. Little by little, Spanish-speaking parents””mothers in particular””are starting to use the Williams Settlement as an effective tool in their efforts to get high quality education for their children.

The group of mothers in Hayward initially came together to fight the school closures that were taking place in the district last year. Then they found out about the Williams Settlement after reading announcements about it at their kids’ schools.

“Before we got involved, (the district) only had one complaint,” says Araceli Orozco, one of the Hayward mothers. “We put together 45 more complaints,” she says, ranging from unqualified teachers to unheated classrooms and unsanitary bathrooms. Orozco, Heredia, and two other Mexican-American mothers collected complaints from concerned parents across the district. Armed with cell phones and notepads, they monitored the conditions in local schools and taught other parents to do the same.”

“At an event today at the U.S. Capitol, Senators Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and Ken Salazar (D-CO) and Congressmen RaÚl Grijalva (D-AZ) and Rubén Hinojosa (D-TX) joined Janet Murguí, President and CEO of the National Council of La Raza (NCLR), and parents and educators from California and the District of Columbia in support of Even Start, the family literacy program designed to help the lowest-income parents of young children in the U.S. gain literacy, parenting, and job skills. The program will be eliminated if Congress does not approve funding this year.

“Even Start has helped thousands of parents improve their job and English skills and get jobs that better support their families,” said Murguí. “The true marker of Even Start’s success should be the voices of the families and educators who have experienced firsthand how Even Start’s family literacy programs have turned their lives around.”

The event also featured an exhibit of postcards addressed to the Senate from Even Start families from across the country. These postcards testify to how Even Start has successfully helped low-income families; view them at www.nclr.org/evenstartpostcards.

The federal budget for the Even Start Family Literacy Program has been cut by 60% over the last three years which has forced many Even Start programs throughout the country to shut their doors, reducing educational opportunities to nearly half the number of families as were served in 2005. Legislation passed by the House of Representatives earlier this year provides a slight boost to Even Start funding, but a bill in the Senate proposes to eliminate it.

Even Start is also the only Department of Education program that provides early literacy instruction to infants and toddlers; research shows that this is a critical time period for building a reading foundation. And, it complements the goals set forth in the No Child Left Behind Act by focusing on giving parents the necessary tools to serve as their children’s first teachers and to get involved in their children’s education. Most Even Start families have annual incomes under $9,000, and nearly half (46%) of Even Start families nationwide are Latino.

Many states have consistently documented the program’s successes. For example, in California, Even Start third-grade students – the vast majority of whom are English language learners (ELLs) – outperformed all students and other ELL students on the California Achievement Test in reading.

“I want to thank Senators Menendez and Salazar and Congressmen Grijalva and Hinojosa for their support of Even Start families and for their leadership in Congress to make sure that the poorest, most disadvantaged families in our nation have the chance at the American Dream,” said Murguí.

For more information about the Even Start Family Literacy Program, please visit www.nclr.org or call Erika Beltran or Laura Anduze at (202) 785-1670.”

“Governor Eliot Spitzer used the occasion of national Constitution and Citizenship Day to announce the awarding of $6 million in funding to organizations that help New York immigrants become United States citizens. Nineteen community-based agencies have been awarded $5.5 million through the New York State Citizenship Initiative (NYSCI) administered by the Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance’s (OTDA) Bureau of Refugee and Immigrant Assistance. The funding will help eligible immigrants navigate the citizenship application process. An additional $500,000 is being awarded specifically for services for older immigrants.

“On Constitution and Citizenship Day, it is important to remember the thousands of people who come to New York each year in search of better opportunities,” said Governor Spitzer. “For generations, millions of immigrants striving to find a better life for themselves and their families have played an important role in building our great state. This important funding will help the newest New Yorkers navigate the naturalization process, and put them on the path to greater opportunity and economic security.”

David A. Hansell, OTDA Commissioner, said: “Immigrants and their families face many challenges as they adjust to a new culture. This program is vital to helping them adapt and become permanent members of the community.”

Lillian Rodriguez-Lopez, President of the Hispanic Federation, said: “We are deeply grateful to Governor Spitzer for his commitment to ensure that English Language Learners have access to an education of excellence and that our immigrant community has the necessary citizenship and ESL services needed to achieve the American Dream.”

The $5.2 million in NYSCI funding is a three-year grant designed to help eligible immigrants who require assistance in completing and managing naturalization applications. Also, $300,000 will be used by the New York Immigration Coalition to provide information and training to service providers and immigrant communities.

Through a second related initiative, $500,000 has been awarded to three agencies to provide services during a six-month demonstration period to assist older immigrants, who tend to be more isolated from their communities and require specialized services.

Today’s announcement continues Governor Spitzer’s commitment to New York’s immigrant community. His administration has undertaken several important initiatives to help these individuals reach the American dream, including:

* Increasing funding to students who are English Language Learners by an estimated $500 million over the next four years;
* Creating the Bureau of Immigrant Affairs in the Labor Department to protect the rights of immigrant workers, specifically focusing on integrating immigrants into all state workforce programs, ensuring that there are no undue barriers to accessing benefits, and by moving aggressively to enforce New York State labor laws;
* Increasing funding for enforcement staff within the Department of Labor’s Labor Standard Division. This will ensure that all workers receive proper wages and that safety requirements are strictly observed. Immigrant communities are often particularly vulnerable to this type of abuse; and
* Providing an unprecedented investment in education through reforms to the state’s Foundation Aid formula to target aid increases to the neediest districts, many of which have significant immigrant populations.

Earlier this year, Governor Spitzer also released his economic security agenda for New York’s working families to help immigrants and all New Yorkers achieve financial security. He formed an Economic Security Cabinet that is working on four objectives, including reducing New York’s high cost of living; establishing educational and workforce development opportunities for a highly competitive economy; improving services that target low-income, working New Yorkers at risk of falling into the social safety net; and bringing back jobs into our communities.

The following organizations are being awarded funding under the general initiative:

New York City
Asian Americans for Equality $438,042
CAMBA Inc. $438,042
Federation Employment and Guidance Services, Inc. $438,042
Hispanic Federation $438,042
New York Association for New Americans $438,042
New York Legal Assistance Group $438,042
Northern Manhattan Improvement Corporation $438,042
International Rescue Committee $420,258
Catholic Charities Community Services $324,048
New York Immigration Coalition $300,000

Long Island
Catholic Charities – Immigrant Services, Diocese
Of Rockville $262,827
Education & Assistance Corporation $262,827

Albany County
Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Albany $54,288

Erie/Niagara Counties
Journey’s End Refugee Services, Inc. $66,816

Oneida County
Mohawk Valley Resource Center for Refugees $162,864

Oswego, Onondaga, Tompkins, Broome and Monroe Counties
Oswego County BOCES $133,632

Westchester County
Westchester Hispanic Coalition $466,146
The Older Immigrant Initiative awards funds as follows:

Albany County
U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants $50,000

Erie County
International Institute of Buffalo $50,000

New York City
Shorefront YM-YWHA of Brighton-Manhattan Beach
(in collaboration with Self help, Inc.) $400,000

Established in 2004, Constitution and Citizenship Day celebrates the anniversary of the signing of the United States Constitution, honoring the Founding Fathers visionary efforts to secure the blessings of liberty and independence. “

“From the musical history of Mexican Corridos, to stories of the California Gold Rush to the expeditions of Juan Bautista de Anza that led to the colonization of San Francisco, Hispanic Heritage Month offers a unique opportunity to delve into and celebrate the diverse history and important contributions Latinos have made to American culture.

To help educators introduce their students to Hispanic-American history and celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month, from Sept. 15 - Oct. 15, Thinkfinity.org will offer a rich collection of free lesson plans and educational resources to educators on a special section of its home page.

Thinkfinity.org is the Verizon Foundation’s comprehensive program and online portal to 55,000 standards-based, grade-specific, K-12 lesson plans and other educational resources provided in partnership with many of the nation’s leading educational and literacy organizations.

Among the resources in the Thinkfinity Hispanic Heritage section are:
* The Music & Meaning of Mexican Corridos, an interactive lesson
developed by ARTSEDGE, a program of the John F. Kennedy Center for the
Performing Arts. Students examine the historical and cultural
significance of corridos, Mexican folk ballads that originated in the
mid 1800s, and have an opportunity to compose lyrics to a corrido.
Historically, the songs were written to communicate news of actual
events, often focusing on heroes or individuals fighting unjust
authorities. Two classroom lessons, along with audio samples of
corridos are available at
http://www.artsedge.kennedy-center.org/content/3772/.

* EDSITEment’s National Hispanic Heritage Month Feature provides an
overview and explains why Hispanic Heritage Month is celebrated from
Sept. 15 to Oct 15. (The 31-day period begins on Independence Day for
Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua.) More
information is available at
http://edsitement.neh.gov/monthly_feature.asp?id=20.

* Timeline Games and Mexican History to Improve Comprehension, a lesson
plan created by the International Reading Association’s
ReadWriteThink.org. In this lesson, elementary students study the basic
elements of Mexican history and use online resources to gather
information to create an illustrated timeline. More information is
available at
http://www.readwritethink.org/calendar/calendar_day.asp?id=293

* Web de Anza, a Web site funded by the National Endowment for the
Humanities is listed among EDSITEment’s Blue Ribbon sites. This
resource provides students and scholars with primary source documents
and multimedia resources covering Juan Bautista de Anza’s two overland
expeditions from the Sonoran desert to northern California, leading to
the colonization of San Francisco in 1776. More information is
available at http://anza.uoregon.edu/default.html.

“The true diversity of culture and ideas reflected across the American landscape is among our nation’s greatest strengths,” said Verizon Foundation President Patrick Gaston. “Hispanic Heritage Month provides a perfect opportunity to reflect on the wonderful contributions of Hispanic-Americans, and we’re proud that Thinkfinity.org can play a role in sharing these important lessons with the next generation.”

In addition to resources in connection with Hispanic Heritage Month, Thinkfinity.org also offers an abundance of resources for English language learners through the Thinkfinity Literacy Network. Many of the resources on the TLN are available in both English and Spanish.

Among the resources available in Spanish are:

* Los Elementos de la lectura, which includes a variety of activities for
parents or volunteers to help children improve reading skills.
http://literacynetwork.verizon.org/fileadmin/popups/elements_spanish.htm

* Lectura en voz alta para grupos de ninos, edades recien nacidos a 8
anos, which helps parents guide their children to gain confidence in
reading aloud.
http://literacynetwork.verizon.org/fileadmin/popups/reading_aloud_sp.htm

Content for Thinkfinity is provided through a partnership between the Verizon Foundation and 11 of the nation’s leading organizations in the fields of education and literacy: the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the International Reading Association, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, National Center for Family Literacy, National Council on Economic Education, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Council of Teachers of English, National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, National Geographic Society, ProLiteracy Worldwide and the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History.

Thinkfinity is the Verizon Foundation’s signature educational and literacy program and includes the program formerly known as Verizon MarcoPolo and the Verizon Literacy Network. Thinkfinity combines authoritative educational content and robust professional development with research and evidence-based resources and practices for literacy across the lifespan.

The Verizon Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Verizon Communications, is committed to improving literacy and K-12 education; fostering awareness and prevention of domestic violence; and promoting the use of technology in health-care delivery. In 2006, the foundation awarded more than $69 million in grants to nonprofit agencies in the United States and abroad. The foundation also matched charitable donations from Verizon employees and retirees, resulting in $29 million in combined contributions. Under the foundation’s Verizon Volunteer initiative, one of the nation’s largest employee-volunteer programs, company employees and retirees have also contributed nearly 3 million hours of community service since Verizon’s inception in 2000.

For more information on the foundation, visit www.verizon.com/foundation.

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“Senator John Edwards introduced a new set of proposals today to make sure our nation’s schools serve Latino students and give every child the opportunity to live the American Dream.

“The road to building One America starts with our schools,” said Edwards. “But more than fifty years after Brown v. Board of Education, America still has two school systems, separate and unequal. And when our schools leave behind Latino students, so does our economy.”

Forty-seven percent of Latino students don’t receive a high school diploma. By the senior year in high school, the average Latino student has math and English skills similar to those of an average white middle school student. The inequality starts early on, as too few Latino students have the opportunity to go to preschool programs. And it continues after high school graduation: neither the college enrollment nor completion rates of Latinos have increased over the last 20 years.

Edwards’ proposals will strengthen our schools from preschool through college so that every child develops the skills and knowledge he or she needs to succeed in college and the workplace. To do this, Edwards will expand access to preschool, invest in teachers for English language classes, end the dropout crisis and initiate a College for Everyone program.

These proposals build on the rest of Edwards’ agenda to include all Latinos in the American Dream by providing universal health care, ending poverty, expanding the middle class and implementing comprehensive immigration reform.

“I believe that everyone in America – regardless of the family you were born into, the color of your skin or the country your family came from – should have an equal chance to build a better life,” said Edwards.

Edwards has also won the support of a key figure within the Latino community. “Senator Edwards best represents the interests of working families and middle America,” said Frank Herrera Jr., the former chair of MALDEF, the nation’s largest civil rights group on behalf of Latinos. “He understands the issues because he has lived the issues. I know that Senator Edwards will respond to the needs of our community, which have historically been undeserved in the areas of economics, education and health care.”

A detailed fact sheet outlining Edwards’ opportunity agenda for Latino Americans is below.

Building One America: Edwards’ Opportunity Agenda for Latino Americans

“I believe that everyone in America – regardless of the family you were born into, the color of your skin or the country your family came from – should have an equal chance to build a better life.” – John Edwards

There are still Two Americas. For the last 20 years, 40 percent of America’s economic growth has gone to the top 1 percent. While they are not defined by family heritage, the Two Americas have a disproportionate impact on Latinos. For example, their median per capita income is only about half of that for non-Latino whites. [EPI, 2006; Census Bureau, 2007]

The road to building One America starts with our schools. But more than fifty years after Brown v. Board of Education, America still has two school systems, separate and unequal. Forty-seven percent of Latino students don’t receive a high school diploma. By the senior year in high school, the average Latino student has math and English skills similar to those of an average white middle school student. The inequality starts early on, as too few Latino students have the opportunity to go to preschool programs. And it continues after high school graduation: neither the college enrollment nor completion rates of Latinos have increased over the last 20 years. When our schools leave behind Latino students, so does our economy. [NAEP, 2005; Ed Trust, 2007]
Edwards’ Agenda For Latino Education

Today, Edwards announced his plan to make sure our nation’s schools serve Latino students, so that every child can live the American Dream. As president, Edwards will strengthen our schools from preschool through college so that every child develops the skills and knowledge he or she needs to succeed in college and the workplace.

Expand Access to Preschools: Building one American education system begins by expanding access to preschools. Just 43 percent of Latino children participate in preschool programs in America, compared to 59 percent of white children. Among Latino children ages three to five who are living in poverty, just 36 percent are enrolled in early childhood care and education programs. Edwards will expand funding for Head Start and increase preschool enrollment so that more students – including Latino students – start school ready to learn. He will also improve the quality and diversity of our preschool teachers by providing scholarships for early childhood educators to obtain college credit and additional training in English language instruction. [NCES, 2006]

Invest in Teachers for English Language Learners: Nearly half of all Latino public school students are English Language Learners (ELLs), but just 29 percent of eighth-grade ELLs meet basic achievement levels in reading compared to 75 percent of non-ELLs. Edwards will provide additional compensation and scholarships to teachers specializing in ELL education where there are shortages and those working in high-poverty schools serving large populations of Latino students. And he will invest in developing smarter tests, including native-language and simplified English tests for ELLs. Edwards will also boost funding for migrant education programs. [NAEP, 2005]

End the Dropout Crisis: At nearly 2,000 high schools nationwide – called “dropout factories” – more than 40 percent of students won’t graduate. Many of these schools have large populations of Latino students. High school dropouts earn nearly 50 percent less than workers with a diploma or G.E.D., and are only three-quarters as likely to be employed as high school graduates. Edwards will create second chance schools and other paths to graduation to help former dropouts return to school and earn their diploma with flexible class times and locations and connections to youth development services. Edwards will also make sure schools identify likely dropout candidates early on and provide students at risk with alternatives such as academically rigorous smaller schools and classes, flexible and accelerated schedules, academic and support services, career academies and engaging coursework.

College for Everyone: College graduates can expect to earn $1 million more over their lifetimes than high school graduates, and their children are almost twice as likely to attend college. An estimated 200,000 college-qualified graduates fail to go to college each year. About half of Latino young people enroll in college, but few finish, and the white-Latino gap in higher education enrollment increased from 16 percent in 1974 to 26 percent in 2003. As president, Edwards will pass a College for Everyone program – based on the successful model he helped start in North Carolina – to pay for one year of public-college tuition, fees and books for more than 2 million students. In return, students will be required to work part-time, take a college-prep curriculum in high school and stay out of trouble. Edwards will also simplify student aid applications and provide additional college counselors for schools serving low-income students. [NCES, 2005]
Edwards’ Opportunity Agenda for Latino Americans

Today’s proposals build on the rest of Edwards’ agenda to include all Latinos in the American Dream by providing universal health care, ending poverty, expanding the middle class and implementing comprehensive immigration reform. To make sure everyone has the same chances that America has given to him, as president, Edwards supports:

Universal Health Care: Forty-seven million Americans don’t have health care and families and businesses are struggling to pay skyrocketing premiums. One out of every three Latinos lack health insurance, twice as many as other Americans. Edwards is the only major candidate who has proposed a specific plan for truly universal health care that will take on the insurance and drug companies, cover every man, woman and child in America and provide better care at a lower cost. [Census Bureau, 2007]

Ending Poverty and Expanding the Middle Class: Every day, nearly 37 million Americans – including more than one out five Latinos – wake up in poverty. Edwards has outlined an ambitious agenda to eliminate poverty within a generation by creating and rewarding work, strengthening families, helping workers save and get ahead, encouraging economically integrated neighborhoods, cracking down on predatory lending, reaching overlooked rural areas and expecting people to help themselves by working whenever they are able. Edwards will raise the minimum wage to $9.50 by 2012, expand the earned income tax credit and strengthen labor laws to make easier for workers to join a union. [Census Bureau, 2007]

Fight Abusive Debt and Help Families Save: Latino borrowers are substantially more likely to receive subprime loans than white borrowers even when they have similar credit scores, and Latino households have less than a dime of wealth for every dollar owned by whites. Edwards will crack down on abusive credit card companies, predatory mortgage lenders, and payday loan shops that take advantage of working families. To help families save, he will provide matched savings accounts for low-wage workers. [CRL, 2006; Pew, 2004]

Comprehensive Immigration Reform: Our immigration system needs a fundamental overhaul. Our economy is harmed by an underground economy that features a large and unprotected labor force. And our values are violated by a system that keeps families apart and forces people to live in the shadows, vulnerable to abuse. The first step is to control our borders and stop illegal trafficking. At the same time, it is unrealistic to think that we can deport more than 12 million people. Edwards believes we need to give people here the opportunity to pay a fine and learn English to earn American citizenship.

Edwards will end the backlog of background checks for people who are already in this country and are applying to become lawful permanent residents and, eventually, citizens. Our immigration policies should bring families together, not keep them apart. Edwards believes family reunification is an important value that should be preserved in our immigration laws.”

“Despite well-intentioned efforts and a recent influx of funding from the Indiana General Assembly, more resources and different tactics are needed to address the huge growth in the number of Latino limited-English-proficiency students in the state, according to Indiana University researchers.

That’s the conclusion of a special report from the Center for Evaluation and Education Policy (CEEP) at Indiana University. The report, “Latino Language Minority Students in Indiana: Trends, Conditions, and Challenges,” concludes that schools and communities tend to segregate and marginalize Latino students and other English language learners. While many schools may devote most resources and time to technical mastery of English, the report states more time should be focused on better training for staff and broader literacy development for students.”

“A database created to help Austin school officials monitor students who have limited English skills has revealed that as many as 2,000 were never evaluated to see whether they needed bilingual education or English as a second language services.

About 20,000 students in the Austin district participate in bilingual education or ESL.”

“Janet Murguí, President and CEO of the National Council of La Raza NCLR – the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the U.S. – met today with President George W. Bush on the reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act NCLB. Joined by a small group of business leaders and school administrators, Murguí discussed ways in which the law could be improved for Latino students and the nation’s five million English language learners ELLs, including fair but firm accountability for ELLs and adequate funding to fulfill the promise of the law.

“NCLR is at the table and advocating for NCLB improvements because we need to make sure that all of our children, including those who are learning English, get the attention, resources, and rigorous coursework they need to graduate from high school with a diploma that prepares them for college and the workplace,” said Murguí.

NCLB holds considerable promise to close the academic achievement gap for Latino and ELL students. It challenges them to meet higher academic standards and for the first time holds schools accountable for improving the outcomes for these students.

“Making sure that ELL students remain included in this law is at the top of our agenda because nearly half of Latino children are ELLs,” continued Murguí. “If this law doesn’t work for English language learners, it doesn’t work for Latinos. And if it doesn’t work for Latinos, who are one in five of all public school students, it simply doesn’t work.”

“The President and Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings have stood firm on the responsibility of our schools in the education of ELLs, and we appreciate their support,” concluded Murguí. “We look forward to working with the President – as well as with Senator Edward Kennedy and Congressman George Miller who have championed the law – to renew NCLB, fully fund it, and keep our promise to America’s schoolchildren.””

“In a brief presentation given to the Tigard-Tualatin School Board in March, district ELL English Language Learners officials noted that one of the most important things in an ELL program is hiring teachers that students can relate to.

“For students to see their role models as coming from where they were is important,” said Johanna Cena, with the district’s ELL department. “Students start to see goals in life as attainable.””

“Teachers in Metro Public Schools educate more than 9,000 Hispanic students and more than 7,000 English Language Learners. Now, some of those teachers want to do more through a newly formed nonprofit organization.

Tracy Jennings, who teaches ELL students – limited English-proficient students – at Haywood Elementary School, has created the nonprofit organization Estoy Aprendiendo, or “I’m Learning,” with the help of fellow teachers and translators.”

“A new study released today reports that English learners in California schools cannot catch up with their English-speaking peers unless the state rethinks the way resources are allocated for these students. English language learners ”” whose first language is not English and who lack or have only beginning proficiency in English ”” represent one-fourth of all public school students in the state.

“If we do not figure out how to adequately meet the needs of these 1.5 million students, California cannot meet the goals of No Child Left Behind or compete successfully with other states and nations for a well-prepared workforce, since about half of these students will eventually drop out of school,” said Patricia Gándara, UCLA professor of education and author of the study, titled “Resource Needs for California English Learners.”

Gándara presented the study’s data and recommendations on the costs and resources needed to adequately educate English learners at a hearing on school financing today at the state Capitol in Sacramento. Gándaras research is part of the “Getting Down to Facts” project, a series of studies and presentations intended to raise awareness among state policymakers and other education stakeholders about the educational needs of students in Californias elementary and secondary schools. “