Gilroy
– Almost half of the district’s students whose first language is
not English are considered proficient, but the district still lags
slightly behind the county and the state.
Gilroy – Almost half of the district’s students whose first language is not English are considered proficient, but the district still lags slightly behind the county and the state.
New test results released Tuesday by the state’s department of education show 45 percent of English language learners in Gilroy Unified School District were considered proficient last year, earning scores in the “early advanced” or “advanced” levels. In 2003, 37 percent of GUSD students reached that mark, and 29 percent in 2002.
Forty-nine percent and 47 percent of students last year were considered proficient in Santa Clara County and in the state, respectively.
The California English Language Development Test, or CELDT, is administered annually to students whose primary language is not English. The untimed test is scored on a five-tier scale ranging from beginning to advanced, and it covers three skill areas: listening/speaking, reading and writing. Kindergarten students are assessed in listening and speaking only.
Students take the test for the first time within 30 days of their enrollment in the district and again annually until they are classified as fluent. The testing window is July through October.
Of the 2,500 GUSD students tested last year, 36 percent scored in the intermediate level, 12 percent in early intermediate and 6 percent in beginning. Thirteen percent tested advanced, and 32 percent tested early advanced.
About 30 percent of the district’s roughly 9,700 students are English language learners. Fifty-five percent of students at Eliot Elementary School are English language learners, the most of any school in the district. Of the 164 students tested at Eliot last year, a total of 39 were considered proficient, while most of the students scored at the intermediate level. The numbers for Eliot are likely to change next year, as enrollment projections show an influx of Spanish-speaking children in that school.
The school in GUSD with the fewest English language learners is Luigi Aprea Elementary, where only 66 students took the CELDT last year and 27 scored proficient.
When students test at the early advanced or advanced level, they are eligible to be considered for reclassification, which means they are fluent and ready for full-time instruction in English. Along with the appropriate CELDT score, students also must obtain a qualifying score on the California Standards Test taken each spring, and they must receive teacher and parent approval.
After the student is reclassified as fluent, they no longer take the CELDT. All schools in GUSD currently are in the process of counting their reclassified students., and the list will be finalized in early March.
Martha Martinez, the district’s administrator of the English Language Learners program, credited GUSD’s improvements this year to the district’s English language development program, which she said has gained steady and consistent strength over the past few years, from the elementary levels through the high school.
Among other things, that program includes daily structured block time with English language development and literacy facilitators, who offer classroom teachers assistance with best practice strategies and lesson plans. Additionally, the middle schools are in their fourth year of High Point, a program that focuses on English reading skills.
Martinez said although the CELDT is useful as an initial starting point for assessment, the test scores by themselves are not telling enough to make real, year-to-year comparisons. That’s partly because there are several factors influencing who takes the test each year, she said.
“The comparative data is what we’re more interested in looking at,” she said. “You can get a whole influx of immigrants coming in year to year. Or, you can look at how many of the students who tested in the upper levels that have been reclassified. And we don’t know how many of the total tested are new to the district this year. That’s the data that needs to be shown.”
Martinez said she’s working on compiling the information and will present it to the board next week.
This is the fourth year school districts statewide were required to administer the CELDT, which informs districts of their progress in teaching English language learners. Teachers and administrators use the test results to contour their English language development program. Each year, scores in GUSD, the county and the state steadily have climbed.
California has the highest number of English language learners in the country. The number of students proficient in English statewide has increased from 25 percent in 2001, to 34 percent in 2002, to 43 percent in 2003 and 47 percent this year. State Superintendent Jack O’Connell said the gains are significant but leave room for improvement.
“There is still much to be done to meet the educational needs of our English learners, but we should be quite heartened by the progress that has occurred over the past four years,” he said.
O’Connell said he will be asking school districts to reexamine their reclassification procedures, so more students who score proficient on the test will be reclassified.
Also, O’Connell said he will to fight for funding under Proposition 98, which guarantees minimum funding for public education. Gov. Schwarzenegger’s 2005-06 budget proposes to suspend part of that funding to help close the state deficit.
English proficiency
Percent of English language learners considered proficient:
GUSD SC Co. California
2001 20 29 25
2002 29 37 34
2003 37 42 43
2004 45 49 47
