Almost lost in the recent furor over the firing of an English
teacher at Gilroy High School and the ongoing feud between parents
and district officials over academic rigor was the news that test
scores for English language learners have increased,
dramatically.
Almost lost in the recent furor over the firing of an English teacher at Gilroy High School and the ongoing feud between parents and district officials over academic rigor was the news that test scores for English language learners have increased, dramatically. The district’s leadership, Superintendent Edwin Diaz in particular, and the teachers in the trenches should be commended for making the English Language Learning program a roaring success..
English language learners in the Gilroy Unified School District are acquiring English language skills at rates significantly faster than the county and state average. According to recently released state tests, in 2003 41 percent of Gilroy students whose home language is not English were considered proficient. Compare this with a 29 percent proficiency rate in 2002, and a 20 percent proficiency rate in 2001, and it’s clear that the program has been turned around and is working.
The district is attributing the improved rate of English language acquisition to a structured immersion program at the elementary schools and the phasing out of bilingual education programs. As a result of full-time English instruction, beginning English learners are moving on to intermediate levels and the intermediates are being reclassified with advanced skills. And it’s happening quickly.
The GUSD’s ELL success story is evidence that language immersion programs are on the whole more effective than bilingual education programs. Educators are finding that the immersion approach gives students the opportunity to rapidly acquire the language – to read, speak, write, and listen in English. While parents may choose to opt out of immersion program and rely on alternative programs, including bilingual education, parents of non-English speaking students are opting for the common sense of the immersion approach.
The success of the English language immersion program locally and statewide is a refreshingly positive sign for public education. Not just because it confirms the drawbacks inherent in the bilingual education model championed by so many academics, in which students are taught literacy first in their native language and then in English. The news is refreshing because six years after the passage of Proposition 227, which aimed to replace bilingual education in California with up to a year of special English study, schools are raising fluency rates by challenging the student’s capability to learn the country’s primary language.
Incorporating large numbers of primarily Hispanic non-native speakers into the educational system is an ongoing assignment for the GUSD, and a pivotal one. The schools are the point of access into American society, have been for generations of immigrants. That’s why the accelerated rate of English-acquisition skills is an accomplishment the district can take pride in. And we should also be proud of the teachers and the students who are responding to the challenge. They are setting a higher standard of academic achievement for English language learners who will follow in their path.
