More money, help urged for immigrant students // Report criticizes state's English-skills programs

DATE                  02/25/92
NEWSPAPER             THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
SECTION               NEWS
EDITION               MORNING
PAGE                  a01
STORY LENGTH          19 INCHES
HEADLINE              More money, help urged for immigrant students   // 
                         Report criticizes state's English-skills programs
BYLINE/CREDIT          Dan Froomkin:The Orange County Register
SUBJECT TERMS          OC:IMMIGRATION:STUDENTS:LANGUAGE:REPORT:CA:FINANCE
 
     Unless the Legislature decides to spend more money on programs,
  materials and teacher training for students with limited English
  skills, there is little hope for significant improvement.
     That is one of the findings of a major report released Monday
  rapping California's public schools for failing to meet the needs
  of immigrant children, particularly at the secondary level.
     It also blasts the state for failing to keep track of the
  performance of limited-English students, making it extremely
  difficult for the public to hold schools accountable.
     One in four students in Orange County has limited English
  skills; almost one in five statewide isn't fluent. The report says
  few may be getting the help they need, and most are "outside of the
  state's current accountability structure."
     The report was commissioned by the Legislature in 1988 and
  researched and written by BW Associates, a Berkeley consulting
  group.
     Among the report's recommendations is that all new teachers be
  trained in the principles of teaching English as a second language
  and in cultural awareness. Currently, only a small percentage of
  teaching-program graduates have such training.
     It recommends changes in funding formulas, but also urges more
  money -- particularly to hire more aides, increase teacher training
  and offer better preschool for immigrants.
     The authors identify five general approaches to teaching
  limited-English students, some of which provide instruction in
  English only, some in the students' native languages and in English.
     But rather than recommend one approach, the report says problems
  in carrying out the approaches mean that none is working as well as
  it could.
     "It is reasonable to conclude," the report says, "that all but a
  small percentage of schools probably fail to implement their
  programs for LEP (limited-English-proficient) students fully,
  regardless of the approach they adopt."
     Among the frequent pitfalls cited at the local level: lack of
  resources, lack of cultural sensitivity, limited staff training and
  the absence of political will.
     Junior high schools and high schools in particular were
  criticized for failing to meet a challenge that is "even more
  complex" than at the elementary level.
     Students who have not achieved fluency by junior high have even
  tougher barriers to overcome but "probably receive less support
  than they had at the elementary level," the report says.
     The one figure collected statewide about
  limited-English-proficient students shows that only 5.7 percent a
  year are officially recognized as having achieved fluency. In
  Orange County, the figure is 4.2 percent.
     At the same time, however, the number of students with limited
  English fluency is growing by about 15 percent a year statewide,
  and 18 percent in Orange County.
     Because of the absence of statistics that would help identify
  typical programs, the researchers decided to focus on programs that
  were considered the best of their kind in the state.
     But in many cases, even exemplary programs turned out to be
  badly carried out, the report says.