Backgrounds play big role in new immigrants' success in U.S. classrooms

[Francis Hult]

Dallas News

 

Backgrounds play big role in new immigrants' success in U.S. classrooms

 

The buzz about Victor started a day before he enrolled at Adamson High School. 

 

He's "brilliant," came word from the Dallas school district's immigrant intake center. He's a computer whiz. He's one of the best prepared students from more than 12,000 the center has processed since opening in 2003. 

 

When he arrived at Adamson a few weeks after the start of the second semester, Victor didn't disappoint. 

 

Marcia Niemann, the lead teacher in Adamson's English as a second language program, said he is the most academically impressive ESL student she has encountered in her four years at the school. He writes English better than some U.S.-born students. 

 

Victor comes from Monterrey, Mexico's third largest metroplex and biggest industrial center. "In Monterrey, if you don't speak English, you are no one," says the 18-year-old, a self-described nerd. 

 

Back home, his parents each attended two years of college. They sent their son, with scholarship assistance, to an $8,000-a-year private high school. Victor plans to attend college.

 

Full story:

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/DN-eslreality_10met.ART.State.Edition2.46092ad.html

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