Penn Hills: Top 5 languages are Spanish, Swahili, Arabic, Twi and Vietnamese

[Harold F. Schiffman]

>>From the Penn Hills Progress

Twenty three enrolled in English as Second Language
By Vera Miller, Staff Writer
Wednesday, April 12, 2006

Teaching English as a second language is a major focus at schools in
states such as California, Texas and Florida. At Penn Hills School
District, only 23 students out of about 5,500 students are enrolled in the
English as a Second Language (ESL) program. Due to the low number of
participating students, the district contracts Allegheny Intermediate Unit
to run the program, says Teresita Kolenchak, district spokeswoman.

The school district will spend about $67,400 for the English as a Second
Language program this year, she says. Pat Kennedy, Allegheny Intermediate
Unit, refused to comment on how her organization runs Penn Hills' English
as a Second Language program. "Because of the immigration policy hotly
debated in Congress, Allegheny Inter-mediate Unit will not participate in
this story," she says. Kolenchak would not provide demographic information
on students.

She says district officials are concerned about students' confidentiality
when few students are enrolled in the program. The Progress asked for a
list of countries where English as a Second Language students come from
and a breakdown for the grades students are enrolled in. The top five
languages spoken by students in the English as a Second Language program
are Spanish, Swahili, Arabic, Twi and Vietnamese, said Barbara Mowrey,
state Department of Education ESL/bilingual education advisor.

To determine which students need assistance in learning English, parents
and guardians for all new students fill out a survey that determines
whether the student was born in a foreign country and whether languages
besides English are spoken in the home, Kolenchak says. When district
officials determine assistance in learning English may be necessary, an
Allegheny Intermediate Unit teacher visits the student's school and
evaluates his or her English language skills. The school district covers
the costs for the English as a Second Language program. Parents and
guardians do not pay a fee to enroll their children in the program.

ESL students take the same classes as the students fluent in English. The
students are taken out of their classes for specialized instruction. The
instruction time is based on students' fluency levels.

Last year, Penn Hills ESL students were among almost 800 students from 30
school districts in Allegheny and Butler counties in the program run by
Allegheny IU, according to Allegheny Intermediate Unit's Web site. The
unit has served school districts in the county for almost 20 years.
Students have a variety of backgrounds that include refugees and
immigrants who plan to live permanently in the country; children whose
parents temporarily work in the country; children of families who are
learning or teaching a skill or a trade; students who were born in the
country but live in a home where little English is spoken;
internationally-adopted students; and foreign exchange students.

AIU has 55 teachers to help the students learn English. The teachers must
have a program specialist certification in English as a Second Language,
which is a new certificate required by the state Department of Education.

http://www.gatewaynewspapers.com/pennhillsprogress/60055/

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			  Harold F. Schiffman

		Professor of Dravidian Linguistics and Culture
			Dept. of South Asia Studies
			805 Williams Hall Box 6305

			University of Pennsylvania
			Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305

       			Phone:  (215) 898-5825
			Fax:  (215) 573-2138

			Email:  haroldfs at ccat.sas.upenn.edu
			http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/

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