Indiana: Second language learners are a first priority issue

[Harold F. Schiffman]

News Release
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Last modified: Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Second language learners are a first priority issue

Nov. 13, 2007

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Over the last decade, Indiana's number of English as
a Second Language (ESL) students has quadrupled, and the state is
struggling to meet the demand for certified ESL instructors. Panelists,
including an Indiana University School of Education professor, will offer
opinions on remedies to the issues surrounding ESL education during the
next Education Policy Chat. The continuing growth of the ESL student
population will be the focus for the chat, co-hosted by the Center for
Evaluation and Education Policy and the IU School of Education, on
Wednesday (Nov. 14) at 1:30 p.m. in State Room East of the Indiana
Memorial Union. The event is free and open to the public.

Increasingly high numbers of students, low funding and a steady stream of
immigrants provide a challenge for all Indiana educators. In areas across
the state, the number of ESL students shows no sign of decreasing. "We
just made the 1,000 (ESL student) mark, and we represent 44 languages,"
said Debbie Thomas, ESL director for the Bartholomew Consolidated Schools
in Columbus, Ind. Thomas said Columbus schools are probably slightly
higher than the state's ESL rate.

Thomas will speak, along with Sylvia Martinez, assistant professor in
Education Leadership and Policy Studies, and Darlene Slaby, the director
of the Language Minority and Migrant Programs office of the Indiana
Department of Education. A question-and-answer session will follow the
panel discussion. With the explosion of ESL students in Indiana over the
last decade, the state has struggled to find enough certified ESL
instructors. The Indiana average is one per 60 students.

In Columbus, Thomas said she is trying to make sure all teachers
understand that, to an extent, they have to be prepared to handle ESL
issues. "Our students belong to all of us," she said. "They're not just
the ESL teacher's students." One concern Martinez has is that the emphasis
on becoming proficient in English may be hurting those students.

"I don't want to give the impression that this isn't important, but they
tend to fall behind academically in terms of content," she said. Martinez
is a sociologist who particularly focuses on the experiences of Latino
youth in high school. She is concerned that while they might become fluent
in English by their senior year, the rest of their coursework suffers.

"They don't get the content in math or science," she said. "Part of that
probably is because there are not enough qualified ESL teachers in these
content areas, so we definitely need to work on that." She adds that one
benefit of a bilingual education might be that ESL students can keep up in
other courses while learning English. But she cautions that schools with
numerous languages, such as Columbus, provide challenges: How do you have
bilingual education where 44 languages are spoken?

Education for the public in general is a big key, say both Martinez and
Thomas. Martinez said that we must recognize that the Latino students
enter school with very diverse experiences. While some may have had poor
educational backgrounds, others might be very solid in some content. And
even with the longstanding efforts of Columbus educators, Thomas says more
outreach can help.

"We have a community that's somewhat of an international community because
of Cummins and Arvin," she said. "We have a lot of languages represented,
and that's always helped us." Still, she said some people need to be
convinced that the Latino population is a help to the local economy and
other stereotypes don't hold. "Even though I think that we do a really
good job of welcoming people, I think that we could even do a better job,"
she said.

CEEP promotes and supports rigorous program evaluation and policy research
primarily, but not exclusively, for education, human services and
non-profit organizations. Its research uses both quantitative and
qualitative methodologies. To learn more about CEEP, go to
http://ceep.indiana.edu. MEDIA OUTLETS: The following comments are
available as mp3 files on the IU School of Education Web site at
http://site.educ.indiana.edu/news/tabid/5663/Default.aspx. Look for the
story headline under "Podcasts."

Martinez says many ESL students struggle with the dual demands of language
acquisition as well as content study: "Particularly with the high school
students, I worry about them because there is this focus on English
proficiency -- and again, I don't want to give this impression that this
isn't important -- but they tend to fall behind academically in terms of
content. They don't get the content in math or science. Part of that
probably is because there are not enough qualified ESL teachers in these
content areas, so we definitely need to work on that."

Not all Latino immigrants come with the same academic background, Martinez
says:

"Kids come with a diverse set of experiences. So some may have had really
good schooling experiences in their home countries. And they come here,
and they know the content, but it's just learning the language, and
unfortunately they may fall behind in trying to become English proficient.
Then there are other kids who come here with very poor schooling
experiences or backgrounds. So not only do they have to become English
proficient, but they have to catch up academically. So we do have to
recognize that there is a diverse set of experiences and backgrounds."

Thomas says the continued growth of the Columbus ESL population shows that
the school corporation must look at the issue in a larger scope:

"We just made the 1,000 mark, and we represent 44 languages. So, you know
we're increasing quickly. The majority of our students are speaking
Spanish -- of Latino descent -- and that represents about 7 percent of our
population, and we have now attained 10 percent of our overall school
population. So just like the other school systems, making sure that
everybody -- including the mainstream teachers and administrators --
recognize that ESL is something that is here to stay. Our students belong
to all of us, they're not just the ESL teacher's students."

While Columbus has viewed the issue progressively, Thomas says more can
always be done:

"We have a community that's somewhat of an international community because
of Cummins, because of Arvin. We have a lot of the Japanese companies
also, and we have a lot of languages represented and that's always helped
us. But I had somebody out there today -- even though I think that we do a
really good job of welcoming people, I think that we could even do a
better job. So we face the same problems that a lot of communities do --
facing the issues, including immigration, trying to make people aware to
get rid of the ignorance. So they can, in fact, see that immigration is
helping us. The Latino population is helping the economic situation in
Columbus."

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