Recently a story ran in the Arizona Republic that derided teachers in AZ for the problems facing our English Language Learning students. This story makes an easy target out of teachers without looking at the larger issues that are causing problems in our schools.
I will be quoting the story quite a bit throuthout but if you would care to read the whole article you can go here, State faults teachers of English learners.
If you are unfamiliar with Arizona schools, we have a population of ELL (english language learners) in our schools. In 2005 the number was roughly 150,000 students, Spanish was the primary language of 88.2% of these students (numbers from Arizona Department of Education). In 2000, Prop 203 was passed that required all public school instruction to be done in English.
The story, by Pat Kossan, looks at a report made by the state who looked at only 32 districts of the 314(U.S.Department of Education, 2003-2004 data) in the state. They found "problems" at 9 of the districts. These problems all involved teachers. The article leaves many issues untouched and does its best to sensationalize the issues surrounding the problems with English Language Education and only seeks to blame teachers for these problems. I thought journalists were supposed to actually do some journalism instead of simply regurgatiing a report but alas.
The three issues discussed in the article are as follows:
- Teachers speak poor English.
- Teachers still use Spanish in the classroom.
- Some schools shortchange language learners. (By schools they mainly mean the teachers they hire)
I will do my best to rebut these issues and perhaps give a more accurate and thoughtfull response to what the State found out.
1)
• Teachers speak poor English.
At nine districts, some teachers did not know correct English grammar or pronunciation. In one classroom, the teacher's English was "labored and arduous." Other teachers were just difficult to understand. Some teachers pronounced "levels" as "lebels" and "much" as "mush."
I am not surprised that they found teachers in 9 districts who may have accents. Infact, anywhere you go in AZ you are likely to find someone with an accent of some type. I am assuming though that this "labored and arduous" accent was a Hispanic accent. Perhaps this is because some of the teachers who are fluent enough in both Spanish and English to teach English to these students are themselves Hispanic or at one time spoke Spanish as their primary language. I would think that it would be very benificial to these students to have a teacher who at one point was in the same place they are, trying to learn Enlish as a second language.
Is it really the pronouncing of level as "lebel" that is causing these students to perform poorly on standardized tests or is it the fact they are required to take the same test when they have yet to master the English language? They are not allowed to use anything but an Spanish/English dictionary and it is either sink or swim. I would like to see some of these folks in the Capital take a test in a foreign language they have yet to master with only a dictionary to help them out. In fact, they can take the AIMS, Arizona's Standardized Test, in Spanish, French, German, or Italian and we can all see how they do. As for the real students, if much being pronounced "mush" is what is causing the low test scores, then we need better tests.
2)
• Teachers still use Spanish in the classroom.
Twelve districts had to be reminded that Arizona law requires teachers to use only English in the classroom and bans all texts and materials in any language but English. Monitors found teachers who used too much Spanish translation to help students and used storybooks, textbooks, posters and bulletin boards that were written in Spanish.
Oh NO! Teachers who are helping kids learn English are sometimes using Spanish in class!!! As I mentioned before, AZ law requires all instruction in public schools be done in English. These students are required to take their normal classes in English while trying to learn the language. I myself am not fluent in Spanish and you can bet that if I had to take biology in Spanish I would want someone to maybe help me out a little in English. Not so in Arizona, that would be just too much.
In the school I teach in, our English Language teacher was just reminded that he has to remove all of his posters, books, maps, and any other thing in Spanish from his room. These students are not allowed any real meaningful Spanish language support any longer. I teach history and I have students who speak very little English. The map that was in Spanish in his room was benificial to these students. They can look at the map in their book and if they are just not connecting the language they had a reference point in his room. I myself have Spanish language resources that came with our textbooks. I can't use them with these students as a jumping off point for our lessons, they must fly on their own and if they fall...it is still my fault as a teacher.
It makes little sense to me to expect these students to excel in school and to perform highly on state mandated tests when they spend little time in the classroom learning English and are then thrown to the wolves to learn every other subject without any resources in Spanish.
3)
• Some schools shortchange language learners. Some schools hadn't bothered to apply for tutoring grants available to help language learners, and many teachers did not have the appropriate training to teach English as a new language. One high-school teacher had only elementary-school credentials, while some had none at all.
Well lets see, did Pat Kossan from the Arizona Republic check to see why these schools "hadn't bothered" to apply for these grants, let alone be lucky enough to get one? Nope. Well since the Arizona Republic doesnt have the resources to find out why, I am sure that I don't. The next part of Pat's sentence might help us though. "Many teachers did not have the appropriate training to teach English as a new language." Hmmmm, so if they don't even have the staff, what will this magic money help them do.
Arizona has a pretty big teacher shortage right now. They are even having touble hiring substitute teacher let alone actual teachers. I myself moved to Arizona because I knew I would be able to find a job here.
One reason teachers are not the easiest to find and may not be fully qualified:
According to the AFT (American Federation of Teachers), Arizona ranks 34th in the nation for average beginning teacher salary, at $28,236. Now, why isn't Arizona just pulling teachers in left and right? Well, after four years minimum in college one's student loans may be greater than what they could make their first year teaching in Arizona. Since a beginning teacher's salary is so low, it is hard to pull well qualified people into teaching. Especially when they can make far more money in other fields. Someone who is bilingual would have a better shot at making more money in the field of business than in education.
Also, as a side note, the Taco Bell across the street was offering $11/hour for night shift managers. That could earn you about $21,000 a year at 40 hours a week and you wouldn't even have to go to college.
At Maricopa Unified, some language learners were placed in regular classrooms with up to 29 students. The hour of English instruction for these students was provided by a teacher's aide at the back of the class.
They should come take a look at my class room if 29 is such a shocking number. In my department (social studies) there is not a US History class that has less than 30 kids in it. None of mine are less than 33. There are even some ELL students in my classes. Guess what? When it comes to being able to spend one on one time with those students I don't have a whole lot. I have regular education students, learning disabled students, english language learner students, a couple students who I am sure could benifit from gifted education, and I am supposed to teach them all. With 35 studtents in one class it is not always easy to make accomodations for them all or to give them the amount of attention they need.
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Is all of this the fault of teachers like the Arizona Republic would have you believe? I don't think it is but maybe I am biased. Teachers are the ones on the front lines, the most visible in the field of education. We make easy targets, you can ask any student who has ever thrown a spitball. This may be why the Republic chose to take aim at us instead of searching for more complex reasons why the current state of affairs is not working in Arizona.
There are many reasons that ELL students may not be succeeding on standardized tests or in school in general. I don't believe that forcing them to sink or swim in the class room does much to help them. I cant grasp the idea that taking Spanish resouces away from these students helps them. I understand the desire to get these students to learn English but the xenophobic idea that only English can be used in schools only undercuts this. Perhaps better funding of education may help schools to hire more qualified staff, which would allow us to have smaller class sizes so students who have special needs get more of the attention the need. Maybe focusing on helping these students learn English instead of how they do on the reading and writing portions of state tests would do us better. Students have about one year to become proficient in English in Arizona schools. Lets see how well some senators and congressmen do with one year to learn a forieng language and how they handle taking one of these tests. I know I don't want to try it.
I don't claim to have the answer to the problem. I do know though that you can't simply take a superficial look at teachers in the classrooms of about 10% of the school districts and claim you know where the blame lies.