Supporting the Achievement of Second Language Learners: An Urban School District Perspective

In June 2004, Scholastic hosted its annual National Advisory Council, inviting education leaders from around the country to share their perspectives on critical issues facing schools today. One of the speakers was Dr. Pascal D. Forgione, Jr., Superintendent of Schools from the Austin (TX) Independent School District, who described how his district is facing up to the challenge of changing demographics and second language learners.

I thought I'd start by telling you about the vacation my wife and I took over spring break. We drove to San Miguel de Allende in central Mexico, about a seven-hour drive from Laredo on the Texas-Mexico border. I'm happy to report that we had no problems, but those seven hours each way were kind of a harrowing experience. Not that we felt any danger, but we were wrapped in uncertainty the entire time because neither of us spoke Spanish. Suddenly I understood — even though it was only for a brief time — something of what life must be like for the English Language Learners who come to our schools. Life can be very confusing. You're never quite certain if you understand what is going on around you or what you're being asked to do. Succeeding in those circumstances requires a tremendous effort.

This is a very important issue for the Austin School District and the State of Texas. And it is an increasingly important issue for our nation, particularly in our urban school districts. Fifty-three percent of the students in the Austin school district are Hispanic. About 40 percent of those students, or 21 percent of our total, are classified as Limited English Proficient. Among those students are an increasing number of recent immigrants — meaning they've come to this country within the last three years. Currently, the levels of educational attainment for Hispanic residents significantly trail those of Anglos. College attainment for Hispanics in Texas, for instance, is one-third the rate of that for Anglos. Because an increasing proportion of our students are Hispanic, it is imperative that we find new, more successful ways of education so the current low levels of college attainment for our Hispanic students become a thing of the past. Not only is this important for these students and their families, but it is imperative for the future of the Texas economy.

We believe our English Language Learners can attain high levels of proficiency in their native language and in Academic English while acquiring the academic skills necessary to meet the societal demands of our ever-changing global society. The Austin school district is a standards-based and effort-based district. Undergirding all our work are the core beliefs that all children can learn at high levels and that effort creates ability. Hard work can make every one of us smarter. Even though many of our students come to us with challenges, we refuse to look at those as deficits that preclude high academic achievement. We believe a strong curriculum model, highly qualified teachers, and hard work can help every student become successful.

In partnership with the University of Pittsburgh's Institute for Learning, we have spent several years grounding all our teachers in a set of Principles of Learning, including Clear Expectations, Accountable Talk, and Rigorous Learning. This provides the "how" for quality teaching. Then we've developed a set of planning guides for each subject area in every grade. They are keyed to the state's standards and provide all our teachers with the "what" — a roadmap for the delivery of the curriculum in six or nine week chunks. We used to be a district that was all e pluribus and very little unum. With these planning guides we've created unum for our classes — in Spanish and in English.

To this we've now added a new understanding and a new rigor by focusing on Academic English and Academic Spanish. Academic English and Academic Spanish provide a high standard for student learning, with Academic Spanish providing the rigorous core content as students transition to Academic English. So we've revised our thinking and our curriculum to better help our English Language Learners bridge the language gap and to learn more deeply. Where before we devoted 45 minutes to English literacy in our elementary bilingual education classes, we've restructured these classes to include literacy in English and Spanish, with larger amounts of time devoted to English literacy and with math instruction delivered in English. In fourth and fifth grade, we switch from bilingual education delivery to an ESL delivery with native language support, with some time still devoted to Spanish literacy.

In the secondary grades, we've moved from a model that provided one ESL class and core courses in English, or sheltered core courses on some campuses, to a model that includes intensive literacy skills in English and with ESL teachers, as well as sheltered core content courses on every campus designed for English Language Learners. We also work with the students to build their expertise in Spanish through elective Spanish for native speakers.

The first step we take with our recent immigrant students above third grade is to assess their English and Spanish knowledge and core content knowledge through a series of assessments that help us properly place each student in the appropriate class and give the students' teachers a clear understanding of the student's knowledge and skills. Once we understand the students' abilities coming in, we've designed more intensive curricula in Spanish and English in order to accelerate their learning of Academic English, delivering the core content in English with native language support. The delivery is at its most concentrated in the Newcomer program we run for middle school students at a middle school with a large concentration of recent immigrants in its immediate area. This coming school year, we are opening a similar high school program for Newcomer high school students. Our International High School will work intensively with newcomer high school students, with the goal of preparing them in one year to return to their home high schools as sophomores the following year.

We are at the beginning of our new direction for English Language Learners. We will be measuring and analyzing our progress all along the way. We have many unanswered questions and we welcome opportunities to conduct quality R&D work with cutting-edge universities and education companies. We have to keep pushing forward. The stakes are too high. Every student must pass the TAKS exit test in English to graduate. Failure to graduate will most probably relegate these students to low-pay, low-skill jobs for the rest of their lives. Students entering our secondary schools with little English knowledge and interrupted schooling face daunting challenges. But it is our responsibility to help them meet those challenges and overcome those barriers. That's why we got into this education business. Anything less is unacceptable.