School Board to Review Plan for Limited-English Students

Anaheim City School District trustees will discuss a plan tonight that would redirect limited-English-speaking students into classes taught in English rather than in their native language.

Limited-English speakers in the district now attend classes in their primary language and are transitioned into English classes, usually in about three years, Supt. Roberta Thompson said. Students make the transition with a teacher recommendation and a passing score on a language test.

Trustee Harald G. Martin, who initiated the discussion, said that students aren’t learning English fast enough under the current system.

“We need to have a whole philosophical change, and it will take a while to accomplish,” Martin said. “I think when we see the positive results down the road, people will see it was for the best.”

Before changing the current system, Trustee Betty Patterson said, she would like to see results from a new evaluation that tracks how fast students learn English, including the many students who jump in and out of the district during their elementary education.

“We have a multi-strategy system that is working well,” Patterson said. “They do have to go through some pretty tough testing. We may need to take a look and see if maybe we’re not transitioning them fast enough.”

Thompson said that teaching basic concepts to students in an unfamiliar language could negatively affect their academic performance later on.

“We have always felt it makes sense to teach children in the language they understand,” Thompson said.

“When you get into the academic language of the classroom, it takes a better understanding of the language. If they don’t understand certain concepts, then they don’t have those to build on and they can’t succeed once they get to junior high and high school.”