Children’s Education Bill of Rights (Cookson 2011)

We assert that every American child and young person has the right to

1. A neighborhood public school or a public school of choice that is funded for excellence

2. Physical and emotional health and safety3. Have his or her heritage, background,

and religious differences honored, incorporated in study, and celebrated in the culture of the school

4. Develop individual learning styles and strategies to the greatest extent possible

5. An excellent and dedicated teacher6. A school leader with vision and

educational expertise7. A curriculum based on relevance, depth,

and flexibility8. Access to the most powerful educational

technologies9. Fair, relevant, and learner-based

evaluations10. Complete high school

“There are bilinguals whom we admire and praise as individuals. They are scholars, diplomats, celebrities, businesspersons, and members of the jet set. There are other bilinguals whom we disparage, pity, or despise. They are members of ethnic groups: Mexicans, Cubans, Puerto Ricans, French Canadians, Vietnamese, Laotians, ad infinitum…Although we hold the one in awe and the other in disdain, the persons referred to may be equally skillful bilinguals. Still, we feel no sense of contradiction…individual bilingualism is “good” and group bilingualism is “bad”.”

-Rolf Kjolseth, sociolinguist

Serving Immigrants in a Small Town:

A case study of Faribault, MN

Isabelle KingMultilingualism and Multiculturalism

St. Olaf College April 23, 2012

Introduction

• Synthesis and application of major• Unique opportunity to examine an

under-studied population– Outsider

• Usefulness for the community?

Faribault

• Population 23,000 (US Census)– 2.7% Black (Somali) – 8.9% Hispanic

• “Blue collar” town– Jennie-O Turkey Store, manufacturing, South

Central College

• History of special populations• Struggle to provide for immigrants’ needs– Welcome Center– Diversity task force

Public Opinion(From Faribault Daily News)

• Positive– “Are we not richer in culture today because of the blend of

contributions from each group that has arrived here in the past?”

• Negative– “this group of people would fit into our community a little

bit better if they would accept our way of living, instead of dressing differently.”

– “no one trys to become americanized” (sic) – immigrants as a “completely incompatible” ingredient that

“spoils the salad” of the Faribault community

• Frustration– “no question of need” for a “bridge between cultures” that

is currently lacking in the community

Semester 1: Adult ESL

• PSCI 350: Immigration and Citizenship (Prof. Katherine Tegtmeyer Pak)

• ACE class and project• Exploration of adult ESL classes– Community Education (ABE)– Volunteers

• Do ESL classes help immigrants to become active (participatory) citizens?

From the research literature

• Immigrants can become active citizens best when– They are able to participate actively in

their communities in a meaningful way – Their culture is respected and understood

in the community– Their native language is honored and

respected while they learn English

Methods

• Class observations• Interviews• Examination of teaching materials• Difficulty of collecting data• Complications of real-life research

Results

State-Funded

• ABE ESL– Serving majority of

immigrants– Waitlists, questions

about funding– Teachers well trained– Research-based

program – Literacy-based, English-

only

Volunteer-Based

• Somali Community Services– Challenges – Zero resources

• Mary Ho – Innovative– Zero resources

• Rosetta Stone

Conclusions?

– Some need for training in language acquisition

– Need for conversation skills – Consider literacy– Listen to immigrants– Collaborate (library, schools, colleges)

Semester 2: The kiddos

• Are immigrant children’s needs being met? How can services be improved?

• Holistic perspective– K-12 ESL– Early childhood education– Library – Programs for the whole family

• Cross-agency exploration

From the research literature

• Dual needs: English and content knowledge• Need to develop academic discourse• Immigrant children must have– Meaningful immersion in academic discourse

• High-quality early childhood education programs• Schools well-equipped to deal with their needs• Access to “multiliteracies”

– Native language supported as they learn English

– Parents able to support their children’s schoolwork and language acquisition

Method and Scope

• 2 parts– Outline available resources, programs,

services– Interviews with leadership of school

district and library

• Limited to schools and libraries– Doesn’t include nonprofits, churches, etc–Why?

• Very preliminary research

Results: Need for improvement

• Achievement gap– 11th grade MCA proficiency• 71% of White students• 11% of Black students• 24% of Hispanic students

– 10% of LEP students educated in Minnesota 6+ years proficient in English

• “…we need to do a better job” (Sesker)

Results: Programs and services

• ESL– Being changed– Smarter use of resources,

benefit all children– Difficulty of illiteracy

• Liaisons– Excellent – Sole link between Somalis

and school

• Early childhood education– Excellent– ECFE programs in English,

Spanish

• Library– Story hour (English

only)– ESL, GED resources– Access to books and

technology– Some training (GUH)– “Equal opportunity

education center”

• Other programs– GUH– Adult ESL – 21st Century Grant

Results: Common themes

• Somali illiteracy • Liaisons as crux • Need for “systematic and sustainable” solutions

– Funding– Programs– Leadership and staff – Curriculum

• How to get immigrants to participate?– Need for innovative marketing

• Question of what roles/responsibilities– “Is that the job of the school to do all that stuff? Does

school become a social services extension?” (Palmer) – “We consider ourselves more of a community center”

(James)

Conclusions and recommendations

• Making efforts to improve– Changes to ESL– ESL taskforce, district visions– Solutions that benefit all students

• Feeling overwhelmed• Somali needs overshadowing Hispanic

needs– “Hispanics assimilated”

• Collaboration necessary– Schools, library, non-profits, colleges, Adult

ESL, businesses

Conclusions and recommendations

• Low-cost and no-cost suggestions– Programs that could be changed• Storytime • Adult ESL • PTOs • School curriculum

– Programs that could be added• Homework help• High school/college apprenticeship programs

Conclusions and recommendations

• High-cost suggestions– Newcomer Academy• Improve transition, especially for Somali

adolescents• Obstacles

– Bilingual program• Need for educated bilingual speakers• Better outcomes for ELLs• Benefit for English speakers• Mutual understanding• Obstacles

Conclusions and recommendations

• Barriers and obstacles–Money– High-quality staff– Long-term commitment/sustainability – Lack of volunteers

• Much has been done; much more can be done

• Need for more research – Esp. immigrant voices

Comments? Questions?

• Research literature • Method• Results• Ideas• Missing areas• Confusions