DISD offering help to immigrant students
Last year, 4,000 recent immigrants enrolled in Dallas schools. They were placed in regular classrooms while getting acclimated to new schools, new teachers and, in most cases, a new language. In the school year that begins Wednesday, the district will start giving immigrant students a leg up. For the first time, the district is placing recent immigrants together in classrooms set aside for intensive language and academic study. Seventeen elementary classrooms have been set up throughout the district in the pilot program to get non-English speaking newcomers on track quickly. Only about 300 children will take part at first, but officials hope to expand the effort if it works. "We've had incredible numbers of newcomer students," said Gloria Gutierrez, who was appointed by Superintendent Mike Moses to lead an overhaul of the district's bilingual program. "The majority of our students come from Spanish-speaking countries, but we have quite an influx of students from Bosnia, Somalia and Ethiopia, so we have to be ready to meet their needs as best we can." The first day of school will be like no other for Diamantina Alaniz, a 25-year veteran of the Dallas Independent School District. Ten immigrant students will enter her classroom on the third floor of Eduardo Mata Elementary School in East Dallas on Wednesday for their first day of classes in a U.S. school. "This is going to be a challenge," said Ms. Alaniz, a former kindergarten teacher who was recruited for the job. Her class will include third-, fourth- and fifth-graders. This year, it has become a priority for Dallas school officials to nurture young immigrants. The efforts are a part of an $ 11.4 million plan recently approved by the school board to improve bilingual education. Nearly 33 percent of Dallas' students are classified as "limited English proficient." That's the highest of any large district in Texas. In Houston, the most comparable district in size and demographics, 26.5 percent of students have limited English skills. Statewide, 13.9 percent of students are classified as limited English proficient, according to the most recent data available. The 17 newcomer classes are all aimed toward students in grades three through five. The classes will have between 15 and 20 students and will be available only to students who live in nearby neighborhoods. "We'll be tweaking it as we go and try to replicate them in other sites in following years," Ms. Gutierrez said. Officials placed the special classes in neighborhoods with the largest concentration of immigrants, Ms. Gutierrez said. Mata Elementary, where 89 percent of students are Hispanic, was one of them. Last year, 21 immigrants enrolled at Mata, said principal Alicia Zapata. So far, 10 immigrants have enrolled, and more are expected. "This is going to help out teachers in the regular classrooms," Ms. Zapata said. Teachers in mainstream classrooms typically take time out to tutor students who don't speak English, or teachers' aides step in to help, she said. In the newcomer classrooms such as Ms. Alaniz's, students won't have to be singled out for instruction, she said. They'll work in groups and help each other as their English skills progress. "I think it will help their self-esteem because they will all be at the same level in oral language," Ms. Alaniz said. "They'll know everybody is in the same boat." Many of the students are likely to be behind their peers academically and will be focused on studying English and their academic lessons, the educators said. Ms. Alaniz said she will speak in Spanish 30 minutes a day to give students instructions, but she'll teach the students in English. She will, however, speak Spanish to children who might be confused by a lesson, she said. The group will recite lessons in unison to help build students' confidence. "We're going to be reading poems and books," Ms. Alaniz said. "I want to make it comprehensive, but I don't want to hold them back." |