Wanted: Skilled bilingual teachers
Lawrence's school superintendent, Wilfredo Laboy, says many children languish in bilingual education classes because their teachers don't speak English fluently. Graciela Trilla, principal of the McGlynn School in Medford, contends that some students struggle in bilingual education because too few teachers know how to teach a second language. Laboy is a prominent critic of bilingual education, and Trilla is an outspoken supporter. But the two educators agree on at least one point: Good bilingual education teachers are hard to find. In the country's Northeast, the shortage of teachers in bilingual education is more severe than in any other subject, according to the American Association for Employment in Education. The Massachusetts Department of Education last year granted 108 waivers to districts wanting to use uncertified bilingual education teachers, a figure topped only by the number of special education waivers. Several districts in the Commonwealth are so desperate they've brought in teachers from Spain, Brazil, and other countries to fill their bilingual slots. Despite being on different sides of the increasingly rancorous Massachusetts debate over bilingual education, Trilla and Laboy both highlight the skills - or lack thereof - of bilingual teachers to buttress their arguments. If bilingual education has failed, Trilla says, it's because many teachers don't know how to teach it. For Laboy, the scarcity of qualified bilingual education teachers is one more reason to scrap such programs. ''We have bilingual educators who can't speak English and would be better off as teachers of Spanish, not bilingual teachers,'' said Laboy, a former bilingual education supporter who is now dismantling such programs in his district. ''The way children acquire a language is to come into contact with that language. If a teacher doesn't speak English, how are kids going to come into contact with English?'' Under current law, Massachusetts school districts that have 20 or more children who have a limited grasp of English and speak the same language must provide a transitional bilingual program for up to three years. Students learn English, but they also learn math, science, and other subjects in their native tongue until their English improves. About 49,000 Massachusetts students are classified limited English-proficient. Supporters of bilingual education say it eases children into English while allowing them to keep their native languages. But critics contend that such programs hurt students by coddling them, leaving them far behind their English-speaking classmates. Many, they point out, spend more than three years in bilingual classes. They are backing a November 2002 ballot measure, spearheaded by California businessman Ron Unz, that would replace Massachusetts' bilingual education law with one calling for a single year of English ''immersion.'' Unz's initiatives swept to victory in California in 1998 and Arizona last year. The political controversy swirling around bilingual education is making it even tougher to attract prospective teachers to a field that is already a tough sell. ''More often than not, bilingual and ESL [English as a Second Language] students are given basement classes and less-than-current material that doesn't match their grade level,'' said Theresa Austin, who teaches bilingual education and foreign languages at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst's education school. ''To deal with that situation, you have to be a very brave teacher, and a very committed teacher to deal with hostility.'' The pool of prospective bilingual education teachers isn't large to begin with, Austin says, because US schools don't emphasize foreign language instruction. Some immigrants who have mastered English and might be promising candidates shy away from teaching because they believe it isn't valued in the United States. And many candidates are put off by the requirements to become certified as a bilingual education teacher in Massachusetts. Like other teachers, they must have a bachelor's degree and pass both an English literacy test and an exam on the subjects they will teach. But would-be bilingual teachers also have to demonstrate that they are qualified, usually through coursework and classroom experience. And they must pass a test on their second language. Sandra Quinones is certified in elementary education. But she helped out in bilingual classes during two years as a substitute, and, she said, she ''fell in love with working in two languages.'' Armed with a waiver from the Department of Education, she teaches bilingual education at the Rafael Hernandez School in Boston. As she works toward her bilingual certificate at Lesley University, Quinones says she realizes there's more to bilingual education than just speaking two languages. She has learned how to modify her teaching to reach kids whose parents rarely read to them, and to compensate for the cultural traits of students from different countries. Those who head the bilingual education programs in districts with multiple waivers stress that there's a difference between uncertified teachers and unqualified ones. And Education Commissioner David P. Driscoll, while acknowledging the shortage of bilingual education teachers, says it's ''revisionist history to say that's the reason bilingual education hasn't worked.'' But Maria Serpa, codirector of Lesley University's master's program in bilingual education, says too few teachers in the field are trained properly. ''There's a need for the state to really do something about this,'' Serpa said. ''We've had bilingual education for 30 years, and we are almost at square one in terms of qualified personnel.'' Scott S. Greenberger can be reached by e-mail at greenberger@globe.com. |