More than just English lessons

Prop. 227 funds are paying for English classes that help parents to tutor children, and teach them parenting skills

RUBIDOUX—Maria Castillo struggled nightly to help her second-grader study spelling and tackle fractions – skills she never learned.

As a child, Castillo was allowed to complete the first grade in Mexico, but then her father said no more school. As a parent, with basic skills she could decipher worksheet directions in Spanish and check to make sure her children completed assignments.

But reading even simple directions became impossible in September when homework came home all in English, as required by Prop. 227. California voters passed the proposition in June, ending bilingual education and requiring that all students be taught overwhelmingly in English.

“By now you’d think I’d know it (English),” Castillo said through an interpreter. She said she was embarrassed she hadn’t learned English despite two decades of living in the United States and earning citizenship 12 years ago.

Castillo discovered that the new law which left her unable to help her children with homework also offered an opportunity – she could sign up for free English classes if she pledged to volunteer as a community tutor.

Now she and about 60 other mothers with similar backgrounds meet three afternoons a week to study English, basic reading and math, and parenting skills at West Riverside Elementary in Rubidoux. Money set aside by Prop. 227 covers the salaries of two teachers, pays for day care during the 1 1/2-hour classes and provides workbooks for parents.

Most Inland area schools started organizing their community tutoring classes this spring using state funding that arrived in February. A few campuses, like West Riverside in the Jurupa Unified School District and some Colton elementary schools, got a head start.

Edda Caraballo, bilingual education consultant for the state Department of Education, said districts around the state that offer classes have received overwhelming interest. Although schools are not required to offer the English tutoring classes, she said most California districts applied for funds.

“It’s flourishing rather nicely,” she said. “I think the need has been there, but there hasn’t been the resources. In a few years, I think this is going to be a really great parent, school, community partnership.”

California districts receive $50 million a year to run the adult English classes, which also must include parenting and tutoring skills.

“That’s the key to this thing,” she said. “Part of the law is to make sure they teach tips and techniques and strategies for tutoring kids.”

Several Inland area school districts, like Corona-Norco and Redlands, are working community-based English tutoring programs into an existing schedule of English-as-a-second-language classes. Officials plan to offer classes at various times to accommodate working parents and at several elementary schools so families do not have to travel far.

Educators have praised the adult English classes as the good part of Prop. 227, but also have criticized the requirement that parents pledge to serve as community tutors because it is tough to regulate.

At West Riverside, parents sign blue cards promising to tutor local children once they become fluent English speakers.

After a recent class, teacher Aminta Ortega held up a stack of the cards and said she believes the mothers will fulfill their pledges.

“You may think these are empty promises, but I really don’t think so,” she said. “Not after seeing some of these parents and seeing their willingness.”

Ortega teaches the West Riverside class with Emma Garza. In November, they volunteered to start an adult English class. After a few weeks of working for free, the school found some grant money. Just as that ran out, the state sent Prop. 227 money.

The two teachers said they would continue running the classes for no wages. Ortega said she sometimes assumed that when children didn’t finish their homework, it was because their parents didn’t care enough to see that it got done.

“When I saw how many parents are so limited themselves, I realized the child is between a rock and a hard place,” Ortega said. “They have no one to look to.”

In the spacious classroom tucked away in the rear of the campus, Garza and Ortega focus on basic English as well as simple addition and reading skills. On a recent afternoon, they wrote incorrect sentences like “i is going two school” on the white board and had the mothers edit them.

They also have discussed writing notes to teachers, gave a mock standardized test so parents could have the same experience as their children and helped parents make reading and math games to take home. Some money paid for extra classroom dictionaries and workbooks and craft supplies for parents.

About 40 mothers attend each class. Many miss about one class each week because they hold down part-time jobs or have to take care of sick toddlers. When it rains, they cover their strollers with blankets and jog to class.

Ortega and Garza also give advice on carving out time. One woman said her husband expected his dinner when he arrived home. The teachers suggested she fix the meal before she leaves for class and leave instructions on heating it in the microwave.

The work has paid off for the mothers as well as the students, the teachers said. Students whose mothers take the class develop a healthy competition with them.

“They’ll say, ‘My mom had the spelling words I had this week’ and they’re so excited,” Ortega said. “It’s like competition, but good competition. They’re so proud that their mothers are in the class.”

The result: both parent and child learn.

“They’re helping each other and, at the same time, guess who’s learning – the first-grader, the third-grader,” Garza said.

At Zimmerman Elementary School in Bloomington, students with parents in English tutoring class also have made progress, teachers said. Zimmerman is one of at least five Colton Joint Unified schools to offer such classes.

The dozen parents enrolled at Zimmerman spend the first hour of the afternoon sitting next to their children, working on homework. Teacher Josie Hernandez walks between the desks, answering questions and giving tips.

During the second hour of the twice-weekly class, the children run outside for a game of kickball while Hernandez teaches parents ways to help children learn to read. A handful of parents stay on campus after Hernandez’s class ends and attend a separate class to polish their language skills.

Maria Barcelo said that after two months of study, she finds it much easier to help her children.

“It helps me to answer more difficult questions since I started the class,” she said.

Barcelo said she looks forward to taking home a small game-like computer that has math and reading games on it. The school recently used Prop. 227 money to purchase the units, which look like video game hardware and hook up to television sets.

Like many parents, she said she wished the classes met longer and more often. The take-home games lengthen her learning time.

Teachers at both schools said the best advertisement for the classes has been the parents. They talk with neighbors and show off their English skills. Soon, another mother comes to class looking for a safe place to learn.

“A lot of times you’re embarrassed to try and practice,” said Carolina Muro, who attends the West Riverside class. She said her husband reads English, but doesn’t like to speak it. So, she makes her mistakes with a roomful of other English learners and gets help on her homework from her two boys, ages 9 and 10.

When she started the class in November, she did not know the English alphabet or numbers. Now, she can hold simple conversations in English. She helps her sons with their homework and English skills. They often switch the television off Spanish stations and watch programs in English.

“I can speak with the kids in English and they understand better,” she said.


Teaching parents to teach

School districts in Riverside and San Bernardino counties have received more than $4 million from the state to teach English and tutoring skills to parents who promise to use their new skills to help local youngsters. Not every district participated in the Community-based English tutoring program created by Prop. 227, the anti-bilingual education initiative. Allocations for Inland area schools, based on the number of limited-English proficient students, were: Riverside County:

# limited-English Dollars

students allocated Alvord 4,113 156,013 Banning 944 35,807 Corona-Norco 5,245 198,951 Jurupa 4,001 151,764 Lake Elsinore 1,762 66,835 Moreno Valley 6,217 235,821 Murrieta Valley 435 16,500 Nuview 166 6,297 Perris El. 1,473 55,873 Perris Union 339 12,859 Riverside 5,405 205,020 Romoland 369 13,997 San Jacinto 650 24,656 Temecula Valley 766 29,056 Total 50,733 $1,924,383 San Bernardino County: Colton 3,598 136,478 Fontana 9,133 346,429 Redlands 2,004 76,015 Rialto 5,298 200,961 San Bernardino 9,919 376,243 Total 55,231 2,094,997 Source: California Department of Education <



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