Bilingual charter concerns trustees

EDUCATION: Temecula district officials say students' test scores are not high enough.

TEMECULA—District officials are taking a harder look at a 4-year-old Temecula charter school aimed at teaching students to be bilingual in Spanish and English.

Last week, Temecula Valley Unified School District board members expressed concern over the school’s low test scores compared with those at other schools in the district.

The school’s charter was up for renewal last week. The board voted to extend the contract until Aug. 1, long enough to tally this year’s scores due out this summer and review the school’s performance.

Board President Richard Shafer said he is concerned about student performance, particularly that of students whose first language is Spanish. Those students are scoring low on tests in Spanish and English, according to state and school records.

“The trend seems to show they are not performing at the same grade level as other students in the district,” Shafer said.

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Varying levels of proficiency

While school officials say English-proficient students are performing well on tests given in Spanish, the charter school “doesn’t appear to be benefiting the Hispanic children as far as their growth,” Shafer said.

Last year, 45 percent of the school’s English-speaking second-graders scored at or above the national average in reading on the state’s assessment test, compared with 67 percent in the Temecula school district and 53 percent in Riverside County. Twelve percent of the school’s students deemed to speak limited English scored at or above the national average, compared with 35 percent in the district and 25 percent in the county.

Results in math, language and spelling were similar.

The Language Acquisition Magnet Program is housed at Sparkman Elementary School and immerses students in kindergarten through fifth grade in varying levels of Spanish and English instruction.

Kindergarten students receive Spanish instruction 90 percent of the time and English the remaining 10 percent. The balance gradually shifts and by fifth grade, 10 percent of teaching is in Spanish, with 90 percent in English.

About 160 children are enrolled at the school. Next year, the school’s oldest students will reach fourth grade.

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A degree of freedom

Charter schools are funded with public money, but are not bound by many state and local regulations. LAMP has a degree of freedom from Temecula Valley Unified, its sponsoring school district.

Educators in favor of the school’s approach say students entering the sixth grade will be equipped to do well in the standard curriculum.

Some LAMP parents say the district should not compare the school with others in the district.

“We need to compare this program to other bilingual programs (in other districts),” said Kim Baily, a parent and former LAMP board member. “This program could really be the shining star for this district and could really be the model for bilingual education in California.”

Baily has two children enrolled in the school, a fourth-grader and a first-grader.

She said her oldest daughter can read Harry Potter books in both Spanish and English.

Claudia Preciado-Arroyo, current LAMP board president, said the school deserves more time to prove itself.

“In a school like this, students aren’t meant to be tested higher until the fifth grade,” she said.

The school’s principal, Irma Cobian, will be leaving LAMP to open another bilingual school in Vista this fall. She said she understands the district’s concern over test scores. Cobian will soon meet district officials to give her evaluation of the program.

“I think the (district’s) promise is there to keep (LAMP) for five years,” Cobian said. “But let’s make sure we produce the good test scores . . . That’s what accountability is all about.”

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A matter of proportion

Cobian said several factors may have contributed to the lower test scores. The proportion of English- to Spanish-speaking students is not equal in the second and third grades, at 70 percent and 30 percent, respectively. She believes a 50-50 split would be more beneficial to all students.

“My concern is that we make the parents aware of where their children are in relation to others in the district,” Shafer said. “The board will potentially grant the school an extension to their charter with conditions stipulating that they improve.”



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