BILINGUAL education programs attempt to move elementary school pupils smoothly from a first language to the English language.

The intent is to make that transition over a set period of time. But, as Linda Macias suggests, time is not always on the side of bilingual education instructors.

Macias, bilingual and English as a Second Language coordinator for Cy-Fair Independent School District, said there are 2,300 bilingual pupils districtwide. The district experienced a 13 percent increase in enrollment in bilingual-ed programs from the 1999-2000 school term to the 2000-2001 year, Macias said.

Two years ago, she said, the district had six campuses offering bilingual education. Today, 14 of Cy-Fair’s 34 elementary schools are denoted as bilingual campuses.

Those schools are Bane, Francone, Frazier, Gleason, Hairgrove, Kirk, Metcalf, Owens, Post, Reed, Sheridan, Walker, Wilbern and Yeager elementary schools.

“We’re doing whatever we can to make sure our students are successful. We use the same text and the same assessments for bilingual students as general education students. The state mandates that we take the same assessment.

“When bilingual-ed students take TAAS, they take the same TAAS as the general education students. In some cases it’s in Spanish, in some it’s English, but it still assesses the same skills,” Macias said.

Those skills should be polished before pupils head to middle school. The district recognized some older elementary pupils needed additional assistance and last year began two, new initiatives, Structured English Immersion and Transitions.

Structured English Immersion, or SEI, is geared toward fourth- and fifth-graders in the district who have not exited bilingual education classrooms yet.

Macias said the program is all-English instruction, with added support strategies and methodologies. The point of such a program is clear and critical, Macias said.

“It helps enhance their English before they go to middle school, where there is no instruction in Spanish,” she said.

The district does offer English as a Second Language in middle- and high-school settings and Macias said about 3,000 Cy-Fair students are enrolled in such courses. But, those classes are conducted in English.

Secondary school years are when students are prone to leaving school altogether and that’s often the result when language seems a barrier to learning.

Macias said the SEI program had tremendous success its first year, increasing by 127 percent the number of students exiting bilingual programs before fourth grade than seen the previous year.

She described the Transitions program as one for students newly arrived to the country and defined newly arrived as “here a day or less than two years.” It’s similar to SEI in that it is also conducted all in English and targets fourth- and fifth-graders. The difference is the approach of instruction, since students in Transitions have not had previous bilingual-ed instruction.

Yvette Culp is a 15-year teacher with the district who teaches fourth- and fifth-grade pupils in the SEI program at Sheridan Elementary. She said the district’s initiatives are good, but the true factor in a pupil’s success – whether in a bilingual or traditional classroom – boils down to the pupil’s commitment.

“Personally, the way I do it is, starting from day one, I tell the kids there’s no room for failure. I don’t allow that,” Culp said. “I expect and believe they can do it and they also begin to think they can do it.”

Although the program is meant to ensure bilingual pupils are prepared for middle school, Culp said her focus is beyond those years or even high school.

“I bring in my diploma and show them there’s something after high school, and I talk with them and their parents about that,” Culp said.

Communication is critical, Culp said, and is a cornerstone to all education, not just bilingual education.

“Talking with the kids and the parents and getting the support we get from the district are the things that help us have success,” she said.

Macias agreed and pointed to the district’s lack of bilingual education teaching vacancies as proof. Schools across the country have been mired in bilingual ed teacher shortages, but Macias said 99 percent of the district’s bilingual education teaching positions were filled at the beginning of the new school year.

There are 135 teachers instructing bilingual education curriculum for the district, she said. Some are new recruits and others, she said, choose to remain with Cy-Fair because of the support it offers those who teach in such classrooms.

“The district supports and helps these teachers by providing facilitators. They help by assisting new teachers, they model lessons, they work with children,” she said.

“One of the things we provide is a lot of staff development, lots of teacher training programs here at the district to help teachers. In addition, we also have para-professionals in our district we’ve groomed to be teachers. We work with the state’s alternative certification program.”

Culp said: “I think the thing we have going for us with this district is they offer so much support.

“We have so many children coming to us who are at-risk, so the support we get is very valuable. It might come in the form of a para-professional or a helping teacher and it’s important to have that support.”

Culp is so confident in the district’s support of bilingual education, she said she sees no challenge too difficult for her or her students to overcome.

“I was a little concerned about getting parents involved, but they come to school throughout the year. We’ll plan all sorts of parent meetings to get parents on campus and the parents of bilingual children are usually very willing to be involved.

“I think a lot of schools have people in the front office who speak the language now and parents have become more comfortable at school,” Culp said.

Macias is in her third year as Cy-Fair’s bilingual/ESL coordinator, but spent several years instructing bilingual students there and in Houston Independent School District classes before.

“As a teacher, just to have a student who is brand new to the city, with very few English skills, if you see that child blossom throughout the year and gain confidence with English and the culture and the school setting, it’s so amazing to watch that happen,” she said.



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