Blog 1 - Influx of Immigrant Students
Blog 1 – Influx of Immigrant Students
This week I found myself reading an article about a school
in Missouri that has noticed an influx of immigrant high school students who
have very little education or English. In
the article it mentions many of these students are coming in from Guatemala, El
Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua. The
article by Koby Levin of Joplin Globe
expresses it “points to the ongoing violence in those countries, which has
driven successive waves of immigration by Central Americans into the U.S.”
The numbers of immigrant students prior to 2015 school year
were 83. By the end of the 2015-2016 school year it had risen to 118. At the end of the following school year the
number continue to grow reaching 142 immigrant students. About 28 percent of
the districts students are students who speak English as a second
language.
What I found most interesting about this article is I know I
have seen a similar trend occurring at my school and have heard of it happening
with a lot of students at the elementary schools in my district. I think this will continue to be a challenge
faced by teachers and districts in the U.S. I enjoyed reading about how the ELL
teachers were teaming up with math and science teachers to help cover their
area content. They also were using
translators when needed. I also found it
quite resilient the way the district seemed to be continually facing the
challenge head on. They are making sure
the community is aware of their changing needs and they are getting support to
make sure they are doing everything they can to help and teach these new
students.
You are definitely not alone in your observation of seeing an influx of ESL students in your district. We are experiencing the same situation not only in my district, but in the Lehigh Valley as a whole. As a matter of fact, there were rumors of a neighboring district to mine having over 100 students enroll into their district in ONE WEEKEND. I couldn't even imagine what that would do to class size, the physical capacity to educate the additional students, the unexpected financial stress to the district, and the everyday stressors to the teacher. Because of this trend, I'd predict that ELL and ESL teachers will find job security even in the districts were furloughs are regular because of budget constraints.
ReplyDeleteI love that you mentioned the importance of communication. Directly keeping community members in the loop about the changing dynamics and needs of the district is of paramount importance. The changing student population will affect budgets, resources requested, staffing, etc. In order for a community member to be truly informed about how taxpayer dollars are being spent, they need to understand the conditions under which the district is operating.
Our district is also seeing an influx of students and recently hired a half time ESL teacher. One thing that encouraged me to pursue my masters in ESL besides my interest in and passion for the subject was the job security. The fact that several Spanish teachers in my department were furloughed at my previous district was the final straw that made me pursue the degree. I believe that continuing to keep the community aware of these changing needs is important so that they community can understand the financial burden being placed on the district as well. Often times community members don't understand why the budget for schools is so large.
ReplyDelete