Please let me know if I’m off base here. I’m interested in your thoughts on this reading comprehension exercise:
For the 3rd question, if the answer’s not B (which seems a reasonable guess, although not obvious based on the passage), then what is it? Did the teacher make an error in grading?
Reading comprehension is challenged by incomprehensible teaching material.
This example may seem trite, but based on recent experience I’m leaning toward a disturbing conclusion….
Public schools are promoting illiteracy.
For example, here’s a non-ESL 3rd grader’s responses on a worksheet about Obama:
Obstacle: “he was a blak presadint and I now that must have ben hard as a presadint.”
Solution: “He worked whith congris”
I’m confident this student will not be held back. Next year she’ll be in 4th, with little improvement (in the absence of intervention) in her written communication.
More evidence for my claim is based on my work with a 12 year old girl from Syria. She landed in America in time for the 3rd grade, but started in 2nd because she couldn’t speak English. A few years later, her reading comprehension allows her to identify common words such as “the”, “and”, “a”, “was”, but not much more than that. We’re starting with the basics, using kindergarten flash cards and practicing letter sounds (English phonics are a beating). I use Google images for new vocabulary words such as “kite” and “olive”.
She’s nowhere close to comprehending 4th grade worksheets.
Like most of the students in low-income households, she’s living a hard life, made tragic through personal loss of family and property, with parents who are emotionally absent or abusive in a hostile home. Like many of the immigrants, her living room TV streams stories from their homeland. Stories of war. Arabic is the household language. This girl’s mother doesn’t want her at the Learning Center, preferring her home to help with the housework (and the baby) in their overcrowded apartment.
I’ve no doubt she will also be promoted at the end of the year, just as she’s been promoted every year since her arrival, held back for only her initial year here, which was not enough to position her on-level for learning English.
Anderson Mill Elementary has 62% low-income students. Although ~75% of the low-income students I work with at the Learning Center are Middle Eastern, they are counted among the 30% White students and are also part of the 26% learning English. Is this comprehended in the funding/planning? How is the need measured/monitored?
The school appears to be in good shape overall:
Students per teacher is below the state average
Students per counselor is below the state average
Average teacher salary is higher than the state average
Staff includes a full-time psychologist
No social workers, no law enforcement, no security guard
Discipline isn’t an issue (far less than the state average for suspensions), but absenteeism is. Although the truancy statistics are surprising with White absenteeism at more than twice the state average… that’s potentially our ESL Middle Eastern students. If I’m right, some of the students I’m trying to help miss 15 or more days of school.
The low-income and underserved students’ test scores average 26% compared with the 61% of all other students. The school as a whole scored below the state average for Math, Reading and Writing, and barely above average for Science.
How many schools are currently supporting a Middle Eastern/North African student population? Ethnicity isn’t included in census data or available demographic info for various regions, districts, etc.
How do you tackle a problem like this when the children are oppressed by a system that disregards their existence?
The flyer that was posted on the website to notify of an upcoming Dual Language Information Session gave me hope for their inclusion, but both copies in the pdf are English (not even Español, which is included elsewhere). I didn’t run across any evidence of Arabic inclusion for dual language content. Addressing the Arabic population seems an easy fix, but intention and effort are needed.
All low-income and underserved, no matter their native language, are impacted in similar ways when hindered by illiteracy.
Who’s on point? This is a National problem, isn’t it? Perhaps a Presidential task force? TEA? Each ISD? Each school is on their own? Am I overstating the negative impact of the vicious cycle of illiteracy (and the added complexity of ESL immigrants)?
The promotion of illiterate students is to the detriment of our nation. We should all be paying attention. If you can read this, I hope you’ll consider reading at your local elementary, library, learning center, etc.
Let’s do this!