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Yahoo!A group of concerned parents and school officials spoke out during the Santa Barbara School Board meeting Tuesday night to offer their support for César Chávez Charter School. Started in 2000, the unique, dual-immersion K-6 charter school (students split their time evenly between learning in English and Spanish) had its charter expire recently and, according to the school’s Governance Committee President Lee Fleming, it is in danger of not receiving a renewal from the district due to low scores on state standardized tests.
“Needless to say, we were rather surprised to hear the news, especially since we have an agreement with the board that they will look at indicators beyond just the basic test results,” explained Fleming. While it is true that the school’s test results have been below both district and state averages for several years running, the most current round of Academic Performance Indicators and STAR testing show improvement. And, according to Fleming, when you peel back the layers of the test results and take into consideration the unique circumstances of César Chávez (like the fact that kids don’t start taking reading classes in English until third grade even though testing begins in second grade), the picture is not nearly as grim as first indicated. The School Board is scheduled to discuss the issue on November 10.
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I'm confused. I thought Cesar Chavez was supposed to be "dual immersion," i.e. English speaking kids learn Spanish, Spanish speaking kids learn English from the very beginning. So why is the school apparently waiting until third grade to start teaching Spanish speakers to read in English?
Is the school "dual immersion" or "Spanish first"?
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revisionist (anonymous profile)
October 15, 2009 at 7:30 a.m. (Suggest removal)
They receive 50/50 instruction but the primary reading and literacy skills are developed in the first language until 3rd grade. See more information on immersion programs and other FAQs here--> http://www.cal.org/twi/literacylanguage....
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reformer (anonymous profile)
October 15, 2009 at 12:55 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I would be curious to hear how well the students who come from non Spanish-speaking homes can speak Spanish when they graduate. (Assuming they enter the school while in the 1st grade)
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billclausen (anonymous profile)
October 15, 2009 at 3:10 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Bill:
My daughter comes from a non-Spanish speaking household.
She reads and speaks Spanish very well solely because of CCCS.
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TryingToBeDemure (anonymous profile)
October 15, 2009 at 5:19 p.m. (Suggest removal)
My child reads well above grade level in English and Spanish and we are an English speaking family. My child's only Spanish experience has been at Cesar Chavez, where we have been since kindergarten.
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goletamommy (anonymous profile)
October 15, 2009 at 5:31 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I don't know why people get upset when schools do what they are supposed to; teach. My sister almost was put in special ed classes because she didn't know english. Then we moved to SB and went to Franklin. She learned English, won The Presidential Academic Award, and graduated with a 4.0 gpa from high school. She went on to join the Army and is currently finishing her Masters Degree. How different her life would have been if she would have stayed in the non-immersion school.
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AZ2SB (anonymous profile)
October 15, 2009 at 8:15 p.m. (Suggest removal)
To the two posters who followed my question: Thank you for anawering my question. -Bill-
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billclausen (anonymous profile)
October 15, 2009 at 8:19 p.m. (Suggest removal)
"My sister almost was put in special ed classes because she didn't know english. " -AZ2SB -
I have an even worse example: A friend of mine told me he was put in a special ed class for his perceived lack of English skills. He had recently emigrated from Jamaica and his accent convinced the people in charge that he must have been an E.S.L. candidate. I'm also wondering if they saw in his writings such words as "programme" and "colour" and other British spellings.
As he told me, he milked it for all it was worth and had a good laugh about it.
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billclausen (anonymous profile)
October 15, 2009 at 8:29 p.m. (Suggest removal)
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