Question:
Hi, I need some help. I have a student placed in 6th grade, age 15, with 3 yrs of school in her native country, language: Burmese. She arrived in America in November. She is performing very low and showing little but some English learning. Our program is ESL pull out 45 minutes/daily. She was so low I started taking her twice/daily. We (as a school) need to decide what to do with her next year. Middle school (for which she seems totally unprepared) or keeping her in 6th, and she will be 16 in Dec. I need any thoughts, facts, opinions, any help whatsoever. I'd like to have her tested, and I'm trying to find some way to prove the need for it and have it done.
Anything will be helpful!
Reply 1:
Depending on the county you are from, you could investigate an Immigrant Program. Atlantic City High School has an Immigrant Program for situations such as this. It is opened to Atlantic County students if there is space. <0/p>
Reply 2:
Hi,
A few years ago, I had a similar situation. My student was 16 and had had 3 years of school in her native school in Liberia. We placed her with age appropriate peers...high school....but her entire school day was individualized. We called it creative scheduling. She had double periods of ESL...but also had basic skills in math and reading at the middle school....She took electives at the high school...cooking, pottery, etc and gym. Some children just don't fit the program of studies that we offer...So we developed a program that fit her needs...All who worked with her had to be flexible and understand that it was going to take TIME and Patience. The first year was rough...she was totally illiterate..but she did learn to read and write...I purchased programmed reading for adults books to work with her outside of school during the summer months. She moved after three years...but did complete her GED in her new state.
Good Luck!
Reply 3:
I agree w. the response that she doesn't belong in 6th grade! In my school, regardless of prior education (or lack thereof), a 15-year-old would've been placed in 8th or 9th grade immediately upon enrollment. If in 8th, she'd then have gotten 2 periods of ESL daily; if in 9th, 2 or even 3. See if there's a Basic Skills teacher who could take her in; get lots of extra materials on lower levels that she could work with in other (than ESL) classes so she's not just taking up space; get books on tape (is it CDs or iPods these days?!) for her to listen to; and get her up to a grade level w. age peers, so that social interaction could also encourage her to speak. If a student can get involved w. a sport or other extra-curricular activity, that often helps.
Reply 4:
In my school district in Montgomery County Maryland, they had a program for secondary students with limited schooling. Is there an adjacent school district that might have the same service? We were centralized, so it was possible to group these kids together in a small self contained class.
Reply 5:
I really don't think you should retain her. Her self esteem will suffer. If she goes into 7th grade and is in level one that will be sufficient. If they want to retain her they can, but I don't feel anyone should be in middle school at 18. You can discuss this with her and her parents and then with the social worker or other professionals........
Reply 6:
I teach adult Burmese students who settle in Trenton through our refugee resettlement agency. These families are members of four main minority groups from Burma, many of whom have spent a decade or more in camps in Thailand. They escape from Burma because of violent discrimination and abuse, their villages burned by the Burmese military. Their community leaders and teachers do what they can to provide schooling for their children.
From what I have learned, a student in Burma has to pass the current grade before being allowed to move up to the next one, so there may be different expectations in this family from those of an American family. The age discrepancy in the case that you mention does make it awkward, and individual help would be ideal. Would it be possible to find a volunteer tutor for her?
The high-school age children of our refugee families attend a summer program at the high school which gives them a relaxed and fun introduction to an English-speaking environment, computers, and other activities. In my experience, these are highly motivated students, but their upbringing teaches them to be self-effacing and non-confrontational, disinclined to promote themselves. Their parents may not have had more than an elementary school education and therefore may not be able to help them with homework.
If you would like to understand more about the background from which your student came, I recommend a publication from the Center for Applied Linguistics, available in PDF: Refugees from Burma.
http://www.cal.org/resources/pubs/burmese.html CAL's synopsis will give you an idea of its scope:
"This profile provides information about the diverse histories, cultures, and refugee experiences of the refugees from Burma, with a focus on the Burmans, the Karen and their various subgroups, and the Chin. Designed as a resource for refugee service providers but likely to be of use to teachers, local government agency staff, and others who interact with the Burmese, the profile also addresses the early experiences of the Burmese already resettled in the U.S. 2007."
Reply 7:
I have a middle school student who is 14. He came to us mid-year from 3 years in a bilingual program in addition to having been left back when he arrived in the US. He might as well have been a newcomer! He was supposed to be in 6th grade, but is physically mature enough that the Powers That Be decided to skip him right into 7th grade. He gets replacement Language Arts with me for a double period as well as a regular period of ESL. After 3 months, he's finally getting the hang of what is expected and becoming an active participant. Instead of giving him the usual electives, we've consistently placed him in art, where he can shine (he's a very talented artist) to bolster his self-image. Next year, however, the replacement LA will be dropped because of redistricting not just of the kids but spreading the teachers a bit thinner. I will recommend that he get BSI reading in addition to ESL to give him the extra help he needs to succeed.
The social promotion may not have been a great academic decision, but socially he is thriving and even starting to read "for fun," something no one ever expected him to do before. It will take a couple of years and he may will likely be in ESL into HS, but we're not ready to give up on him. Good luck with your student as well!
Reply 8:
Is she - and is her family - isolated, the only Burmese-language speakers in your community? Maybe there are others you can find a way to use as resources to help her acclimate better, feel somewhat less isolated. Some children certainly respond to the stress of the move to the US very poorly.
Maybe there are some kids in district who speak her language and have been here longer, who could in some way be given academic (or service) credit for helping her adjust... like an Burmese Student Association, perhaps, or at least Southeast Asian? Our Latin American Student Organization definitely helps some of our kids feel less alone - and helps the non-Latinos in the building relate to the large Latino contingent.
Reply 9:
Re: Advice needed for under-prepared students: This is the first year that I am working with 4th grade students, newly arrived to this country, several with limited schooling as well. I am curious as to what materials other schools use with these students. Our ESL program is a daily, 45 minute pull out program. Our focus is content-based instruction using the WIDA standards but I am in needed of resources to support both language development and content based instruction. Suggestions of materials proven successful with these students would be helpful.
Reply 10:
I know that Newark has a very good and expanding Newcomers Program for students with limited schooling in their home countries.
Reply 11:
Hi, in our district we have a special program called the Newcomers Program for placing students who had limited schooling. The district also designed a testing center to test students before placing them into a classroom. Good Luck.
Reply 12:
I was very moved by the story of the Burmese speaker with little schooling or English language development. If I were to put myself in her place, I would want to be with my peers, no matter what the English language level. Anything else would be a betrayal and hamper my development of many ways.
A few years ago, I offered a cross-cultural elective with young adults. Its goal was to promote interaction, social and academic, between native speakers and ELLs. All students of both groups where there, willing to interact cross-culturally. The program was scheduled to provide time before and after class. The amount and quality of the classroom discourse should have been predictable; it was trapped in question to answer with little expansion beyond that. In other words it was trapped in q & a and therefore not communication. Old fears and attitudes persisted.
I realized that it was the activities and the tasks that make the difference. Cooperative groups allowing random participation make a difference. Cooperative learning to the rescue! The most successful activity of that group of natives and ELLs (high intermediates/low advanced) was theatre. A play read, mixed groups formed to present the same roles in the play, rehearsals scheduled (outside of class in this case) and then presentations of the same material was a lot of fun. It provided inclusion, interpretation, practice, and little if any criticism. The play's the thing wherein the ELL will grow. Schedule her in her age group and her language level will likely grow too.
Reply 13:
I ran the newcomer center in New Brunswick for a little over 2 years. When students entered my class, they had already been tested by our testing center so that I had a start point as to their ability in their native language. I found the best approach to be starting students where they were capable of working. For example, I could have a student who was 16 years old but only functioning at a 2 grade level in reading and 4th grade in math. I would start that student with materials from a second grade class to have them get comfortable and then start using 3rd then 4th grade materials. With math I would do the same, start with 4th grade materials, then move them up. With a student who has capability I would usually see steady improvement.
5/3/09
