A student's hand goes up an indication that he is stuck on a concept or idea and Fuhriman-Ebert is at his side discussing in English the student's work. A quizzical look tells Fuhriman-Ebert that the student still doesn't fully understand. The teacher explains the concept again this time in Spanish--and a smile spreads across the student's face.
"Comprehension is critical," says Fuhriman-Ebert. And if a student isn't understanding something in English, I explain it to them in Spanish.
Many of the 20 students in Fuhriman-Ebert's classroom live in Spanish-speaking families, but are taught in schools dominated by English. Jaime Oriedo, the 10-year-old class treasurer, reflects the bilingual and bicultural world of his Hispanic classmates. "My family speaks mostly Spanish,"he says. "But my mom speaks Spanish and English, and so do I."
Fuhriman-Ebert says she practices bilingual education in her classroom to clarify concepts for students and to show respect for the children and their heritage. "I use Spanish to boost their self-esteem--their pride in who they are, and their pride in their culture," she says.
Fuhriman-Ebert is the exception at Lindbergh Elementary School, where 75 percent of the children are Hispanic. She is the only bilingual teacher in the school, and one of just a handful in the Ontario School District, where nearly 45 percent of the students are Hispanic. "Fifth grade is not the grade to begin a bilingual program," Fuhriman-Ebert says. "It should start in the first grade so that by fifth grade the students are dual-language. It pays for children to have two languages and to be fluent in both."
The Ontario School District has begun a districtwide focus on bilingual education that officials are hopeful will better serve the approximately 1,200 Hispanic students who attend the district's eight schools. "In five years," says Ron Guyer, director of special education and student services, "we want to have the disaggregated scores of Hispanic children equal to other students. But we also want all students' scores to go up in the district."
The district has decided to focus on bilingual education as part of a larger effort to boost standardized test scores of all students. Districtwide, notes Guyer, students score around the 40th percentile. However, when district officials disaggregated test scores two years ago, they found that Hispanic students were lingering at the 20th percentile on standardized tests.
"I think that, in some places, there was some denial around here," notes Guyer. "When we disaggregated our test scores, though, it all came to the surface. Up to this point, we didn't know any better. We did the best we could with the knowledge we brought to the table. Now, we have more knowledge and we must do better."
Twice this year, district administrators and principals have traveled to the Socorro Independent School District in El Paso, Texas. (See related story, Great Expectations.) The Socorro District, which bumps the Mexican border in the Southwest corner of Texas, serves a student population that is 98 percent Hispanic. In just six years, the district has turned around low test scores, high dropout rates, and dismal academic records. Today, the district boasts a 98 percent student completion rate with 90 percent of the students at grade level.
The Ontario schools have provided staff development on cultural awareness and brought in nationally recognized speakers. They also participate in an innovative program to provide tuition and expenses for local bilingual people who want to pursue a college teaching degree. (See related story, Diamonds in the Rough.) But they still needed to find better ways to teach their Hispanic students.
"We wanted to change, but we weren't making the progress we wanted to make," Guyer says. "We hit a point where we just didn't know how to change anymore. We also felt that if we could see a successful model of bilingual education--especially those of us who are visual learners--we could do it."
Enter Ontario's relationship with the Socorro schools, where principals and district administrators have observed classroom practices and talked with teachers, principals, and students. What they saw has helped them better visualize what they want to develop in Ontario. And much of the framework already is in place because of statewide restructuring of education in Oregon. "The thing we saw that correlated so well were the statewide assessments, standards, and benchmarks," Guyer says. "The whole focus of the Socorro schools is on those standards. Every teacher knows what those standards are and is working toward them. Their whole mission is to help these kids meet standards."
The Ontario district is launching its own program to provide an equitable education for all students. It is in the process of establishing baseline data, identifying strengths and weaknesses, and adopting districtwide goals. "We're really in our infancy," Guyer notes. "This year, we're focusing on bilingual education. When we were in Socorro, we could see that the bilingual person was used not to teach Spanish, but to clarify instruction given in English. We've got to get to the point where our kids have understandable instruction.
CULTURAL UNDERSTANDING NECESSARY
Ontario is a community that takes pride in its cultural diversity. For a rural town of about 10,000 residents, it has a broad cross section of cultures, and a rich history of diverse settlers. Northern Paiute Indians were among the first inhabitants, and Mexicans were among the early settlers. Basque shepherds also moved to the area in the late 1800s, and nearby Boise, Idaho, was an important stop along the Oregon Trail. Japanese living in the United States worked the farm fields during World War II, when they were released from internment in central Idaho.
Today, about 8 percent of the population is Japanese American, and the Japan Nite-Obon Festival each summer is a popular community event. The area's substantial Hispanic American population grew as a result of field work in the region's agricultural industry.
Cinco de Mayo, the Mexican celebration of independence, also is a popular community festival. The Ontario Basque Club sponsors a community festival as well. And last June, work began on the 74,000-square-foot Western Treasure Valley Cultural Center, a $12.5 million facility that will honor the various cultures in the region.
Despite the rich diversity, stereotypical images of Hispanic Americans surfaced during redistricting meetings in 1991-92, Guyer says. "I was shocked. There were people who said publicly that they didn't want their white kids to be in school with brown kids."
The district sees increased parental involvement as a way to begin breaking down some of those attitudes. "We want all parents represented in our schools so they can start talking to each other," Guyer says. "We need to get to know people for who they are, not just for how they look."
BARRIERS CRUMBLE AT ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Luigi Yannotta knew he was taking on a tough task when he accepted the principalship at Lindbergh Elementary School.
The school, with 98 percent of its students on free or reduced-price lunch, had a reputation for low student achievement, little parental involvement, and uninspired leadership. "It was the perception that Lindbergh parents didn't care, that there was nothing you could do to get them involved," Guyer says.
Yannotta has quickly disposed of the perceptions about his school and community. He has been instrumental in creating a new reality at Lindbergh, where 75 percent of the school's 260 students are Hispanic.
"This is not unlike other schools where I've been," says Yannotta, who moved to Ontario after working in education for three years in Bolivia, four years in Ecuador, and eight years in bilingual programs in California. "There's a high number of Spanish-speaking children and families, and a low level of parental involvement."
Cultural differences, Yannotta notes, can prevent parents from becoming involved in schools, but celebrating the cultures of others can help break down barriers. "In Spanish populations, it is believed that the school is the exclusive shepherd of the child's education," Yannotta says. "That is changing, but we have to foster that change."
In his first year at Lindbergh, Yannotta has brought about 90 percent of the parents into the school. To set the stage at the beginning of the year, the school hosted a Mexican fiesta complete with a mariachi band, food, a slide show, and presentations about the school's goals for children presented in English and Spanish.
Yannotta also established a parent center in the school and has created teams of English- and Spanish-speaking parents who go door-to-door in the attendance area to encourage families to get involved. He also is arranging for Treasure Valley Community College to offer GED, effective parenting, ESL (English as a Second Language), and other adult classes at Lindbergh.
"I'm a believer in the research," Yannotta says. "In my experience with successful bilingual education programs, I have seen how direct parent involvement in academics improves student values. If it's important to parents, it's important to students."
In the parent center, Susan Summers tallies the results of a family survey and boasts of how Lindbergh parents are coming together. Nearly 70 people attended the second general parents' meeting, she says, and many are continuing their involvement in issues ranging from school safety to academic excellence to constructive discipline. "I was born in this town," Summers says. "I've been in this school system all my life, but I just got involved in this school because my granddaughter goes here and she lives with me."
Summers refers to a "pulse" that emanates from the school and encourages parents to take active roles in their children's education. "Our parents are becoming more involved," she says. "Making children the focus of concern has pulled the parents together."
Lindbergh parents and families were alarmed when a recent architectural report indicated that the school could not withstand high winds or even a minor earthquake. Concern for the safety of their children has become a rallying point, but other issues have also emerged. "People want to know how they can get their GED, how they can make their kids do their homework, how they should discipline their kids, and what's on the school lunch menu," Summers says. "This center really allows us to make friends and establish relationships with people of different beliefs and cultures."
VARIETY OF APPROACHES NEEDED
Yannotta believes that bilingual education alone will not provide equity for all students." The emphasis at Lindbergh School is on literacy," he says. "We have to have understandable instruction, in which teachers are constantly checking for understanding from children."
But other teaching methods and attitudes also must change, he maintains. The old ways of doing business are no longer effective in today's diverse classrooms. "In years past, we had teacher-directed instruction. Those who caught on did fine. But the kid in the back row got left behind. He was alone. Now we have a lot of student-directed instruction. We use a lot of cooperative learning, and we've got students helping students in small work groups. We need all of these efforts."
For information related to this article, see Components of Success.
| 
|
|
This document's URL is: Home | Up & Coming | Programs & Projects: Northwest Education | People | Products & Publications | Topics © 2001 Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory
Date of Last Update: 9/28/01 
|