Latino Education: Whats Working in Georgia

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Latino Education Whats Working in Georgia
Paul H. Matthews, Ph.D. Bernadette Musetti,
Ph.D. Co-Directors, Center for Latino Achievement
and Success in Education October 19, 2005
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Georgia Demographics Responding to a Need

• -Statewide, Georgias overall
• population is about 8
• Hispanic 660,000- 1 million
• -Many counties and
• communities are already
• over 25 Hispanic
• -Poultry, construction, carpet, agriculture,
• -By 2008, at least 12 counties are expected to be
  gt25 Hispanic some as much as 75! (UGA Selig
  Center) And by 2050 the largest group

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http//factfinder.census.gov/leg2/98/33492998.gif
2000 Census results, Hispanic/Latino by County
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Latino Students in Georgia

• Over 120,000 students (PreK-12) identified as
  Hispanic were served statewide in 2004-05,
  compared with fewer than 24,000 in 1994-95.
• Predominantly at lower grades
• 2/3 of all Latino students are in just 12
  counties
• Gwinnett has 20 of all Latino students
• Cobb Co., 10 DeKalb Co., 6.5 Fulton Co. 6
  Hall Co., 5.7
• But smaller counties may be highly impacted too!

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Educational Challenges

• About 60 of Hispanics in GA classified as
  Limited English Proficient (LEP)
• Hispanic students in GA on average do not
  graduate at the same rate as other groups well
  under 50

• Scores on high stakes tests, such as GHSGT,
  CRCT, and others, are lower on average for
  Hispanics than for other groups
• Recent reports (e.g., TRPI 2004) suggest that
  little is being done overall for helping schools
  help Latino students

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CLASE State-wide Support since 2003

• Direct work with 700 teachers
• Team-based work with about 36 school- and
  district-based teams
• Professional development and support of localized
  Action Plans for improving Latino education
• Parent engagement
• Staff development
• School climate
• Innovative programs

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Feedback from Participating Educators

• My group is actively seeking ways to make the
  school inviting for Latino families. At CLASE we
  learned more about the needs of Latino students,
  so now we are offering programs to meet these
  educational needs.
• We have seen academic growth at our school with
  our ESOL students due to practices and programs
  implemented from our Action Plan.
• It has really impacted the Latino students
  because the programs are really trying to make
  them comfortable.
• It will have a huge effect for years to come.
• Good impact - educating regular classroom
  teachers about LEP students and strategies to
  help these kids. We will continue to educate
  teachers and parents.
• CLASE took us to a new level.

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Whats Working? Illustrative Vignettes
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District Level Teams Top-Down Success

• District-level leadership provides resources,
  support, funding, and energy to implement new
  ideas
• Newcomer Academy
• Sheltered Instruction in Science Literature
• Multicultural Literacy Circles (Book Clubs)
• Using data driven instruction to raise
  achievement (90/90/90)
• ESOL Endorsement for Teachers

• International Baccalaureate program (beginning
  in school with high minority student population)
• International Experiences

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District Level Teams Top-Down Success

• School-wide ESOL endorsement at Elementary (2500
  students)
• Connecting Reading (Multicultural Literature) to
  Writing (for Multiple Purposes) for English
  Learners
• Transition Center and 4 yr old Program
• Community Partners
• Articulation with Technical College

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An Elementary School

• Spanish Language Support in K-1 classes
• Even Start (English classes, parenting, classroom
  time)
• Home Visits
• Bilingual library and book loan to homes

• 2 Staff visits to Mexico
• Sister School in Mexico (scholarship program 2
  libraries established)
• Pen Pal Program Mexico
• Parent Days Hispanic Parents (ESOL students)
• Counselor training
• Hispanic Heritage Night (Mariachis, Folklorico,
  Student chorus in Spanish)
• Latino Parents Elected to School Council

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A Middle/High School Newcomer Academy

• ELLS with Interrupted Formal Schooling
• Core Content (LA, Math, Life Skills and Social
  and Cultural Adjustment)
• L1 Support
• Team Taught
• Multimedia Instruction
• All Staff doing National SIOP Training (Title II)
• PLAZA COMUNITARIA

• GED Instruction
• Transition into ESOL and Mainstream
• LocationINTEGRATED
• Support from MS/HS
• All electives and Lunch in Home School
• Parent Engagement Education
• Partners, e.g. Catholic Social Services

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A High School

• Pre-Collegiate Steps to University for ELLs
• Spanish for Native Spanish Speakers
• Unidos Student Leadership Club
• 6 Career Pathways
• Apprenticeship Program w/ Technical College
  alignment
• Newcomer Video
• Sheltered Courses
• 0 / 5th Periods

• Intensive Staff Development
• Focus on Graduation (test prep, tutoring, etc)
• National Site Visits by Staff
• Staff Multicultural Book Club
• Smaller Learning Communities
• HSF College Fair
• Data collection and analysis

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What else does CLASE do?

• Summer Institutes and Conferences
• Outreach Presentations over 40 topics available
  Education
• -Effective Strategies for Diverse Classrooms
  Culture
• -Working with Latino Families Health
• -Latina Teen Pregnancy
• Grants, research, presentations, etc.
• Graduate student mentoring and support

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Athens-Area Service Learning

• Pinewood Estates/Oasis Catolico
• 90 tutors, 65 students K-6
• Friday Culture Days Special Projects
• Garnet Ridge Boys Girls Club
• 10 tutors, 45 students K-8
• Pinewood Library/Plaza Comunitaria
• 15 tutors, 25 students 1-12

www.coe.uga.edu/oasis Students receive HW help,
English help, reading, games, more
ELAN 4620/6620 service learning with academic
credit
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Mothers Daughters in Conversations of the Soul

• What A seven session forum for moms and
  daughters to voice opinions and concerns, to
  safely display grief and joy and share dreams for
  the future.
• Who Immigrant mothers new to the US their
  daughters in elementary or middle schools
• Why To provide an outlet for addressing social
  and emotional issues with a focus on educational
  achievement for both mothers and daughters
• Where 6 Schools in Metro Atlanta (Gwinnett,
  Fulton)

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International Experiences

• 12 teachers each to Costa Rica or Mexico for last
  two summers
• focus such as teaching science, social studies
• language and cultural experiences
• cross-cultural awareness
• Applied projects
• Ex scholarship and sister school program for
  Mexican students begun by teachers from Martin
  Elementary School

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What else does UGA do for Latinos?

• Steps to College Clarke Gwinnett
• Vamos a la Universidad
• TELL
• Latino Youth Leadership Program
• OVPPSO UGA Latino Compilation
• Campus groups SLE, HSA, CLACS, Latino Adv. Board
• Conferences
• Bilingual Family-School Liaison Conferences
• Literacy Reading Writing to Learn
• Effective Counseling for Latinos
• Latinos Socioeconomic Development in the SE
• PSO National Outreach/Engagement

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Integrated Support from UGA

• Large scale technical assistance in rapidly
  changing communities the ARCHWAY Project
• Cross-campus collaboration by UGA in Colquitt Co.
• Coordinated by Office of Vice President for
  Public Service and Outreach
• CLASE role
• district-wide CLASE team
• response to community requestscounseling,
  curriculum development and teacher professional
  development
• collaboration with ABAC

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Two Ideas to Watch For

• Hall County and others are using INCLUSION as a
  program model for providing support for English
  Learners
• ESOL teacher is in the classroom with the
  mainstream teacher--In contrast to the more
  common pull-out model
• Jones Elementary organizing by grade level (e.g.
  2nd grade ESOL teacher goes into 2nd grade
  classes)
• Requires COMMON PLANNING TIME

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Unidos Dual Language Charter School Founder
Dell Perry, dellp_at_uga.edu www.unidoscharter.org

• Initially K-1, then add grades yearly through 5th
• Mixed classes of native Spanish and English
  speakers
• Academic instruction in Spanish and English
• ALL CHILDREN learn to read, write, and speak
  Spanish and English

• PUBLIC charter school
• Spanish-English Dual Language Program
• Planning to open Fall 2006
• The charter has been submitted in Clayton and
  Fulton Counties

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Want to Know More?

• CLASE website, www.coe.uga.edu/clase
• CLASE list-serve
• Dr. Bernadette Musetti bernadet_at_uga.edu
• Dr. Paul Matthews pmatthew_at_uga.edu
• Elida Perez-Knapp eknapp_at_uga.edu