All students must take greater responsibility for their own learning

By Olivia G. Martinez

Over the past decade, our enrollment has increased and the number of immigrant students whose first language is not English continue to enter our schools in significant numbers. Students need to take responsibility for their own education, including the acquisition of American cultural values. We must make sure that all our efforts are focused on the acquisition of skills to give our students the opportunity to successfully compete in an English-language based economy.

So anxious have we been to welcome such students and value their culture and their language that we systematically disconnected these English languge learners from the broader school community. We did this by assigning them to "special classes" where they move as a group with students just like themselves, inadvertently decreasing exposure to students whose first languge is English.

We need to make sure that every single day, every immigrant student is exposed to systematic, culmulative English language skills, so that they can access the broad, enriching comprehensive courses alongside English speaking students.

Of course many of these students do need native language support, but this should be temporary, until the student can transition into all English classes. I have never met an immigrant parent who didn't want their children to learn and master English.

I was an early and strong supporter of Bilingual Education. I have seen how it works and I know it is the most efficient teaching method for YOUNG students to be successful in school. However, in our area, there are very few programs that are truly bilingual or set up the way they should be for students to experience success. Therefore, I am a strong advocate of English learning in the high schools, where we only have four years to get the job done.