ExchangeEveryDay Past Issues

Are focus should be on children being able to develop socially and emotionally first. They should free from the pressure of developing a second language until they have mastered being able to do some of the basic skills that it takes to be successful in school.
We can support children's learning by supporting parents involvement in schools and assisting them in developing the skills to better help their children. I think the work that needs to be done involves the partnership between the schools, parents and their children.

Perhaps this article could have been made available in Spanish as well as English. I would have loved to have given this article to my students (college) in both english and spanish.IO do not speak Spanish but I like to find article in both language to help my students aho are primarily Hispanic.

FOR ONE REASON OR ANOTHER, HISPANIC CHILDREN HAVE ALWAYS BEEN AT A DISADVANTAGE, NOT ONLY IN EDUCATION, BUT ALSO IN NUMEROUS FACETS OF THEIR LIFE’S.
GETTING BACK TO EDUCATION, EVEN THOUGH, THE NUMBER OF SPANISH SPEAKING EDUCATORS HAS INCREASE OVER THE YEARS, IS NOT ENOUGH TO KEEP-UP WITH THE GROWTH OF SPANISH SPEAKING CHILDREN ENROLLING IN SCHOOLS. ONE OF THE MAIN REASONS HISPANIC CHILDREN SCORE LOW ON THE "AIMS" TESTING, IS MOSTLY BECAUSE THEY ARE NOT PROFICIENT ENOUGH IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE TO UNDERSTAND THE TEST. OTHERS ARE POORLY PREPARE, BECAUSE THE LACK OF COMPREHENSION OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. THIS IN NO WAY MEANS THAT HISPANIC CHILDREN ARE NOT SMART OR CANNOT DO THE WORK. IF IT WAS NOT FOR THOSE WHO DO NOT FINISH SCHOOL BECAUSE OF THE LANGUAGE BARRIER, THE VEGETABLES / FRUITS.. etc WOULD ROOT IN THE FIELDS, OR THE SHEETS IN THE HOTELS WOULD NOT BE CLEAN, THE BATHROOMS IN THE BUSINESS OFFICES WOULD BE RENDER USELESS.
THE SCHOOL DISTRICTS ARE FORCE TO CUT BACK ON SPECIAL PROGRAMS, OR CAN NOT HIRE QUALIFY INSTRUCTORS, BECAUSE THEIR BUDGETS GET SMALL EACH YEAR, BUT YET THEY EXPECTED TO TURN-OUT BETTER EDUCATED PUPILS.
OUR GOVERNMENT NEEDS TO DECIDE WHAT KIND OR HOW WELL EDUCATED OUR FUTURE ADULTS ARE GOING TO BE. THE DEMAND FOR BILINGUAL PROFESSIONALS IS EACH DAY MORE AND MORE, BUT YET OUR GOVERNMENT FAILS TO PROVIDE THE SO BADLY NEEDED PROGRAMS, THAT WILL PRODUCE THESE PROFESSIONALS. IN RESENT YEARS, THE SERVICES FOR SPANISH SPEAKING CHILDREN AND ADULTS AS WELL, HAVE BECOME UNDER STRICT SCRUTINY, DUE TO THE NEW 'INS' LAWS WHERE IF SOME ONE IS GOT HELPING AN ILLEGAL ALIEN ARE GUILTY OF A CRIME!! THOUGH IT MIGHT NOT YET BE THE LAW, THIS IS MAKING A LOT OF PEOPLE THINK BEFORE THEY ADVOCATE FOR MORE SERVICES. SO AGAIN, WHAT DOES THE GOVERNMENT WHAT FOR ARE FUTURE GENERATIONS??

The article refers to a Hispanic/White achievement gap that needs to be overcome. Research in Denver, CO has shown that there is no achievement gap that is related to race as the cause of the gap. The primary criteria in an achievement gap is based on socio-economic level. In a study that compares 14/14 schools in the Denver Public Schools using 3rd grade CSAP reading and writing scores, the Hispanic children who attended a bilingual program learning to read and write in their native language scored higher than their English speaking peers as well as their Hispanic peers who were learning to read and write in English. When scores were separated by race, the scores revealed the Hispanic children were showing improvements across all the content areas identified in the study.

Furthermore, additional research being conducted at the University of CO, Boulder is showing that Hispanic children that learn to read and write in their native language are more successfully able to transfer those skills when they later learn to read and write in English.

The question voiced in Colorado is what is our goal as educators? Are we trying to turn monolingual Spanish speaking children into monolingual English speaking children OR are we teaching to the opportunity of creating bilingual and bicultural children as that is the future of our country.

Research shows children who come from low income, low literate homes must learn to read and write in their native language in order to become successful learners. Please let's stop insisting that they learn a new language, English while they are learning the basic skills of school - letter names, sounds, math, colors, etc.

Missing from this important issue is mention of the Even Start Family Literacy program. The majority of our families are Hispanic; the success of our early childhood programs is documented. The children in our programs are aged 0-8. To quote the article..."the earlier...the better."

Visit: National Even Start Association www.evenstart.org