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Thursday, November 5, 2009

Neutrality is nothingness | St. Helena Star


Neutrality is nothingness St. Helena Star:

"In our schools, this should be a time of unprecedented celebration, of hand shakes, and congratulations. Over the course of the last five years we have seen steady improvement in our CST scores and have made remarkable advances in what the California Department of Education has made our number one goal: “Closing the Achievement Gap.”

Five years ago, the administration and the school board considered how to ensure that we would keep this goal at the forefront of our teaching and learning, while continuing our march forward in all other areas. In their wisdom, they created a part time (.20) administrative position, English Language Development District Coordinator, to oversee the teaching and learning of our students whose first language is other than English. Having held that position for the five years in question, I can speak to the support this board and our current superintendent, Dr. Robert Haley, have had for our ELD population. They asked for increased collaboration between school sites, a higher percentage of parent involvement, a review and improvement of available resources, increased professional development opportunities, and more."