Utica embraces challenges of serving refugee students |
On Board Online • September 1, 2014
By Cathy Woodruff
Senior Writer
Walking down a school hallway in Utica, it’s easy to overhear students speaking Karen, a language of Myanmar (formerly known as Burma), or any of several other native languages – Spanish, Burmese, Arabic, Somali, Bosnian, Nepali, Vietnamese, Russian, Ukrainian and more.
Utica school officials estimate their students speak more than 40 languages, if dialects are included. At least 15 percent of Utica’s roughly 10,000 students speak a language other than English at home – a higher concentration of non-English speakers than is found in New York City schools, according to State Education Department data. That makes Utica of the most linguistically diverse school districts in New York.
Statewide, some 8 percent of students were classified as having “limited English proficiency” in 2012-13, the most recent year for which SED has figures available. More than three-quarters of those 214,000-plus students attend schools in the Big 5 cities (New York City, Buffalo, Rochester, Yonkers and Syracuse) and the Brentwood district on Long Island.
Districts with the highest concentrations of students with limited English include Brentwood and Central Islip, where the most common home language is Spanish.
The challenges of educating these students are many and the subject is getting more attention from the state Board of Regents, which has the issue on its fall agenda. One proposal would require that 15 percent of professional development hours for all teachers and administrators be specific to the needs of ELLs, language acquisition and cultural competency.
In Utica, an abundance of immigrants is nothing new. The city has a long tradition of welcoming immigrants from Italy, Poland and other parts of Europe in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and from Bosnia in the 1990s. It is home to the Mohawk Valley Resource Center for Refugees, one of the nation’s most active refugee resettlement agencies.
“The greatest influx now is from refugee camps in Thailand,” said Lori Eccleston, director of curriculum and instruction for the Utica City School District. “There were 410 new refugee families who settled in Utica last year. Most originally were from Myanmar. Some are coming from Syria, now, and we are starting to see a trickling of kids from Yemen.”
As school enrollments dwindle in most upstate cities, Utica school officials see the influx largely as a blessing, despite the significant new challenges that result, financial and otherwise.
“We are very fortunate that we have this vehicle” for bringing new families to Utica, school Superintendent Bruce Karam said of the Refugee Center. “It has breathed new life into the community. I believe this diversity is great for the community.”
Academically, the most urgent concern the immigrant students raise for Utica educators is how to help them master enough English to absorb what is being taught in their classes each day in school and set them on a path to graduate. But there are other factors; some refugees come from war zones, and Utica’s students include children with spinal injuries, feeding tubes and shrapnel wounds. Limited access to health care has left some with physical disabilities including blindness and paralysis.
“For a lot of these students, the medical needs are unbelievable,” said Elizabeth Paul, the district’s special education administrator. “So, we are trying to incorporate those services, as well.”
Plus, there is the steep cultural learning curve. For the newest refugees, Utica educators have found it best to blend a generous helping of information about daily life and social conventions into their English and academic lessons.
That was on display during sessions of two summer programs for new refugee students in August.
At Conkling Elementary School, one of the first items on the Summer Refugee Academy curriculum was fire safety. Sadly, Eccleston said, the importance of that basic was made clear by a number of local fires where firefighter response was hindered by language barriers, lack of familiarity with 911 emergency calling systems and fear of firefighters, who can be intimidating when they arrive in full breathing apparatus, helmets and boots.
About 60 children gathered around a fire engine in the school parking lot and watched as a city firefighter in full regalia walked from child to child, shaking their hands.
“He looks a little funny, and he may look a little scary, but he’s OK,” another crew member said. “We don’t want you to be afraid of the fireman.” Bilingual academic coaches translated the message into Burmese, Karen, Arabic, Somali and Nepali languages.
Inside the school, ESL teacher Linda Young reinforced the fire safety lesson with a group of middle schoolers, who responded on cue: “Call 911!”
Down the hall, first-, second- and third-graders were learning what to do when a teacher says “stand up.” In another classroom, fourth-, fifth- and sixth-graders were tossing a ball and sharing introductions: “My name is Omar,” one boy said before tossing the ball to a student named Yasu. A girl wearing a yellow headscarf caught the ball and declared, “I am 10 years old.”
Meanwhile, a few blocks away at the Proctor High School cafeteria, newly arrived teenagers gathered at tables with ESL teachers to work on projects and lessons focused on science, technology, math, geography and more.
In one corner of the cafeteria, three teenagers gathered around a globe and learned to identify the north and south poles, oceans and countries.
Students at other tables were piecing together geometric shapes as part of a puzzle game.
“I would say just being here helps the transition to high school,” said Proctor Principal Steve Falchi. “This helps prepare them to learn and achieve at higher levels. The teachers in the program have assessed areas of strength and weakness, and they are targeting particular skills the students need.”
ELLs in grades 3-8 get a reprieve of just one year before they must take state math and English Language Arts tests, though the state is seeking a federal waiver from the No Child Left Behind law that would permit a longer delay.
Statewide, just 11 percent of English Language Learners (ELLs) in grades 3-8 met the standard for “proficiency” in math this year, compared with nearly 36 percent of all students. In English Language Arts, only 2.6 percent of ELLs were proficient, compared with 31.4 percent of all students.
“These kids are highly motivated to earn a high school diploma, but a lot of times, they have a difficult time passing any one of the five required Regents exams — and the reason is a lack of English proficiency,” said Falchi.
The statewide June 2013 graduation rate for all students was about 75 percent, but for ELLs, it was just over 31 percent. The state estimates that 37 percent of all graduating students were “college and career ready,” but determined that less than 6 percent of ELLs were.
Utica’s refugee education efforts receive support from the federal Title III program and a Refugee School Impact Grant administered by the state Office for Temporary and Disability Assistance. Nonetheless, the district still struggles to fund full services and programs for the new students, which include bilingual instruction, “sheltered” classes and inclusive classes for the refugees.
Utica eliminated an ESL administrator position earlier this year and used the savings to hire more teachers and coaches, said Eccleston, the curriculum director.
“It’s very expensive to provide the extra services that we want to provide for kids,” she said. “We do have many irons in the fire, but we don’t have the money to fund many of the programs we would like to.”