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School and Classroom Context

The School

Located in the heart of Santa Ana, Washington Elementary School serves an

overwhelming majority of designated English Learners. Within a district whose English Learner

population is 56%, Washington’s is nearly 80%. Though Spanish is the most represented

language, others include Vietnamese, Khmer (Cambodian), and Marshallese. With that in mind,

the hispanic population is 98%.1 The pressures are piled high. What happens to that one student

who speaks Khmer? He/she is ethnically and

linguistically targeted. The school is well-

prepared to serve the masses—Spanish/English

translators, resources in both languages, etc.

Thankfully, special effort is made on behalf of

that one student by the resource specialist.

However, he/she still lacks cultural capital in

the school. In pinpointing the linguistic

minority student, I make a parallel—

Washington Elementary is to California as the

Khmer student is to Washington Elementary.

The teachers/administrators are well-versed in culturally responsive instruction, most

often specific to its hispanic population. The families are seen in terms of language—most of the

front office professionals are fluent in Spanish and English, parent communication forms sent

1 Ed-Data, 2008-09, http://www.ed-data.k12.ca.us/welcome.asp.

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home in both languages (see pages 8-13). This is essential for parent communication with many

of its parents lacking English fluency. The school offers parent education classes in English as a

Second Language (see pages 12-13), healthy cooking, and computers. Most importantly, these

classes offer babysitting free of charge. Otherwise, many parents would not attend because it

would require leaving their children home alone. The free English classes are an asset to the

parents because as their students gain fluency in English, they will be less compelled to speak

Spanish in the home. This is disappointing, but well-documented in literature. Too often children

loose their ability to speak to their parents. One resolution is to promote literary in both

languages. The other, teaching the parents English. Because Washington Elementary submits to

school-wide English Immersion, its tactic is the latter.

The school runs a number of school-wide programs, all of which create unity across the

grades. In the lower grades (K-2), the reading program welcomes families into the classroom to

read with students during the first fifteen minutes of school. Parents, grandparents, siblings are

all welcomed. This places value

on families as an important

resource in the education of its

students. In the upper grades,

students take part in independent

reading for the first 25 minutes.

Students accumulated points by

taking the respective book

quizzes on Accelerated Reader.

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Classes with the most points are rewarded with ice cream/pizza parties. It is unclear if this

extrinsic motivation is beneficial for student literacy. Furthermore, all students keep a reading

log in which they catalog the nights’ reading (see page 14). Students are encouraged to read at

least twenty minutes every night with a family member. The parents sign off on the log before it

is turned in to the school monthly. Students receive books (among other prizes) as reward for

turning them in on time. In this case, the extrinsic motivation matches the action—a book for a

book.

All students also engage in a mathematics computer program entitled Jiji. It walks

children through grade-level material through a series of problems. In its defense, it provides

visual representation for all the concepts therein. However, teachers have a tendency to rely on it.

One fifth grade teacher (whose class accumulated the most points in the school), commented, “I

like it because it teaches everything, even the

concepts I cannot possibly teach in the time

allotted.” It is disappointing fact of the matter

—out of necessity, teachers are relying on

computer programs to do work for them.

Lastly, Washington Elementary did

not meet the Annual Measurable Achievement

Objectives (AMAO-3) for the 2009-10 school

year, based on the English-Language Arts and

Mathematics sections of the CST. Parents

received a letter signed by Santa Ana’s

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superintendent (in English and Spanish) detailing how the district plans to target literacy in these

areas in future including, but not limited to, implementing the Response to Intervention (RTI)

program to support underachieving students and providing on-going assessments to ensure

progress (see pages 8-9). Though the intention is good, this stipulates more assessments as if

students are not tested enough. Furthermore, the letter notes that the district is in jeopardy of

losing some portion of its Title III funds if progress is not made. As a parent, I could imagine

thinking, “What am I suppose to do about that?” Although parents should be informed of the

goings-on in the school district, the Board of Education should pay close attention to avoid

placing blame on the parents.

The Classroom

Children experience learning wherever they happen to be, not just in the classroom.

Bridging the experience between home and school, family reading is in full effect every morning

in room six. Nearly 90% of students have a family

member present, the others have the teacher as their

“surrogate” for time being. It is a beautiful site to hear

students read in English, a language of which many of

the parents speak little of. Students read the

collaborative writing pieces posted around the room.

Basically, it is Open House every morning! Parent

involvement does not end there. Those of whom do

not work or can afford to take work off are encouraged

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to volunteer. They are seen as valuable assets in the classroom. They engage in the lessons if they

feel so inclined. Some choose to do the “busy work” (compiling papers, etc.)—the feeling is that

their lack of English-language fluency limits their value in the classroom, even when the teachers

try to convince them otherwise.

The logistics of the classroom produces a chaotic, yet well-oiled order of events. The

class is taught by two teachers, Mrs. Kazanjy (Monday-Tuesday) and Mrs. Ozeran (Wednesday-

Friday). For a two-teacher classroom, it is imperative that the teachers collaborate and agree

upon the given plan. They follow a weekly curriculum that details the content objectives,

language objectives, Open Court

accompaniment, differentiated

instruction, etc. To complicate matters

even further, the class has two sets of

students (15 each) that overlap mid-

day. The “early birds” consist of the

students who did not attend preschool,

thus entered kindergarten with fewer

English-language skills. The “late

birds” attended preschool, giving them a leg-up in terms of English-language development and

socialization. Though most of my observation hours were with the “early birds,” the one

afternoon spent with the “late birds” provided insight into the disparity between the two groups.

The “late birds” were far more expressive. They communicated with the teacher and each other

with greater fluency and frequency. Preschool provided the socialization necessary for these

students to excel in language acquisition. Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills (BICS) are
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only developed when students are willing and comfortable communicating. In this case, the

“early birds” had to jump that bridge before language acquisition could flourish.

The two-teacher, “two-bird” class structure is even further complicated by the student

teachers, preschool teachers, and parent volunteers that walk through the swinging door. Mrs.

Kazanjy has a significant reputation in the district for her work with the Family Literacy

Program, the first in the state, several

years ago. For this reason, district

representatives and preschool teachers

observe her classroom regularly. With

many teachers having authority in the

classroom, Mrs. Kazanjy and Mrs.

Ozeran decided on one consistent

managerial strategy. Based on principles

of behavioralism, the students are

rewarded for working nicely, being well-

behaved, following directions, sharing,

etc. The children’s names are written on

cards with their photograph at the front

of the room. If the teacher notices any of the above behaviors, she draws a star next to his/her

name. At the end of the day, students with five stars dig into the surprise bag and choose one item

as a reward. Though Mrs. Kazanjy is not convinced by the tactics of behaviorism, she recognizes

its need in the classroom.

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Though the classroom is riddled with chaos, at the end of the day, it is all about the

children. The children are fully seen. Mrs. Kazanjy is fluent in Spanish, making her an ally to the

students and parents alike. Student pictures are posted at the front of the room, each with a sight

word in hand. Students refer to the words

as their own. It is not uncommon to hear,

“That’s my word!” Students scan the

pictures to reference spellings of the most

common words (the, a, it, and, etc.).

Moreover, the students pictures are posted

all over the classroom accompanying their

work. This simple strategy instills pride in

their schoolwork, making it a common

attraction when parents are present for

family reading time.

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