Today’s Hot Topic: Immigrant students and their impact on the education level of other students.

One of the more interesting conversations that came out of the SoCal meet-up was on immigration issues. With the BT expert on hand…Man Eegee…lots of questions were posed and lots of ideas discussed. We were way too short on time (several months probably!) to cover all the questions. This diary is one of the first to come from the meetup.

The topic of immigration on education was brought up. One of the biggest concerns that many in California have, and the rest of the U.S., is the impact on immigrants on the education of the english speaking students. The schools are having to address this issue of English as a Second Language (ESL) on a daily basis. So I’m opening this discussion based on the following questions:

1.    What impact do non-English speaking students have on education?
2.    How many non-English speaking students are in the California schools?
3.    How many of the non-English speaking students are immigrants?

These questions are being posed across the country. How we have or haven’t dealt with them in California will directly impact the rest of the nation. See California’s lessons on immigration, Peter Shrag, Boston Globe, April 2, 2006

An interesting California statistics – extrapolated from the PPIC Research Brief sited below:

Number and location of EL (English Learner) students, Fall 2003
Region          % of EL Students

Bay Area                 21.2
Central Coast           30.4
Far North                 10.3
Inland Empire            22.2
Sacramento Metro     16.5
San Diego                 26.0
San Joaquin Valley      25.6
Sierras                      2.6
South Coast              33.0
Total (Note)            26.4           
(Note): Total was calculated by diarist – and if someone can help with alignment I’d appreciate it!

A further quote from the same research brief: “A commonly held belief is that EL students have limited English skills because they are recent immigrants. However, most EL students (85%) are born in the United States of immigrant parents.”

What ideas do we as progressives have to address the concerns regarding education and the schools?

Some parameters and rules:

The primary focus this issue / discussion is as a Californian – with it’s corresponding impact on Arizona.

Living in California it is a given that a substantial portion of our population has an immigrant background or status.

Statistics wherever possible will be directly linked…rather than to a news article.

This is a learning exercise for a lot of us. Be patient with other’s questions and concerns.

This is a framing exercise as well. We need to understand the issues of those in favor or radical immigration laws and learn to fight them with information and facts.

I will add more parameters to direct the flow if necessary…this is a volatile issue…and we need to learn how to talk about it.

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Some background links on the organizations that I use for research and reading material – think tank stuff!

Education Commission of the States
ECS GOALS

Provide a nonpartisan forum to address critical state education policy issues, encouraging interchange among diverse people with disparate points of view.

Deliver accurate, objective, timely and useful information that supports effective decisions about state education policy.

Conduct state education policy analysis to identify effective policy options, emphasizing evidence of results.

Provide expert assistance to state leaders in their work to develop and implement education policy and to evaluate its impact.

Exercise leadership in identifying the cutting edge of education policy, enabling state leaders to think, plan and act beyond current issues and current solutions.

Collaborate when appropriate with other organizations that share ECS values and goals.

Communicate effectively about the importance and results of education reform and about strategies for public involvement and political change.

Develop and sustain an organization that is nonpartisan, informed, future-oriented, responsive, financially healthy, accountable, technologically advanced, effective in collaboration, and astute with regard to both the substance and the process of constructive change.

Bilingual/ESL Links from ECS.org   Lots and lots of reading stuff at this site.

For some specific information on ESL in CA and statistics the next site to check out is the Public Policy Institute of California. This is another non-partisan think tank on California issues.

Public Policy Institute of California
About the Insitute A brief excerpt

The Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) is a private, nonprofit organization dedicated to improving public policy in California through independent, objective, nonpartisan research. The institute was established in 1994 with an endowment from William R. Hewlett.

Research focuses on three program areas: population, economy, and governance and public finance. Studies within these programs examine the underlying forces shaping California’s future, cutting across a wide range of public policy concerns: California in the global economy; demography; education; employment and income; environment, growth, and infrastructure; government and public finance; health and social policy; immigrants and immigration; key sectors in the California economy; and political participation.

The Progress of English Learners in CA Schools, Public Policy Institute of California, April 2005 pdf file

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