I forwarded Kaitz's article to my mother, who taught at an inner city Jr Hi school starting around 1970, that was comprised of approx 80% Hispanic and 15% Black students. This was her response. I'll remove any last names and the school name:
I am reminded of Minh ****, a student at ***** who was assigned to the federally funded remedial reading class I was teaching at that time for the mostly-minority students in Junior High (7th, 8th, 9th) who were reading on a 2nd and 3rd grade level. No classes in English as a Second Language were being offered.
Minh's father had been an officer in the Vietnamese Army who helped his family escape via a small boat when our soldiers were withdrawn. . .but didn't get out himself. He didn't know any English when I first met him. By the end of one year, he was reading almost at grade level. He begged to stay on with my class the next year, although he no longer qualified for the program. . .he wanted to increase his vocabulary etc. Since, at that time, I had a principal who never knew what was going on in any classroom that wasn't having a problem he needed to "adjudicate," I let him continue in the program. He studied hard, and by the time he left for high school, his spoken English was more accurate than that of some of the teachers in the building.
Years later, he dropped by to see me in order to let me know he had just been notified that he had been chosen to be the Valedictorian at North High School that spring . . . and to thank me for the help he had received during his time at *****. All our Vietnamese refugee children were good students.
Mom
PING