Posted on 10/01/2017 3:00:03 PM PDT by artichokegrower
The fifty (!)per cent of the budget would no longer have a home, and they cannot have that!
My son helped lower that math score. They test special needs kids same as the rest and he is way behind in actual math, even though he is ahead in programming.
Well, I’m a teacher in L.A., and most of our students are Hispanic, but what people don’t realize is, most of our teachers are Hispanic too. In every school I’ve been in, the vast majority of the teachers are Hispanic and speak English and Spanish. So I’m pretty sure that the math problem is not due to a language barrier.
“So I’m pretty sure that the math problem is not due to a language barrier.”
My mother was a teacher of English, history, reading, and linguistics in seventh and either grade for about half of her forty years of teaching. She found that even if the student is receiving assistance with Mexican language instruction, it still is an impedance when he has to show competency with anything more intense than basic addition and subtraction among other subjects.. Their learning curve in an English based world, is impeded by not learning the language either consistent with the other studies that are being supplied to English speaking students they are in competition with for grades, scholarships and college entrance. I never said it was their fault. They are a victim of circumstance, and location. If they were in Mexico or one of the other Hispanic speaking countries, they would excel and the English speaking students would have problems. And, of course, tribal slang is different in a lot of cases which ads to the problem both ways. They don’t all speak Castilian in the world.
rwood
They don’t even speak Castilian in Mexico!
I suppose we should compare the scores of our Latino students here in the US to those in Mexico, and see if the math scores of Latinos being taught in Spanish are higher. If they are, it will prove your point.
“They don’t even speak Castilian in Mexico!”
You are correct with that. But here in America, the school systems throughout are inconsistent. Castilian is the Spanish style taught in our schools. But based upon the system and who is teaching, there are different dialects taught from both the native Mexico to South and Central America throughout the US.
There a great number of languages in Mexico. And while Spanish is Mexico’s most widely spoken language, the government also recognizes 68 Mexican indigenous languages as official national languages. I’ve been to most of Mexico and the language we call Spanish is very mixed. There could be a few thousand dialects. They are, most likely, similar, but there are differences as you go from place to place.
Mexico was, and is still, very tribal. Like in America we have many different indian tribes from Mohawk to Apache that speak a little different. Even the Apache has some similarities with Mexican.
So how hard will it be for a native Mexican to communicate until they are versed in English in this country? Probably just as hard as for an American student in Mexico. And if there is a problem with communication, there is a problem with understanding and learning.
rwood
“I suppose we should compare the scores of our Latino students here in the US to those in Mexico”
Maybe. But one of the things you might consider is the workload. When kids enter school at K level they begin the transition of learning English. And all kids do. But for a non-speaker to learn a new language at those K through 3 level where a huge amount of communication arts are taught as the basis for learning, it creates a much more difficult load for the new student.
If mom and dad are not fluent in English, the student who is trying to learn it won’t speak it at home. And that creates a problem of practical application. So while the American student who speaks English normally is learning to expand, the new student from outside the country is inheriting a much bigger workload to learn what the other student practices every day. And when they finish the K through 3 levels, they are behind the other students thus behind in the other learning skills. Not their fault, and they are not stupid. They just have a harder more fill workload.
rwood
Your view is very sympathetic, but I have found that much of the problem is simply lack of effort. I have sat with students in math class and seen the total apathy there.
“I have sat with students in math class and seen the total apathy there.”
During my years of government employ, both military, NAF, and DOD, I got to travel to a lot of countries and found something consistent with the youth in this category: They lack a sense of success consistent with their peers.
And they go a couple of ways. One is the apathy you mentioned. And because their parents are not in high paid positions and just getting by, maybe, they emulate and identify that as their worth. Low self esteem. Their sense of worth through a lack of consistent successes at all their levels, family, school, and with their peers in many cases, causes depression and a give up attitude.
The other way is striking back, sometimes violently, because of the frustration. This is where gangs come in providing kids with a level of success, friendship, therefore worth. So if they can’t get positive re-enforcement and bravado, they’ll get it negatively. And negatively doesn’t require as much work.
And this is a major reason it is not in the kids best interest to “come to American for a better life” all the time. It happens very few times consistent with the number crossing the borders with no education, skills, or the tools like money or property, or possibly even a plan on how to get those things to give the family a fighting chance at a successful transition.
And an inability to speak the language needed for that success is one of the biggest barriers. I went to school down there as a youth though college, and I saw a lot of these you mention. But I couldn’t really help them as they were in competition with me for an education and later a livelihood. And if I raised the grade curve, couldn’t be helped. I had my future to think about. Not done vindictively, but I had people above me to compete with, also. The slower people got caught in the jet wash. Couldn’t be helped.
rwood
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