Blog 11- What have you found? (I'm a little bit behind)

Blog 11

I am little bit behind in terms of piecing together some of the research that I've been doing for the Community Inquiry Project. Some of my interviews appear to be panning out while others aren't working. I have had the chance to survey the neighborhood around East Side High School- my target school- twice now. I've mapped sites and I took pictures around the school and of the school itself. I noticed how much of a role culture plays in this particular neighborhood and, therefore, the kind of role that language plays in the everyday life of the students. It is clear to me that ELL's bring their experiences to the classroom and that the state tests that ask them to test their knowledge are trying to cater to them where they can, but occasionally fall short. I am in the process of piecing through some of the literature out there to get a sense, without speaking to a teacher or administrator, whether or not NCLB disadvantages this core group of learners. However, through Double the Work, a piece of literature put out in NYC through the Carnegie Corporation, I am learning interesting facts that relate to ELL's and their experiences trying to learn English and make certain benchmarks within the states they live in and as they relate to NCLB.

I have an additional contact with an ESL teacher at Carteret High School. I'm not yet sure what role this contact will play in my project. However, I had a chance to walk around Carteret High and saw huge differences between this school and East Side High. I may use data collected from my observations and from speaking with this teacher to make a comparison between the two places. Perhaps an urban environment is not the only place that a teacher who is not ESL certified may be struggling while meeting a language barrier. It may be interesting to compare the two locations as appearances could be deceiving. But, with first glance at a website (not really legitimate though) I came across something that said that teachers at Carteret don't care about the students. I didn't get the impression while taking in the building, the field, and the surroundings of the suburb. I'm thinking that an urban vs. suburban comparison in terms of ESL and English Language Learners could be very interesting, but I'm not yet sure how it factors in.

I am learning that my inquiry question is definitely worth exploring- as language creates a definite barrier for many urban teachers teaching in urban environments. It is another piece of the puzzle that we all will likely have to consider if we decide to teach in an urban environment. So far, based on information from the NJ Report Card for 2007 (I can't seem to find data for 2008) approx. 23% of students at East Side High (hopefully my target school for the project- if these interviews pan out) are considered limited language proficient. 34% speak Spanish at home and 46% percent speak an Indo-European language. Since the school is centered in the Ironbound district, I am pushed to assume that this could include Portuguese. 50% of the school speaks English, but almost 50% (the other half) speaks another primary language. So, therefore, we can assume that more than a few of the students in East Side's classrooms speak a language other than English. The data speaks volumes about the situation going on in this school, but I feel as though I need the remarks from teachers and coordinators at ESH to confirm it.


Part of this project for me involved seeing what the primary issues are for ELL's, what kinds of things are pulling on them and their success in school, and the resources that are available to them to help them to pass state examinations and prosper in their learning environments. East Side does offer SRA help after school with bilingual teachers and bilingual language arts teachers. I have not yet found if there are resources outside of school and in the community that serve the same purpose. The tutoring services at East Side also help with the HSPA- the state examination that NCLB restrictions are contingent on. Also, through the help of the NJ Report Card site and its East Side's profile, I can see the scores on these tests and where the issues lie. This will definitely help me when I am able to conduct my interviews.

This project is beginning to shape my understanding of public education. The first thing I have learned is to try not to judge a book by its cover. By looking at Carteret High, one might not even think that the school would have any sort of issues. It is fairly unassuming, it's kept up well, and sports appears to be a main focal point of the school. However, it didn't make AYP either. East Side, however, is littered, dirty, not well maintained, and, stuck smack dab in the middle of a city. It looks as though nobody cares about it, but you can't just naturally assume that the school then has issues. In some ways, East Side may be thriving, (it's special and vocational programs look excellent) and in others, it is trying to catch up. Also, public education is not just about what you do Monday through Friday while in the classroom, but it's also about policy and understanding policy, NCLB, and the tests. I am gaining an understanding of what the tests are, how many, what the tests TEST, and who the tests impact. It's really not just cut and dry representations of "pass" or "fail"- but what you have to do as a teacher to prepare your kids. Sadly, or maybe regrettably, I would be lying if this project didn't force me to think about changing my certification from English to History. I'm realizing that test preparation and my effort will be an important part of my job, especially as it relates to ELL's.