Last week I posted about two summer programs that help students avoid “summer slide”. This week I received an article about another summer program occurring in Wilkesboro that is sponsored by Wilkes Community College. This summer program is called SEEK (Summer Educational Enrichment for Kids) and its purpose is to continue ESL education for children of parents that attend the college adult ESL classes and the Current Events class for adult ELLs. The program also started teaching basic computer skills to the children and adults after a Chromebook was donated by a family that graduated from the program. Another difference between this program and the summer camps that I wrote about last week is that students are able to attend the program from ages 4-17. The other summer camps were only open to elementary age students. Dennis Johnson, the executive director of the program since 2011, stated, “We all need to read and we want to see our friends and neighbors succeed…” His passion for the program and his genuine caring for the families involved was definitely evident in this article.

In contrast to this positive article, I received an article about a change in legislation in Baltimore County schools that will affect their ESOL program. Officials in the State Department of Education have raised the standards for exiting the ESOL program. According to Brian Schiffer, the director of social services and fine arts in Baltimore County, this will translate to the exit of fewer than half of the students that would normally be able to exit the program. To make matters worse, this legislature was changed after most schools had approved their budget. Schools will have to make due with the teachers they have teaching almost double the amount of students. Students will not receive the level of individualized education that they need to succeed, allowing them to exit the program.

The state officials have said that they will look for “creative ways” to work together with schools to handle the influx of incoming ELLs and ELLs that are continuing in the program. Perhaps summer camps similar to the one I described above and in my post last week could help students advance quicker through the system. Possible introduction of some of the technology we have been discussing in this course could help as well, such as Mobile Aided Language Learning (MALL) due to the ability to use it at home and on the go. I hope that the State Department will actually consider these possibilities and provide funding to support the students.

References:

Bowie, L. (2017, June). New academic standards will keep more immigrant students in

English proficiency classes next year. Retrieved from:

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/education/k-12/bs-md-immigrant-school-

test-20170623-story.html

Hayes, F. (2017, June). Volunteers and staff help SEEK make a difference. Retrieved from:
http://www.journalpatriot.com/news/volunteers-and-staff-help-seek-make-a-
difference/article_ca6e8d58-5813-11e7-af08-f35eb1aa5030.html