Understanding Latin American ESOL students in the Montgomery County Public Schools

1. An address for the UMBC Public Policy Forum "Students at Risk: Helping Latin American Immigrant Youth Succeed." Baltimore World Trade Center October 23, 2009 Karen C. Woodson, Ph.D. Director, Division of ESOL/Bilingual Programs Montgomery County Public Schools Understanding Latin American ESOL students in the Montgomery County Public Schools

3. MCPS ESOL Demographics • 17,388 ESOL students • MCPS ESOL students speak 126 different languages • Top six languages spoken by MCPS ESOL students SPANISH 61.4 percent FRENCH 5.2 percent CHINESE 5.0 percent VIETNAMESE 3.5 percent AMHARIC 3.4 percent KOREAN 2.0 percent

4. MCPS ESOL Demographics (cont’d) • MCPS ESOL students come from 159 different countries • Top six countries of origin for MCPS ESOL students UNITED STATES 60.7 percent EL SALVADOR 9.2 percent ETHIOPIA 2.1 percent HONDURAS 1.5 percent GUATEMALA 1.5 percent PERU 1.5 percent

6. Challenges confronting MCPS Latino immigrant ESOL Students • Learning academic English and academic content simultaneously • Satisfying Maryland graduation requirements • Meeting family reunification challenges • Enrolling with limited/interrupted formal education • Navigating the school system • Acculturation

7. Cornerstones of the Division of ESOL/Bilingual Programs ESOL Curriculum, Instruction, Assessment and Reporting ACCOUNTABILITY ACCOUNTABILITY ESOL STUDENTS ESOL Parent Involvement ESOL Counseling ACCOUNTABILITY

8. How does MCPS help ESOL students learn English? The goal of ESOL instruction is to enable students to acquire English as a new language so that they are able to: • achieve academically • participate successfully in school and classroom settings • adjust socially to school and U.S. culture

9. How does MCPS meet the needs of the parents of ESOL students? • Multilingual ESOL Parent Outreach Team • Provides individual support to ESOL parents as referred by schools to address a range of challenges • Provides workshops on navigating MCPS (e.g., Parent Resource Training offered in Spanish to Latino ESOL families) • Provides services in English and eight additional languages • Spanish, Chinese, French, Korean, Vietnamese, Amharic, Portuguese, and Arabic

10. How does MCPS communicate with families who do not speak English? • MCPS Language Assistance Services Unit • Provides professional translation services to schools and offices to ensure the communication of information critical to health, safety, & academic achievement • Coordinates the provision of interpreters • Provides simultaneous interpretation services for large scale events, such as community forums and high school graduations

11. How does MCPS remove barriers to learning for ESOL students? • Multilingual ESOL counseling team • Provides individual and group counseling sessions on a range of issues specific to ESOL students • Acculturation • Family reunification issues • Academics • Behavior • Attendance • Conflict resolution

12. Contacts for the Division of ESOL/Bilingual Programs • General Information Dr. Karen C. Woodson, Director Karen_C_Woodson@mcpsmd.org • ESOL Instruction Mrs. Sonja Bloetner, Supervisor of ESOL Instruction Sonja_M_Bloetner@mcpsmd.org • ESOL Parent Outreach & Counseling Ms. Vicki Medina, ESOL Coordinator Vicki_Medina@mcpsmd.org