Es Primaria: It’s Elementary – The future of bilingual education in Texas
Outside bilingual classroom 101 in Joslin Elementary in South Austin, there is a sign that says “Language of the Day: English.”
Right below it there is a paper with the daily schedule titled: “Ms. Mayra Ramirez Horario Prekinder 2014-2015.”
This is 25-year-old Ramirez’s pre-kindergarten classroom – a classroom at the heart of the bilingual education evolution in Texas.
It is just after noon on a gloomy Thursday in early December and a few little heads peek out the window, bouncing up and down like little bunnies looking for something to eat. It is easy to see that they are ready to go to the cafeteria.
Joslin, at the corner of Manchaca Road and Redd Street in South Austin, is the elementary school I attended from pre-K to fifth grade. I was in bilingual classes the entire time I was there except for one year when I tested proficient in English.
Now, I have come back after nine and a half years to see how bilingual education is evolving into what is called a “dual-language program:”
It means that every other day, students will learn in either English or another language — rather than students completely dropping one language after proving they are proficient in English. Some studies indicate that this regimen, learning in two languages, can lead to greater success for the students.
At Joslin, Spanish is the “language of the day” on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays — and English is the “language of the day” on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Science and math are always taught in English and social studies in Spanish.
The old style of bilingual education, the one I experienced, was called the “late exit” program: Once you showed proficiency in English, you “exited” the Spanish language portion of your education.
Today 65,000 students are in the “dual language” programs in Texas.
As I watch and listen, Ramirez tells the 10 children to line up quietly so they can head out to the lunchroom. It takes a while for them calm down enough to please their teacher. One by one they leave the classroom and head out towards the cafeteria.
Ramirez has curly, black hair styled in a half-ponytail that cascades down her back. At about 5’3, she towers above her pre-K students. Ramirez is originally from New York. She was born to immigrant Guatemalan parents from San Marcos, but also lived in Puerto Rico for many years.
“I’ve always wanted to be a teacher since I was five,” Ramirez says with nostalgia bubbling up inside her. “I used to play alone because I didn’t have any siblings. I’d play with the dolls and give them homework and sing to them. Show them how to write and read. And when I had friends I liked to play with them like that.”
She graduated from college four years ago and went overseas for about a year and a half where she worked as a volunteer teacher because she wanted to get experience before she settled down in an actual job. She taught in Spain at a school of orphans. When looking for a place to settle down, she imagined herself working in Puerto Rico. It was not until her uncle who lives in Austin told her that AISD had a lot of good opportunities for bilingual teachers that her plans changed.
She convinced herself when she told herself, “Okay, let me take this risk and move over there and start working.”
When she moved to Texas, she began to work for her certification by working at a pre-school. Earlier this year, the principal of Joslin Elementary, Jennifer Pace, called her to tell her that she was interested in hiring someone with experience.Joslin is one of nine Austin city schools that offers bilingual education (there are 85 AISD elementary schools), And almost 100 of the 300 Joslin students are in its evolving bilingual program. Seventy-two percent of the Joslin students are also economically disadvantaged — including 98 percent of what are called “English Language Learners.”
Children are not automatically enrolled in the bilingual program. Parents fill out a survey at the beginning of the year and a committee decides who goes in bilingual classes and who does not.
Texas has a long, conflicted history with bilingual education – and it is tied to the rich cultural history of a state that was once a nation. For years, segregation ran rampant in Texas schools – and to justify discrimination in the education system, some officials argued that Spanish-speaking students were always behind their English-speaking counterparts.
It was not until 1973 that the Bilingual Education and Training Act was signed into law. It eliminated English-only teaching requirements.
Now the Texas Education Code requires school districts offer a bilingual program in kindergarten through the elementary grades if they have an enrollment of 20 or more students of limited English proficiency in any language classification in the same grade level. According to the Texas Education Agency (TEA), there are over 900,000 students across Texas enrolled in bilingual or English as a Second Language programs – and the vast majority, almost 90 percent, speak Spanish.
As a child of Mexican immigrants, the first language I learned to speak was Spanish. This meant that by the time I was old enough to go to elementary school in 1998, I was put in bilingual classes. I was always acutely aware that I was being placed in different classrooms than my peers: Until second grade I mainly communicated with my friends using Spanish. By third grade, I still spoke Spanish at home but learned only in English at school.
On my first day of third-grade in 2002, our classroom was at the end of the hallway, next to the door that leads to the playground, the greatest place for a kid. We were meeting our new teacher and learning her rules.
“We will have snack time every day. Each day we will go outside and walk the track, and you are not allowed to speak Spanish or you will be sent to time-out,” our teacher explained.
Que? What?
Eight-years old and I was shocked that we could not speak in Spanish.
I had never heard about this type of rule before and I did not know what to think. Will it be enforced? What if I accidentally word missing be in Spanish? As a child, I was too scared go against an authority figure and speak in Spanish if I knew she could hear me. That was the only time that rule was ever mentioned. I did not stop speaking Spanish with my friends, but I did try to avoid speaking it in front of the teacher. Looking back, I know Spanish was openly spoken in the class. As far as I know, the rule was not enforced, but the fact that it was out there made me, and still makes me, uneasy.
When I was a child, I was at parity with the other children who could speak Spanish. When I would visit Mexico, they could not differentiate me from children who were born there because I could speak Spanish. However, today when I go to Mexico it seems that they can automatically tell I do not live there and that I am visiting from the United States.
I have always constantly talked in Spanish with my parents, and have read it, but because I did not get the support from school as well, I was not able to fully develop my Spanish like I was able to do so with my English. The dual language program is still in its early stages, but shows progress in our education system. Having been in bilingual education classes when it was in the late-exit program there was a lack of opportunity for me to learn both English and Spanish to my fullest potential. Switching back and forth in between English and Spanish is natural to me, but all of that was learned at home not at school.
After lunch the Ramirez’s children are excited and running all over the place. Today, because they were well behaved they are receiving a special treat. They get to read a new book called “It’s Christmas David” by David Shannon. It takes a few minutes before they calm down enough to sit down and words missing?
“What is David doing here? Try to tell me in English,” Ramirez tells her students, trying to encourage them to use the Language of the Day.
“He’s getting a candy from the tree,” one child says in English.
She flips the page and continues reading. Little David trying to get a sneaky peek at his Christmas present.
“Can we look at our presents before Christmas?” she asks her students.
“Nooooo,” they say in unison.
“Mi papa me compro un regalo,” says one girl.
“My papa también me compro un regalo,” says another.
Soon, all the kids are saying their parents bought them presents, talking in Spanish and there seems to be no stopping them.
They start wiggling out of their assigned spots in the reading circle. Ramirez closes the book and says, “I’m going to wait until you settle down to keep on reading.”
They all quiet down as fast as they can and the story continues – in English.
Finally, it is nap time. And I as look at them, the 10 sleeping children are representative of the bilingual phenomenon in Texas schools.
But now, they sleep and dream the dreams that all children dream.
They turn to me and speak in Spanish – even though it is English language day:
“Ya te vas? Adios.” Are you going? Goodbye.
“Adios,” I respond.
This story was written for a class assignment in Dec. 2014