Aprendiendo en Dos Idiomas

“If we had to have teachers and interpreters go out to all the different schools, we’d be spread too thinly,” Fischbach says. “By bringing students to one of five area schools, we can have a full-time teacher in the building and interpreters available so they can have intensive daily services.”

In Lenoir City, Corbett says her classroom enrollment stays “pretty steady at about three dozen students.” The only ESL teacher at Lenoir City High School, Corbett says there is a need for another teacher. But she has a “very supportive administration” and draws help from the school and community in the form of interpreters, peer tutors and adult volunteers, such as seniors in a Tellico Village retirement community.

“It’s so much more beneficial for my students to have adult help in other classes and even in mine,” she says. “For me to have a class of 12 to 15 is really big because kids need so much one-on-one help. If you could have one other person in the classrooms to work with six instead of 15, that helps break it down. Plus, in general it’s good for the kids to get used to other people’s accents.”

Corbett’s role often extends beyond the classroom, and her involvement with her students doesn’t always stop when the bell rings. According to Fischbach, this availability is a major benefit of having full-time ESL teachers in schools.

“Students see the teacher as a go-to person, so there’s someone to help them with all those little things,” she says. “For example, what if you can’t get your locker open, or you don’t understand how to navigate lunchroom lines. There’s a teacher trained to deal with all those things and to help students individually.”

Support from the start
While Hispanic and other ESL students face additional obstacles in the path toward graduation, one support system for children in East Tennessee is beginning to offer ESL education to those as young as 3 years old. Head Start, a “comprehensive preschool program,” according to Knox County Head Start director Joyce Farmer, has served an increasing number of Hispanic families in the last few years.

“One of our goals is to make sure kids are as ready as they can be for the school program and going into kindergarten,” Farmer says, adding that Head Start does not conduct separate programs for Hispanic children on a daily basis, but offers a program for children of migrant farm workers in the area.

“Our goal was to integrate [Hispanic children] into our program,” she says. “Head Start is pretty comprehensive. We think if we can help them participate effectively in all of those regular ongoing services, that’s a pretty good deal.”

The day-to-day services Head Start provides include a planned curriculum based on play, emphasizing literacy and development of vocabulary and social skills. The program also offers meals that meet two-thirds of children’s daily nutrition needs.

By performing language assessments throughout the year, Farmer says Head Start staff members are able to confirm the program’s success in preparing children for school.

“We see growth in acquisition of English as well as in acquisition of skills. I don’t think they make the [same] gains that English speakers make, but that’s a bit much to expect that soon,” she says. “But we do see consistent gains across the board.”

Just as school systems are adapting to the growing number of Hispanic students, Head Start has also made additions to its staff, with three new positions for bilingual teachers and a parent clerk who was hired last year to aid communication with parents. Even so, “keeping up” is not easy.

“We’re working on it,” Farmer says. “But I must admit, it’s a challenge.”

Leveling the playing field
As children of Hispanic immigrants in East Tennessee work to learn English and adjust to a new culture, Tennessee educators often find it difficult to match students’ efforts by learning Spanish.

Corbett says there is interest “in theory” among teachers in Lenoir City, but past attempts to encourage a real effort have not been very successful.