Remediation, proposed legislation address growing EL population in Decatur schools

Feb. 27—The number of English language learners in Decatur schools has increased from 24 to 1,440 since 1993, which data shows has hurt overall district standardized test scores, but administrators hope a bill in the state Legislature and an increased emphasis on EL education will help.

Senate Bill 170, sponsored by Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, passed in the Senate and is now in a House committee. If it becomes law, then starting next school year EL students' test scores would not be considered when assigning a letter grade to a school or school system for the first three years a student is enrolled in the EL program.

"I just think it's super courageous for Senator Orr to put that bill up," said Stefanie Underwood, supervisor of special services for the district. "It is something that is very much needed. I think the average person would be surprised that students who do not speak English are given tests in English."

Underwood said she is in full support of Orr's bill but wishes it required four or five years of EL enrollment instead of three before standardized test scores count against the school and district.

"I don't think there is going to be a dramatic increase in proficiency with our third graders," Underwood said. "Most of our EL students come here in kindergarten. So, according to (Orr's) bill, if those same students' scores are counted in the third grade then they will still not be proficient. I think it takes about four to five years until you start seeing English proficiency in EL students."

This year, 16% of the students enrolled in Decatur City Schools are EL students, up from 10% seven years ago.

Students "test out" of the EL program by passing the Accessing Comprehension and Communication in English State-to-State for English Language Learners, or ACCESS, test. Once students pass the ACCESS test they leave the EL program and, under Orr's bill, their test scores would be included in the calculation of letter grades for their school and the district.

Underwood said ACCESS testing data demonstrates that the Decatur EL program is increasingly effective at assisting the students.

The Alabama State Department of Education sets statewide growth targets for EL students. In the 2019-2020 school year, 30% of the Decatur EL students met that target. In the 2020-2021 school year, that percentage had risen to 51.

On average, though, Decatur's EL students taking standardized tests — which are written in English — score lower in all components than do English-proficient students. In 2020-2021, when 11.65% of EL students were proficient in English Language Arts, districtwide proficiency was 40.43%. In math, 6.42% of EL students were proficient, compared to 21.5% overall in the district. In science, 6.05% of EL students were proficient, compared to 31.96% in the district.

The state assigns annual letter grades to both the district and individual schools based on several indicators, including proficiency as measured by standardized tests. When 16% of the student population is taking a test written in English even though they have not learned the language, administrators say, an impact on those letter grades is likely.

Excel Center

EL students for the most part attend school with their non-EL peers, but in 2016 DCS established the Excel Center, located on Westmead Street Southwest, to address EL students in need of more intensive remediation.

"It's very layered and each child has individual needs," said Excel Principal Ressa Chittam. "The (school) system has been kind enough to see that and we've hired interventionists to come in and work with those students one on one and provide intense intervention."

Seventy percent of Excel Center students are SLIFE students, or students with limited or interrupted formal education.

"They may be in the ninth grade but only (finished) school up until the third grade, so they have limited education," Chittam said. "We go back and fill up those holes, like learning multiplication tables and that kind of thing."

The SLIFE students come from 16 different countries. Since the Excel Center began, Chittam said, SLIFE students have made faster progress than before.

Chittam said that the remaining 30% of EL students at the Excel Center are proficient in other subjects but have trouble reading. She said some of the SLIFE students even struggled to read in their native language before they immigrated to the United States.

"We have students who just don't know how to read period, so we have to give them extra remediation," Chittam said.

Excel Assistant Principal Mary Ann Hotaling said that about 160 of the 1,440 EL students in Decatur attend the Excel Center.

"Only the students that need extra (remediation) attend the Excel Center," Hotaling said. "The other EL students are involved in programs in their own respective schools."

Austinville Elementary School has the most EL students with 185. There are currently 875 EL students in grades kindergarten through fifth grade throughout the district.

Underwood said Decatur's EL student population is primarily Hispanic.

Emilio Sanchez, associate pastor of outreach at Calvary Assembly and director of the Dream Center in Tanner, attributes the growth in the Decatur Hispanic community to growing industry and accessible health care in the United States.

"They're making more in one hour than they did in one day in their old country," Sanchez said. "Plus, most of the countries that they came from, they weren't able to receive any medical attention."

Sanchez, whose family is from Mexico, said that immigrants view job growth and opportunities as a blessing while many native-born Americans take them for granted.

"(Immigrants) will take any job; they're going to work," Sanchez said.

'I see a future'

Austin freshman Mariano Albarado-Perez spoke to Excel administrators and the Decatur school board earlier this month and thanked them for the remediation efforts that have improved his understanding of the English language.

"(Excel) gave me the confidence to write and speak English fluently," Albarado-Perez said. "I see a future for myself here in Decatur."

Albarado-Perez and his family immigrated to Decatur from Guatemala in 2018 when he was 11 years old.

"When I came here, I knew nothing," Albarado-Perez said. "My family told me to go to school. It was a little hard at first, but I'm doing well now. I really love going to school here."

Chittam said her students are benefiting from the FluencyRev and Reading Horizons programs that are designed to improve their reading proficiency.

"Both of those programs have helped me a lot," Albarado-Perez said. "I've already read 15 or 20 books."

Students use FluencyRev on their electronic devices by reading books out loud while wearing a microphone headset. The program listens to each word the student says and displays the words they struggled with so they know where to focus their attention.

Reading Horizons, also used at Excel, is a phonetic research-based program in which educators use direct instruction techniques.

"(Reading Horizons) give the students a framework to phonetically pronounce words rather than recognizing sight words," Chittam said.

Chittam said this is the first year the district has implemented FluencyRev and they have been using Reading Horizons for three years. This year, she decided to add some motivation to assist with the programs.

"If the students read 50 books, they will be able to take a field trip to the Birmingham Zoo," Chittam said. "This will be a real treat for them because most of them have never visited a zoo."

All Decatur students in the EL program are enrolled in FluencyRev.

— wesley.tomlinson@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2438.