Lee School System recognized as second in state for ESOL instruction

Alan Mauldin Author email, The Albany Herald, Ga.
·2 min read

Feb. 27—ALBANY — The Lee County School System has excelled in establishing language proficiency for students whose native languages included Russian, Vietnamese and Urdu, among others, earning the second-highest English-learner exit rate in the state.

While the system has four instructors — for primary, elementary, middle and high school students — the accomplishment was one shared by teachers throughout the system, said Donna Cordle, who works with students in kindergarten through second grade.

"I will tell you this is a team effort," said Cordle, who was recognized last year by the state Department of Education as an exemplary English teacher for speakers of other languages (ESOL). "I tell people I can't do my job without the support of the classroom teachers. It really is a collaboration between what we do and the classroom teachers. We all want the children to be successful."

For the 2019-2020 school year, 112 students took the ACCESS standardized test given to students designated as English-learners, and 44 received scores at the end of the year making them eligible to exit the program. Of those, 34 exited the program and 10 were selected to remain in it for another year based on a team assessment of their progress.

The English proficiency of students in the program can vary from those with little or none to those who may have grown up in an English-speaking country like Jamaica who need help in understanding American idioms. In all, the system taught students with 10 non-English native languages.

"The classroom teachers, they're teaching the academics, so we can give them the (background) with the vocabulary," Cordle said. "Classroom teachers are able to give them the support they need in the classroom. It really is all of us working together.

"I believe a reason we're so successful is because those relationships are able to develop. It's working together and also you have those parents' support, so they can help those children be successful, giving them things to do at home plus what we do at school."

Students are usually able to move out of the program in a few years, sometimes as little as three or less.

"Typically what you want to see is a kid coming in to test and they exit within five years," said Brooke Stembridge, federal programs director and K-5 literacy director for the school system. "That's what we're seeing; that's what's cool to see. The kids that are coming in, say kindergarten (age), they are moving out. Most of them exit somewhere at the elementary level."