The Latino Educational Crisis Towards A New Approach To Preparing Latino Children For Success in School and in Life A - CALL - TO - ACTION - Rev. - 12 White Paper Mario Baeza November 19 2009

The Latino Education Crisis: Towards A New Approach to Preparing Latino Children for Success in School and in Life
A White Paper and Call to Action

Mario L. Baeza Founder and Chairman V-Me Media, Inc.
May 20, 2008
The Latino Educational Crisis
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Preface ............................................................................................................................................ 3 Executive Summary....................................................................................................................... 5 Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 9 Section One: Latino Education: Is Pre -K Enough? ................................................................ 10 The Scope of the Problem. .......................................................................................................... 11 Once Behind, Never Even. .............................................................................................. 17 Lurking Behind the Achievement Gap.......................................................................... 17 The Pre-K Reform Movement.................................................................................................... 18 Different Approaches and Dissenting Voices................................................................ 19 Challenges Facing Pre-K................................................................................................. 20 Meeting the Needs of English Language Learners ................................................................... 22 Current Programs for English Language Learners..................................................... 27 The Push Toward Bilingualism...................................................................................... 35 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................... 37 Section Two: Childrens Educational Television...................................................................... 38 The Childrens Television Workshop Model ............................................................................ 38 Key Research into Educational Programs Effectiveness............................................ 40 Beyond Sesame Street. .................................................................................................... 41 Has Childrens Educational Television Closed the Achievement Gap?.........................42 Section Three: Closing the Gap: Preparing Latino Children to Succeed in School.............. 44 An Action Agenda for Bridging the Latino Achievement Gap ............................................... 45 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................... 47 Bibliography................................................................................................................................. 48 About the Author ...............................................................................................................................55 Appendix 1: Description of V-Mes Spanish Language and Bilingual Education Programming......................................................................................................................................56
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Preface
On March 6, 2007, with the formal launch of broadcasts over public television stations across the nation, V-Me Media, Inc. ushered in a new era of high-quality educational, informational, and entertainment programming for monolingual and bilingual Spanish speakers. V-Me is the product of a unique public/private partnership between a private investor group and WNET/Thirteen, the New York-based flagship station of the Public Broadcasting System. V-Me was formed in large part to fill the need for high-quality, relevant educational programming a category of programming that has until now been unavailable to the millions of Spanish-speaking Latino families in the United States. V-Me has an affiliated television network of more than 35 public television stations, expected to grow to 50 stations by the end of 2009, covering virtually every major Hispanic market in the country. It is also distributed nationally via satellite by the Dish Satellite Networks and Direct TV. V-Me is now in 50 million U.S. homes, covering approximately 55% of all Hispanic homes, and after digital conversion in 2009, will be in 70 million U.S. homes, covering 80 percent of all Hispanic households. In 2009 V-Me will also be available free over the air and can be received through an inexpensive digital box, replacing the over-the-air antennae. Today, staggering numbers of Latino youngsters start school behind their non-Latino white peers, and can never catch up. Secondary school Latino students fare no better, suffering the highest high school dropout rate of any ethnic or racial group in the country. The problem is compounded by the vexing issues facing English Language Learners (ELLs). Given V-Mes current and future reach and televisions proven power to entertain and teach, V-Mes added media resources could play a valuable role in the fight to close the Latino educational achievement gap. Indeed, V-Me has already begun the process. Not only does V-Me broadcast five hours per day of childrens educational programming in Spanish, but also V-Me is actively working with the National Institute of Early Childhood Research (NIECR) on a series of presentations and research proposals designed to test the effectiveness of incorporating VMes childrens programming into bilingual preschool curricula. As a first step, V-Me collaborated with NIECR on a two hour workshop presented at the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NYAEYC) conference that was held June 8-11, 2008 in New Orleans. The workshop wanted to demonstrate to an influential cross-section of educators, administrators, researchers and curriculum specialists how V-Mes childrens educational programming can be used effectively in bilingual or dual immersion classrooms, as well as at home with parents, to further Spanish and English language acquisition by both ELLs and English dominant children. We believe more can and must be done, and are prepared as an organization to do our share. Fortunately, with its strong roots in public television, V-Me is intimately familiar with the process of creating childrens educational television programming, as well as high-quality entertainment for adolescents and adults, that informs and educates as it entertains. We understand however, that to make a difference will require intense collaboration with schools and school districts, researchers, linguists, educators, curriculum specialists and creative producers. Together, we can create, promote and effectively use the multimedia programming that V-Me and other producers of targeted educational television may develop. 3
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Toward that end, this White Paper and Call to Action lays out a framework for an Action Agenda intended to jump-start the process of developing a new and far-reaching effort to put the proven tools of childrens educational television and the important work of so many others to combined use in service of closing the yawning achievement gap that divides Latino and other minority children from their white peers. We hope and expect that this effort will be the beginning of a long and worthwhile journey. Mario L. Baeza Founder and Chairman V-Me Media, Inc.
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Executive Summary
A variety of research studies using a range of measures have conclusively demonstrated that Latino schoolchildren in the United States lag behind their non-Hispanic white peers. That achievement gap does not wait until high school or even middle school to appear, neither does it emerge during the elementary years. For the most part, Latino children arrive at the schoolhouse door already lagging. Once behind, they generally remain behind, and suffer lower test scores and higher dropout rates as a result. This white paper examines the causes and reviews current initiatives for closing the achievement gap as it affects Latinos, and focuses on two largely unrelated at least so far approaches: the pre-K movement and childrens educational television. It concludes with a call for a national convening of stakeholders, including educators, researchers, broadcasters, policymakers, philanthropists and others, to develop a national action agenda that includes publicly broadcasted Spanish language childrens educational television and other new on and off-line media delivery systems as an integral part of the strategy to combat the problem. Section One: Latino Education: Is Pre-K Enough? The achievement gap dividing Latino and white children is far-reaching and amply documented, and the nations schools have been and continue to be unprepared for the demographic wave that has already begun to roll into classrooms. Key points in this area include: Latino children enter kindergarten already in educational arrears, and on the short end of an achievement gap. That gap persists, even widens, through elementary and secondary school. For example, data gathered over the course of many years for the federal governments National Assessment of Educational Progress reports demonstrates that by the time children reach fourth grade, large and persistent gaps have opened between Latino and white children in both reading and math. The gap widens in the middle school years. The achievement gap between Latino children and white children is about more than language. Nearly 75 percent of kindergarteners from Hispanic families have one or more recognized risk factors for failure in school, compared with 20 percent of those from non-Hispanic white families. Much research demonstrates the value of early education to make sure children come to kindergarten with certain basic skills, ready to learn. For example, longitudinal studies have demonstrated that children who went to preschool were less likely to be held back in higher grades and more likely to graduate. This recognition has driven a movement for more prekindergarten programs across the nation. The need for pre-K programs for Latino children came into very sharp focus in the wake of the 2000 Census Report, which confirmed the rapid growth of the Latino population, as well as the income educational achievement gap between non-Hispanic whites and Hispanics and African Americans. Other research has identified important economic and societal benefits from investment in pre-K.
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Armed with compelling economic analyses, educational research and fairness and equity arguments, the pre-K movement has gained substantial national momentum in the past five years. In all, 38 states are helping local governments finance pre-K programs and spent approximately $4.2 billion in 2007, an increase of 75 percent from two years ago. The effort to ramp up pre-K programs around the nation faces daunting challenges. First is the sheer scope of the effort. By one account, it represents one of the most significant expansions in public education in the 90 years since World War I, when kindergarten first became standard in public schools. Other problems include the need to expand access for Hispanic children, the absence of a consensus curricular approach, and the problem of making sure programs are of high quality. An even more significant challenge confronting the pre-K movement is the growing number of pre-K English Language Learners (ELL) youngsters who arrive at school speaking a language other than English. The issue has taken on particular urgency in states with large ELL populations, including California, New York, Texas, Florida and Illinois. Some 30 percent of Latino children in the United States are considered English Language Learners, and according to data reported by the states, ELL children account for a little over 10 percent of the total pre-K to twelfth grade student population. More significantly, the ELL population is growing at a faster rate than the overall student population. From the political debate surrounding immigration issues, one might conclude that most of these students were undocumented immigrants. In fact, well over 90 percent of immigrant children are legal U.S. citizens In general, schools offer ELL students one of four basic programs: English Immersion or Structured English Immersion; English as a Second Language (ESL), sometimes known as English Plus Spanish; transitional bilingual programs in which content areas are taught in Spanish for the first few years (usually in the kindergarten through third-grade years) while students are developing their English skills; and Dual Language Immersion, in which children are taught courses in both languages from an early age, with the goal of having them become fluent in both English and Spanish by sixth grade. The most promising approach today for ELL students appears to be Dual Language (DL) Immersion, in which half the classes are taught in Spanish and half in English. Classrooms are comprised of 50% Spanish Dominant and 50% English Dominant pupils. (These programs have been especially popular among English Dominant families who wish their children to become bilingual at an early age.) A recent success story for DL can be found at Dixie Downs Elementary School in Washington County, Utah. At the beginning of the first school year, 31 percent of first graders were reading at grade level in English. By the end of the year, 58 percent were at grade level. Another important argument for DL programs is that research conducted in the specific context of preschool also supports it as a solution. The current political push for English-only instruction stands in sharp contrast to a large body of research that increasingly shows that most young children are not only capable of learning two languages [but also] that bilingualism confers cognitive, cultural and economic advantages. 6
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Section Two: Childrens Educational Television Childrens educational television has a demonstrated track record of success with children of all ethnicities and income levels, and offers important opportunities to make inroads on the achievement gap. It plays an important role in the early education of Americas children. It has evolved so far beyond its original mission of focusing on minority and low-income children, and its viewing audience is now so diverse and large, that it is no longer thought of as a dedicated resource in the fight to close the achievement gap, and is instead regarded as a tool for preparing all children for the academic challenges that await them. Key points include: The Sesame Workshop, originally named the Childrens Television Workshop (CTW), has pioneered a research-based approach to developing its programming. Under the CTW Model, producers, researchers and educational content specialists collaborate closely throughout the life of a project, from its initial inception through the completion of the final product. Each group brings its unique perspective to the table to ensure that the results will be entertaining, educationally sound, and both appealing and comprehensible to the target audience. More than 1,000 studies have focused on Sesame Streets effectiveness alone. For example, among three- to five-year olds, researchers found that heavier viewers of Sesame Street showed significantly greater growth than nonviewers in an assortment of academic skills related to the alphabet, sorting and classification, numbers, shapes and relational terms. In another study, researchers followed low- SES preschoolers over a three-year period, and found that watching educational television correlated positively with the amount of time children spent reading and in educational activities, as well as their letter-word knowledge, math skills, vocabulary size, and school readiness on age-appropriate standardized tests. Other childrens educational television programs have had a similarly impressive impact. These include Dragon Tales, Between the Lions, Blues Clues and Square One TV. The evidence indicates that the programming is effective, improving viewers skills in ways that help them achieve in school. That appears to be true regardless of income, ethnicity or native language. But it does not appear to close the achievement gap. Three reasons stand out. First, childrens educational television programming lifts not just minority and low-income children, but white, middle-and upper-income children, as well. Second, Latino children from Spanish speaking homes who view programs in English are less likely to make significant educational gains as a result. Third, children from low-income families register smaller gains from watching childrens educational television than middle- and upper-income, probably because they lack a variety of important supports parents educational attainment, time spent being read to, etc. Indeed, many of these are also ELL children, and research has amply demonstrated that the combination of risk factors is powerful.
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Section Three: Bridging the Gap: Towards a New Approach Building on the popularity and proven success of dual language immersion programs, V-Me will seek to create a new genre of childrens educational television that has as its objective teaching not only the underlying skills Sesame Street and its progeny are known for, but also English to Spanish speakers (of all ages) and Spanish to English speakers (of all ages). Our emphasis on creating entertaining and educationally sound programming that also teaches English to Spanish speakers and Spanish to English speakers is in line with current U.S. policy as embodied in the 1994 Elementary and Secondary Education Act, which actively promotes the development of educational programs whose goal is dual language competency both for ELLs and native English speakers. In creating such programming, we intend to follow the successful model pioneered by Sesame Workshop (and, indeed, plan to collaborate with Sesame Workshop) and therefore we will seek key participation from educators, curriculum specialists, language acquisition specialists, researchers (both for formative and summative research), ELL specialists, cutting edge television producers, digital content specialists and digital marketing teams for new media. By targeting our digital TV programming to ELLs, we can improve their academic English (and those of their parents and grandparents) with the concomitant benefits that they will understand more of the substantive lessons embodied in the educational programming they watch and will be better prepared for success in school and society. At the same time we believe we can teach Spanish to English dominant children at an age where research has shown they can effortlessly acquire a second language to their undoubted long term benefit. As we face the challenge of upgrading our educational system and making it more efficient and effective for children of this generation, we can no longer justify the age-old division between the pre-k movement (i.e. brick and mortar) and childrens educational television. The fact that for historical reasons each has evolved and remained completely separate is no reason for maintaining the status quo especially when they have overlapping missions. Thus, as a first step in fostering new approaches to the Latino Education Crisis, V-Me is prepared to commit significant organizational resources to bringing together both sides of the aisle (and their related stakeholders) with a focus on how , together, we can work in common purpose to help close the Latino achievement gap.
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Introduction
Despite decades of effort, the achievement gap between white and minority students in the United States persists. As an outgrowth of the civil rights movement and a follow-up to desegregation of public schools, the nation first began to shape policy approaches to address the problem in the 1960s. The Head Start program, still in operation despite periodic attempts to defund or dismantle it, was the first broad national attempt to address the problem. Now with more than 40 years in existence, it continues to provide services to children of low-income families. A second 1960s initiative aimed at the achievement gap was the use of public television to broadcast childrens educational television programming, most notably Sesame Street. Having come to life separately and been led by different communities of experts using very different structures, the initiatives evolved separately as well. Today, each claims its own camp of supporters among key politicians, educators, activists, child psychologists, and researchers. When these efforts began in the 1960s, the achievement gap was largely understood in white/black terms: African American students had lower test scores and poorer grades than white students, and the initiatives were aimed at closing the gap. But in the years since, it has also come to be seen as a white/brown issue, reflecting the sharp increase in the nations Latino population, as well as the particular challenges Latino students face. Despite progress over the years, the achievement gap persists. In fact, among certain Latino subgroups, it has actually widened. This harsh reality has given rise to a renewed emphasis on preKindergarten education, and an acknowledgment that additional and improved pre-K programs are needed to meet the needs of todays Latino children and children of low-income families. But just what those programs should look like is the topic of some debate. Many argue that a bricks and mortar approach is in order. Armed with research studies demonstrating that high-quality pre-K programs can materially improve childrens school readiness and elevate reading and math test scores among elementary school students, supporters have focused on providing Latino families greater access to programs by building more preschools in Hispanic neighborhoods, integrating curricula with kindergarten and primary grade expectations, hiring and training more pre-K teachers and attempting to recruit more bilingual teachers, pressing for highquality pre-K programs, and campaigning to increase awareness of the benefits of preschool among Latino families. One downside of this approach, something supporters acknowledge, is that it will take up to 20 years of investment in infrastructure, teacher training and certification, core curricula development and outreach to achieve the desired results. As a result, it will require sustained and substantial appropriations from federal, state and local governments, as well as research support from foundations and other nongovernmental agencies. In the meantime, generations of Latino children will likely be lost. A second approach is offered by supporters of childrens educational television. They cite that more than 1,000 research studies have found that childrens educational television improves preschoolers math, reading and science scores; helps develop such key analytical and 9
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phonological skills as problem-solving, vocabulary acquisition and conflict resolution; and promotes pro-social behavior and school readiness. They also note the great success of Sesame Street and its progeny programming that was initially funded by the federal government and the philanthropic community with the goal of closing the achievement gap among minority and disadvantaged children, but that has since become mainstream fare for children in all demographic groups. Indeed, one reading of the impact of such programming is that it has raised the learning bar by fostering new generations of children who entered preschool able to read and equipped with a basic understanding of mathematical and phonological concepts. Although minority and low-income children improved significantly by viewing childrens educational television, so did white, middleand upper-income children. As a result, the achievement gap did not close measurably, thus obscuring the important impact of childrens television programming. So far, politicians, school boards, leading researchers and their foundation supporters, led by the Pew Charitable Trusts, have largely gravitated toward the bricks and mortar approach. While they may, as individuals, remember the impact on their children of Sesame Street and other public television programs, their policy and funding choices suggest they do not see childrens television programming as a significant part of the solution. The problem has become all the more pressing in recent years, as a result of a dramatic increase in the number of children coming from immigrant families where only Spanish is spoken in the home. For the most part, established brick and mortar programs, including Head Start, are unprepared to deal with this significant demographic wave. Studies show that Spanish-dominant children do not fare well in English-only preschool programs. By contrast, children exposed to basic concepts in their native language have a more successful outcome and can transition more easily to an English-only curriculum by first grade. To take advantage of the opportunity that research suggests, Spanish language or bilingual programs will need to be developed, bilingual teachers will need to be recruited, and the transition to Englishonly kindergarten programs will need to be worked through. All of these issues have policy, and particularly funding, implications, of course, especially for cities and towns that find their demographics shifting and a new and different student population emerging. Section One: Latino Education: Is Pre-K Enough? Two facts about the Latino population in the United States are relevant to any discussion about closing the educational achievement gap. First, Latinos are the fastest growing segment of the U.S. population, and have overtaken African Americans as the nations largest minority group. Second, Latinos are the least educated racial or ethnic group in the United States.1
Pew Hispanic Center (2002) Educational Attainment: Better than meets the eye, but large challenges still remain. (Online: http://pewhispanic.org/factsheets/factsheet.php?FactsheetID=3 accessed January 7, 2008).
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The Scope of the Problem In fact, as a group, Latino children enter kindergarten already in educational arrears, and on the short end of an achievement gap. In a 2006 study by Drs. Sean Reardon and Claudia Galindo, 46 percent of Hispanic children starting kindergarten could not read at or above Level 1, a stage at which children are able to recognize letters, compared to 27 percent of non-Hispanic whites.2 Other research has found similar disparities among Latino and white children at higher levels. Separate data gathered over the course of many years for the federal governments National Assessment of Educational Progress reports demonstrates that by the time children reach fourth grade, large and persistent gaps have opened between Latino and white children in both reading and math. The gap widens in the middle school years.3 Table 1* Percentage of Children Scoring at or above Levels 1, 2, 3 and 4 in Reading at the Start of Kindergarten4 Group Third Generation Whites All Hispanics Mexican Descent Cuban Descent Puerto Rican Descent Central American Descent South American Descent Level 1 73 54 51 67 62 52 60 Level 2 34 20 19 25 26 18 26 Level 3 20 10 10 12 14 11 15 Level 4 4 2 2 2 2 1 5
Source: Reardon, S.F., and Galindo, C. (2006). Patterns of Hispanics Students Math and English Literacy Test Scores Report to the National Task Force on Early Childhood Education for Hispanics. Tempe, Arizona: Arizona State University.
*Excludes approximately 30 percent of Spanish dominant children who were not proficient enough in English to take the basic kindergarten assessment tests.
Reardon and Galindo, Patterns of Hispanic Students Math and English Literacy Test Scores, as quoted in National Task Force on Early Childhood Education for Hispanics, Expanding and Improving Early Education for Hispanics, Para Nuestros Nios, March 2007, 13-15 [hereafter cited as Task Force Expanding and Improving Early Education for Hispanics, with all citations to National Task Force on Early Childhood Education for Hispanics, Expanding and Improving Early Education for Hispanics]. National Assessments of Educational Progress reports over three to four decades in reading, math, science, and writing were interpreted by the Task Force, Expanding and Improving Early Education for Hispanics, March 2007, 13-15. National Assessments of Educational Progress reports over three to four decades in reading, math, science, and writing were interpreted by the Task Force, Expanding and Improving Early Education for Hispanics, March 2007, 13-15. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, as quoted in Task Force Expanding and Improving Early Education for Hispanics, 14. Level 1 indicates the ability to recognize letters, Level 2 indicates readers possess words, Level 3 indicates readers understand ending sound of words, and Level 4 indicates readers possess sight recognition of words.
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Table 2 Percentage of Children Scoring Below the Basic Level in Math
Source: National Institute for Early Education Research, Preschool Policy Brief, March 2007, Issue 13.
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Table 3
Percentage of Children Scoring Below the Basic Level in Reading
Source: NAEP 2005
Source: National Institute for Early Education Research, Preshcool Policy Brief, March 2007, Issue 13.
The National Center for Education Statistics, an agency of the U.S. Department of Education, reports similar findings in a longitudinal study tracking reading and math proficiency from 1998 to 2005.5 According to the data, Latino children trail white children across the board, and significantly.
Eugene Garcia, Ph.D., and Danielle A. Gonzales M.Ed. Pre -K and Latinos the Foundation for America s Future, Pre-K Now, July 2006, 8-9 [hereafter cited as PLA with all citations referring to Pre-K and Latinos the Foundation for Americas Future, Pre -K Now, July 2006].
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Table 4
Table 5
The gap persists through high school, again according to data from a longitudinal study from the U.S. Department of Education, even after accounting for socioeconomic differences, such as family income and parents educational level. The study, which followed students from kindergarten through tenth grade, found that more than 20 percent of all Hispanic sophomores were unable to achieve at level 1 (simple reading comprehension of text) and thus were not reading at the minimum level required for high school academic work.6
Task Force: Expanding and Improving Early Education for Hispanics March 2004.
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Table 6 Reading Proficiency of Hispanics and White High School Sophomores in 2002 Group Percentage at or above Reading Proficiency Level Level 1 Hispanic White 79.2 93.9 Level 2 28.0 56.0 Level 3 2.8 11.4
Source: Para Nuestros Nios: Expanding and Improving Early Education for Hispanics March 20047
Inviting though it might be to view the Latino educational achievement gap as a problem for firstand second-generation children of immigrants, the data indicate otherwise. Although significant progress is made by the third generation, the achievement gaps persist.8 This spiraling sequence of poor test results leads to the highest high school dropout rates of any ethnic or racial group in the United States. In 2005, the last year for which data are available, the Latino dropout rate doubled the rate for African Americans and tripled the rate for whites.
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Task Force: Expanding and Improving Early Education for Hispanics March 2004. Task Force, Expanding and Improving Early Education for Hispanics, 15-17. The Reardon & Galindo (2006) study found that third-generation Mexican Americans were more likely to start kindergarten having had a preschool experience and therefore started with proficiency in letter recognition and understanding beginning and ending sounds of words (Level 1, Level 2 and Level 3). By fifth grade, these third-generation Mexican Americans had solid reading comprehension skills in English, whereas more than a majority of the first- and secondgeneration Mexican Americans did not. But an achievement gap still persisted between third-generation Mexican Americans and third-generation whites at kindergarten and at the end of fifth grade.
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Table 7 Percentage of high school dropouts (status dropouts) among persons 16 to 24 years old, by race/ethnicity: Selected years, 1972-2005 Year Total1 Race/Ethnicity2 White 1972 1980 1985 1990 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 14.6 14.1 12.6 12.1 12.0 11.1 11.0 11.8 11.2 10.9 10.7 10.5 9.9 10.3 9.4 12.3 11.4 10.4 9.0 8.6 7.3 7.6 7.7 7.3 6.9 7.3 6.5 6.3 6.8 6.0 Black 21.3 19.1 15.2 13.2 12.1 13.0 13.4 13.8 12.6 13.1 10.9 11.3 10.9 11.8 10.4 Hispanic 34.3 35.2 27.6 32.4 30.0 29.4 25.3 29.5 28.6 27.8 27.0 25.7 23.5 23.8 22.4
Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2007). The Condition of Education 2007 (NCES 2007-064), Indicator 23.
These national statistics tend to obscure even deeper problems in specific states or cities. In many of urban areas with high Latinos population, dropout rates are significantly higher. For example, in the state of New York, as a result of more stringent graduation requirements, one in two Latino students in seventh grade today are likely to drop out before twelfth grade.9 In the Los Angeles Unified School District, the Latino dropout rate is close to 65 percent.10 Once Behind, Never Even In examining the various studies, a hard truth rings through: children who enter kindergarten well behind their peers will almost certainly not catch up, absent major intervention.11 As they
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Anthony de Jess and Daniel W. Vasquez, Exploring The Education Profile and Pipeline For Latinos in New York State, Policy Brief, Vol. 2, No. 2, Fall 2005, 12-13. Force, Expanding and Improving Early Education For Hispanics, 23. Rathburn, A., & West, J. (2004). From Kindergarten Through Third Grade: Childrens Beginning School Experiences. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics; Ingels, S.J., Burns, L.J., Chen, X., Cataldi, E.F., and Charleston, S. (2005). Initial Results from the Base
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grow older, they fall farther behind, increasingly overwhelmed by academic demands for which they have insufficient preparation, and demoralized by a steady stream of Ds and Cs. Many eventually drop out. Not surprisingly, the gap persists beyond secondary school. Only 16 percent of U.S. Latinos will earn college degrees, compared to 34 percent of whites. That number is even smaller among foreign-born Latinos: As of 2000, only 7 percent will earn a college degree.12 Lurking Behind the Achievement Gap The achievement gap between Latino children and white children is about more than language. Nearly 75 percent of kindergarteners from Hispanic families have one or more recognized risk factors for failure in school, compared with 20 percent of those from non-Hispanic white families.13 Indeed, the proportion of children with two or more risk factors is five times larger among Hispanics (33 percent) and four times larger among African American families (27 percent) ... than among non-Hispanic whites (6 percent).14 Those risk factors include: 1. 2. 3. 4. Having a mother with less than a high school education; Poverty, as defined by whether a family is eligible for welfare or food stamps; Having a parent whose primary language is not English; and Living in a single-parent family.15
Latino children fare poorly on all four measures. Mothers Educational Attainment. In the eight and under age group, 44 percent of Latino children have mothers who did not graduate high school (versus 9 percent of non-Hispanic whites).16 Only 4 percent of Mexican-American children in immigrant families have a mother with a college degree, while 64 percent have a mother who did not complete high school, 36 percent have a mother who did not progress beyond eighth grade, and 11 percent have a mother who did not progress beyond fourth grade.17 Poverty. Approximately 58 percent of Latino children are from low-income families (27 percent of non-Hispanic whites), 63 percent are from immigrant families living below the federal poverty line.18
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Year of the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics; Perie, Grigg, and Donahue (2005); [Perie, Grigg, and Dion (2005)]. Ibid. U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Entering Kindergarten: A Portrait of American Children When They Begin School: Findings from the Condition of Education 2000, Nicholas Zill and Jerry West, NCES 2001-035. (Washington, D.C. 2001), 18. From Risk To Opportunity, (Washington, D.C. The White house Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans, 2003). Task Force, Expanding and Improving Early Education for Hispanics, 11. Ibid., pg.10. Ibid. Ibid., pg. 11.
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Parents Primary Language. As of 2000, 56 percent of Latino infants had mothers born outside the United States,19 and 54 percent of Hispanic parents spoke mostly Spanish or Spanish solely in the home. Among parents who used non-parental childcare regularly, 60 percent said Spanish was the primary language used in childcare.20 Single Parents. In 2000, 23 percent of Hispanic children (0-8) were from single-parent homes, compared to 15 percent for non-Hispanic whites. The Pre -K Reform Movement This mountain of disturbing data about the educational challenges facing Latino and other minority children has inspired a renewed focus on pre-kindergarten programs. The need for pre-K programs for Latino children came into very sharp focus in the wake of the 2000 Census Report, which confirmed the rapid growth of the Latino population, as well as the income and educational achievement gap between non-Hispanic whites and Hispanics and African Americans. In the face of these concerns, longitudinal studies have demonstrated that children who went to preschool were less likely to be held back in higher grades and more likely to graduate.21 Indeed, where pre-K programs are of high quality, they have especially profound results. One study concluded that participation in high-quality pre-K increased high school graduation rates by as much as 29 percent, while reducing grade retention rates by 44 percent, and improving standardized test scores in both reading and math.22 Other research has identified important economic and societal benefits from investment in pre-K. Research by Dr. Art Rolnich, economist and Research Director of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, found that early education programs produce a 16-percent rate of return over the long term, the result of lower crime, fewer welfare payments and higher earnings.23 Professor Louis Hechmar, a Nobel laureate economist at the University of Chicago, found that extending preschool to the 4 million children under five then living in poverty, would produce a net benefit to the economy of more than $511 billion.24 Armed with these compelling economic facts, educational research and fairness and equity arguments, the pre-K movement has gained substantial national momentum in the past five years. In all, 38 states are helping local governments finance pre-K programs and spent approximately $4.2 billion in 2007, an increase of 75 percent from two years ago.25 In 2007, at least 29
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Ibid. Ibid., pg. 11. The Wall Street Journal [New York], Growing Up, August 9, 2007. Walter S. Gilliam and Edward F. Zigler, State Efforts to Evaluate the Effects of Prekindergarten: 1977 to 2003, (New Haven: Yale University Child Study Center, 2004); Arthur Reynolds, Success in Early Intervention: The Chicago Child-Parent Centers (Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 2000), as cited in PLA, 9. The Wall Street Journal, [New York], Growing Up, August 9, 2007. I b id . I b id .
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governors recommended increases in state pre-K funding, proposing to infuse an additional $800 million into pre-K programs and provide access to 100,000 additional three- and four-year-olds.26 The argument has also begun to resonate in Washington, D.C., where issues of global competitiveness are increasingly seen as intertwined with the educational achievement of Latinos, African Americans and other minorities who will in a generation account for 40 percent of the U.S. population and an even greater percentage of the U.S. workforce. Different Approaches and Dissenting Voices While supporters of increased pre-K are united in their view that more investment and more programs are needed, they divide into two camps over the issue of how far-reaching the initiative should be. One view favors government-funded universal pre-K for all three- and/or fouryear-olds, reflecting the belief of many educators that pre-K is the new first grade.27 A second view favors targeting government-funded pre-K programs primarily to low-income families, on the model of Head Start, as a way to close the achievement gap and make these children more productive members of society.28 This second view seems to have gained more traction at the state government level: most existing state programs are restricted to children from homes whose family income is below the poverty line. The pre-K movement also has its skeptics, who generally argue that it is either an inappropriate role for government or too costly an investment. Douglas Becharow of the American Enterprise Institute, for example, questions the return-on-investment findings of Dr. Rolnich and others.29 Some critics point to the comparatively modest improvements in school readiness among low socioeconomic status students attributed to the Early Head Start program, a federal program aimed at infants and toddlers.30 Early Head Start Programs offer comprehensive services including parent education, healthcare and childcare.31 Challenges Facing Pre-K Such concerns have not slowed the enthusiasm for ramping up pre-K programs around the nation, but the effort faces daunting challenges. First is the sheer scope of the effort. By one account, it represents one of the most significant expansions in public education in the 90 years since World War I, when kindergarten first became standard in public schools.32 As such, in addition to requiring a societal consensus, it will require major efforts, leadership and resources from state and local governments, the federal government, private foundations, educational researchers and grassroots organizations. As noted by the National Task Force on Early Education for Hispanics:
26 27 28 29 30 31 32
Governors Pre-K Proposal Fiscal Year 2008, (Washington, D.C. 2007): Pre -K Now, Leadership Matters, page 1. Newsweek [New York], The New First Grade, October 15, 2007. Task Force, Expanding and Improving Early Education for Hispanics, 6. Wall Street Journal [New York], Growing Up, August 9, 2007. Task Force Expanding and Improving Early Education for Hispanics, 28. Ibid. Pre-K Now, Votes Count: Legislative Action on Pre-K Fiscal Yr. 2008, 2.
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Realistically, it will take a generation to build a much more robust early childhood education system for the nations young, including young Hispanics. Major expansions ofor changes inearly childhood systems take years to execute, as efforts by states to develop extensive pre-K programs over the past decade have demonstrated. It can take 10 to 15 years to design, test and longitudinally evaluate a new or significantly modified K-3, pre-K or infant/toddler strategy. Moreover, it should be expected that new strategies that show benefits will often need to be improvedwhich can add more years to the development process. Thus, the Task Force has formulated its recommendations using a 5- to 20-year time horizon. The following are several key challenges facing the pre-K movement, with respect to meeting the needs of Latino children. 1. Expanding Access for Hispanic Children
A recent study conducted by the Pew Hispanic Center examined the percentage of Hispanic enrollment in public schools in 49 states and Washington, D.C. and found that more than 56 percent of Hispanics went to schools that were 50- to 90-percent or more Hispanic.33 That might suggest that Latino communities would be easier to reach with pre-K programs, but research suggests otherwise. For example, research by Los Angeles Universal Preschool (LAUP) and First 5 California, a state government commission, found that public preschools in Los Angeles were not, by and large, located in any of the Hispanic communities most at risk.34 Similarly, Dr. Bruce Fuller of the University of California, Berkeley, conducted a study that found that the counties with the densest Latino populations in Los Angeles and Chicago were the least likely to have child-care centers and pre-K programs."35 LAUP is in the process of an ambitious, ten-year, $500 million program, funded by First 5 California, to build or enroll in-home and center-based programs predominantly in Hispanic neighborhoods, find and train more teachers, and engage in outreach to increase enrollment and parental participation. To date LAUP has created space to serve more than 14,000 of the 100,000-plus four-year-olds living in Los Angeles County.36 The access problem goes beyond "bricks and mortar" issues, of course. The very risk factors that correlate with poor academic outcomes also correlate with under-representation in preschool programs. Thus., according to the 2005 National Household Education Survey, 30 percent of Hispanic three-year-olds attend center-based preschools, compared to 46 percent of nonHispanic children of that age.37
33
34 35
36 37
Pew Hispanic Center Analysis of US Department of Education Common Code of Data Public Elementary/Secondary School Universe Surveys, 2005-2006. Los Angeles Universal Preschool Master Plan, Karen Hill Scott, Ed. D. February 12, 2004. All Our Children, the Health & Education of Children Immigrants, report from the Foundation of Child Development, October 2007, 15. Karen Hill-Scott, Ed. D., Los Angels Preschool Master Plan, 2004. Luisa M. Laosa and Pat Andsworth, "Is Public Pre-K Preparing Hispanic Children to Succeed in School'?"
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One discredited explanation for the gap is the suggestion that low attendance in preschool programs by Latinos is culturally based, that Latino parents prefer to keep children at home until it is time to go to school. A 2006 survey of 1,000 Hispanic families in ten cities conducted by the Tomas Rivera Policy Institute, largely put that issue to rest. The survey found: More than 90 percent of Hispanics felt that it is very important or somewhat important for children to attend pre-K. Ninety-seven percent said they would send their children to publicly funded, voluntary preK if it were available in their community. Sixty-nine percent said they believe pre-K is an important priority for the government to address now. When asked what they regarded as strong arguments for the benefits of pre-K: Eighty-five percent of the respondents cited the capacity of pre-K to help children learn early literacy skills; Eighty percent cited the opportunity to acquire social skills; Eighty-seven percent noted the capacity of pre-K to help children learn English and become prepared for kindergarten.38
Indeed, survey research consistently finds that Latino families value pre-K at a 15 percent higher rate than do other populations.39 In short, the problem is not demand, but supply, and knowledge about availability and accessibility. 2. Creating a Consensus Curriculum
Making pre-K available and getting children to attend poses one set of problems. Deciding on what to teach them poses another. Educators have not yet settled on a consensus pre-K curricular model, and so pre-K programs use a wide range of curricula, with a variety of ongoing test programs and pilot studies. Moreover, the research community has not settled the question of whether pre-K should be available for three-year-olds in addition to four-year-olds, whether half-day or full-day programs are more effective, the extent to which pre-K programs should be integrated into K-3 curricula, or the extent to which parental involvement should be considered critical or ancillary to the curriculum. In addition, standards and test measurements for judging progress and achievement are also under development.
38
39
Zarate and Perez, "Latino Public Opinion Survey of Pre-Kinder Programs: Knowledge, Preferences and Public Support," as cited in PLA. Peter D. Hert Research Associates, Voters Attitudes toward Pre-K (Washington, DC: Pre-K Now, 2005) as cited in PLA.
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3.
Making Sure Programs are of High Quality
Consensus has emerged around the idea that, for pre-K to work, programs must be of high quality. Dr. Steven Barnett of the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER), with support from the Pew Charitable Trusts, evaluated the programmatic elements of Head Start and other preschool programs around the nation. NIEER established stringent requirements for class size, student-teacher ratios, teacher certification, interactivity of the curriculum and overall learning environment. The results were mixed, with many programs deemed marginal at best. Far too many of the preschool programs available to children today are not good enough, the NIEER Report concludes. A low-quality pre-K program does not produce significant benefits in terms of school readiness. Meeting the Needs of English Language Learners An even more significant challenge confronting the pre-K movement is the growing number of pre-K English Language Learners (ELL) youngsters who arrive at school speaking a language other than English. The issue has taken on particular urgency states with large ELL populations, including California, New York, Texas, Florida and Illinois. Some 30 percent of Latino children in the United States are considered English Language Learners. According to data reported by the states, ELL children account for a little over 10 percent of the total pre-K to twelfth-grade student population.
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Table 8*
ELL Growth Since 1993-94 80% 60% 40%
ELLGrowth
20% 0%
Pre-k Growth ELLGrowth
Pre-k Growth
More significantly, the ELL population is growing fast, far faster than the overall student population in the United States. Since the 1993-94 school year, the enrolled ELL K-12 population in American schools has increased by more than 65 percent. During that same time, the overall student population has gone up slightly over 9 percent. The trend shows no sign of slowing anytime soon.
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Table 9 YEAR TOTAL K-12 ENROLLMENT

93-94 94-95 95-96 96-97 97-98 98-99 99-00 00-01 01-02 02-03 03-04 45,443,389 47,745,835 47,582,665 46,714,980 46,023,969 46,153,266 47,356,089 47,665,483 48,296,777 49,478,583 49,619,117
K-12 GROWTH E L L SINCE ENROLLMENT 1993-94

0% 5.07% 4.71% 2.80% 1.28% 1.56% 4.21% 4.89% 6.28% 8.88% 9.19% 3,037,922 3,184,696 3,228,799 3,452,073 3,470,268 3,540,673 4,416,580 4,584,947 4,750,920 5,044,361 5,014,437
ELL GROWTH SINCE 1993-94

0% 4.83% 6.28% 13.63% 14.23% 16.55% 45.38% 50.92% 56.39% 66.05% 65.06%
Source: U.S. Department of Education, Office of English Language Acquisition, Language Enhancement and Academic Achievement for Limited English Proficient Students (OELA).http://www.netc.org/focus/images/pdf/ell.pdf
To be clear, these ELL children are the ones who are typically omitted from data gauging the Latino achievement gap, because they lack the English language skills to take kindergarten assessment tests. A close look at this Latino ELL student population reveals a dire picture. In both English and math, these children lag far behind their more English-proficient Latino classmates, a group that itself lags behind non-Hispanic white students.
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Table 10* Percentage of ELL Hispanic and Non-ELL Hispanics Scoring Below the Basic Level in Reading and Math
*Source: National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 2005. As cited in National Institute for Early Education Research, Preschool Policy Brief, March 2007, Issue 13.
In Texas and New York, two states with large Latino populations, the gap between ELL Latinos and non-Hispanic whites runs as high as 60 percentage points.
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Table 11* States with the Largest ELL Achievement Gaps (in percentage points) MATHEMATICS Grade 4 California Texas New York Florida Illinois Arizona New Jersey Washington Massachusetts Georgia North Carolina
*Source: 2005 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)
37 26 41 34 52 46 31 35 27 46 19
READING Grade 4
48 44 55 44 60 51 -45 46 53 44
Grade 8
48 60 60 48 51 51 -47 59 48 40
Grade 8
49 61 62 49 50 54 -48 62 -36
From the political debate surrounding immigration issues, one might conclude that most of these students were undocumented immigrants. In fact, well over 90 percent of immigrant children are legal U.S. citizens. As of 2000, just 1.5 percent of pre-K to fifth-grade students and 2.8 percent of sixth- to twelfth-grade students were first-generation, undocumented immigrants.40
40
The New Demography of American Schools, pg. 10.
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Table 12
*Source: The New Demography of American Schools, pg. 10
Latino intellectual and political leadership has begun to coalesce around the need to provide special services to ELL Latinos. In addition, as a result of the standards movement and the federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), public schools and school systems nationally are under pressure to produce student populations that pass strict standardized tests. As a consequence, these schools have become allies of the ELL movement as they look for new thinking and strategies for how, given their limited resources, to teach this population. Current Programs for English Language Learners a. English Immersion
In general, schools offer ELL students one of four basic programs. The first and most common is English Immersion or Structured English Immersion programs. Sometimes referred to as submersion programs, these programs are based on a sink or swim philosophy, in which students with limited or no English proficiency are taught in English, with remedial help made available. In Structured English Immersion, ELL students are pulled out of their all-English classes to take extra instruction in English language development. In both variants of this model, students are expected to make annual gains in their academic English language fluency so that they can be reclassified out of the ELL ranks within a few years. Unfortunately, most ELL students sink in immersion programs. According to data from the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), the school district with the highest percentage of ELL students in the nation, as well as one of the biggest, more than 87 percent of elementary school ELL students are enrolled in a Structured English Immersion program, with just over 5 percent enrolled in a mainstream English program, and the balance enrolled in alternative bilingual programs. In secondary grades the relationship is reversed, with 79 percent of ELL students enrolled in mainstream English courses and the balance in Structured 27
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English Immersion.41 That reversal might lead one to surmise that the ELL programs were successful in improving the English fluency of ELL students. Such was not the case. As required under California State Law and NCLB, the LAUSD conducts an annual evaluation of its ELL program, looking to see whether and to what extent ELL students are progressing toward English Language proficiency. The results of the most recent data collection, published in a December 2007 report, are dismal: Nearly 60 percent of all ELL students enrolled in the district for their entire elementary school (K-5) years have not learned sufficient English to be reclassified. 50 percent of all ELL students made no progress in 2006-07 in terms of their English language abilities. 66 percent of all ELL students who received their entire elementary (K-5) instruction in the district failed either the writing or the reading component of the California Standards Test in English Language Arts. 53 percent of elementary school ELL students and 81 percent of secondary school ELL students failed the test by scoring below or far below the basic level. On the Math component of the California Standards Test, 41 percent of elementary school ELL students failed, while 83.4 percent of secondary school ELL students failed by scoring below or far below the basic level.42 Such results are cause for genuine alarm. Indeed, the 2007 results marked the third year the District had failed to meet the academic achievement targets for ELL students, so, as required by NCLB, parents were notified of the failure and the District developed an improvement plan.43 Still, as poor as the performance of the District has been, it posted better results for ELL students than five of its counterpart large California school districts (San Diego, San Jose, Santa Ana, Oakland and Long Beach). The Los Angeles findings are not entirely surprising given the Districts use of English Immersion, the effectiveness of which has not been sufficiently demonstrated by research.44 Indeed, to the contrary, studies have consistently found that Spanish-speaking ELL students have a more productive educational experience when the teacher speaks some Spanish in the classroom.45
41
42 43 44 45
Achieving A+ Summit, Acquisition of English Academic Achievement For All, Fact Book, chart from the Office of Research and Evaluation, December, 2007. I b id . I b id . Guzman, Learning English, 58. Green, J.P. (1998). A Meta-Analysis of the Effectiveness of Bilingual Education. Claremont, CA: Thomas Rivera Policy Insitute; Slavin, R.E., and Cheung, A. (2005). A Synthesis of Research on Language of Reading Instruction for English Language Learners, Review of Educational Research, 75(2), 247-284; Rolstad, K., Mahoney, K., and Glass, G.V. (2005). The Big Picture: A Meta-Analysis of Program Effectiveness Research on English Language Learners, Educational Policy, 19(4),572-594. As cited in Task Force, Expanding and Improving Early Education for Hispanics, 40.
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Nevertheless, Spanish-speaking ELL students are dispersing throughout the United States and increasingly finding themselves in schools that have historically served a homogeneous English-speaking student population and are now unprepared for ELL students. Data compiled by the respected education research organization, Mid-Continent Research for Education and Learning (McREL), casts light on the problem. McREL looked at data spanning the decade of the 1990s, in the seven states of its Central Region service area Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming and found huge growth in the number of pre-K and elementary ELL students in all but one state.46 Table 13 Percentage Change in Number of Pre-K to Fifth Grade ELL Students: 1990-2000: Colorado Kansas Missouri Nebraska North Dakota South Dakota Wyoming 163% 87% 43% 350% -22% 264% 59%
*Source: English Language Learners: A Growing Population, p. 2
McREL also found that few teachers in these states were trained to deal with ELL students, and that few are bilingual. Despite the changing demographics in the states, more than 67 percent of teachers in large towns, 58 percent of teachers in central cities and 82 percent of teachers in rural locales have never participated in professional development classes for addressing the needs of ELL students.47 Moreover, of the teachers who did teach ELL students, less than 13 percent had received eight hours of training in how to teach ELL students in the preceding three years.48 McREL also noted that the problem is made all the more complicated because the poorest school districts typically enroll the highest number of ELL students.49 Such districts usually lack the financial wherewithal to hire bilingual teachers and design specialized curricula. So for a variety of reasons, some political, some pedagogical, some related to funding, English immersion appears to be here to stay. However, it is on a clear collision course with NCLBs
46 47
48 49
Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning, English Language Learners: A Growing Population, p. 2 Kathleen Flynn and Jane Hill, English Language Learners: A Growing Population, Policy Brief, Dec 2005. [hereafter cited as A Growing Population, with all citations referring to English Language Learners: A Growing Population, Policy Brief 3]. I b id . A Growing Population, 2.
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requirement that schools use research-based language instruction curricula to deal with ELL students and show annual progress toward the goal of their acquiring English proficiency.50 b. English as a Second Language
The second most common approach is English as a Second Language (ESL), sometimes known as English Plus Spanish. This category includes a wide range of methodologies and levels of formality. The more formal programs resemble Structured English Immersion programs. In many cases, a special class will be created for ELL students to review their English language subjects with a bilingual teacher who will assist them, in Spanish, if necessary. In other cases, bilingual teachers teaching in English will pause the class and explain a concept in Spanish for ELL students. In some of these classes, ELL students are allowed to respond to a question or participate in class discussions using a combination of English and/or Spanish. The main goal of this kind of instruction is to establish English proficiency. However, the lack of consistent standards, teaching methods and accountability often creates problems for schools under NCLB and has made it difficult to assess on a national basis the relative success or failure of these programs. c. Transitional Bilingual Programs
The third type of program is a transitional bilingual program in which content areas are taught in Spanish for the first few years (usually in the kindergarten through third-grade years) while students are developing their English skills. As ELL students become more proficient in English, they are expected to be reclassified to an all-English program. These programs have tended to be successful, although they are not widely in use for both political reasons and the difficulty of recruiting qualified bilingual teachers. Three findings from related research support this pedagogical approach: Academic knowledge and skills acquired through one language pave the way for related knowledge and skills in another language.51 In other words, language-minority students have the ability to take advantage of higher order vocabulary skills learned in the first language, such as the ability to provide formal definitions, take advantage of cognates and interpret metaphors, when speaking a second language.52 English skills when learned as a second language are best acquired by students who first have strong oral and literacy skills in their native language.53 First-language literacy is related in
50 51
52
53
Ibid, pg. 3. Eugene Garcia, Bryant Jensen. Dual Language Programs in the U.S. Schools - An alternative to Monocultural, Monolingual Education 1/17/06 [hereafter cited as Dual Language Programs, with all citations referring to Eugene Garcia, Bryant Jensen, Dual Language Programs in the U.S. Schools - An alternative to Monocultural, Monolingual Education] 3. Edited by Diane August and Timothy Shanahan. Developing Reading and Writing in Second Language Learners, Lessons from the Report of the National Literacy Panel on Language-Minority Children and Youth, 2006. pg 8. Lanauze, M., & Snow, C (1989). The relation between first and second language writing skills: Evidence from Puerto Rican elementary school children in bilingual programs. Theory into Practice, 31, 132-141. Saunders, W., & Goldenberg, C. (1999). The effects of instructional conversations and literature logs on the story
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other important ways to literacy development in English, including word and pseudo-word reading, reading comprehension, reading strategies, spelling and writing. Language-minority students who are literate in their first language are likely to be at an advantage in the acquisition of English literacy. This finding is based on studies of older students and adults. Language skills are acquired best when used as a means of instruction rather than just the focus of instruction.54 Finally, transitional bilingual programs could help alleviate the problem that, in addition to their problems mastering academic English, many ELLs can neither speak nor read Spanish well, especially academic Spanish. Linguistically, they end up with the worst of all worlds. Another important reason that Spanish-based curricula, particularly in the pre-K context, have not been favored is that in a number of states, most notably California, Arizona and Massachusetts, voters have passed English-only laws that seek to require English Immersion. For example, California's Proposition 227, passed in June 1998, declared: All children in California public schools shall be taught English by being taught in English. In particular, this shall require that all children be placed in Englishlanguage classrooms. Children who are English learners shall be educated through sheltered English immersion during a temporary transition period not normally intended to exceed one year. As a result of Proposition 227, the percentage of ELL students in bilingual education programs has dropped significantly in the state. Some ELL students continue in bilingual programs, as a result of a waiver procedure that parents can initiate requiring that their child be placed in a bilingual class. In many cases, teachers are encouraging the placement into bilingual classes by contracting parents and urging them to fill out the waiver. Nevertheless, the impact of Proposition 227 is marked:
54
comprehension and thematic understanding of English proficient and limited English proficient students. Washington, DC: Center for Research on Education, Diversity, and Excellence (CREDE). As cited in Dual Language Programs, 3. Dual Language Programs, 4.
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Table 14
Source: Christine H. Rossell The Near End of Bilingual Education, Education Next (Fall 2003), 49.
In this context, arguing for Spanish-only programs is a political non-starter. Proposition 227 was passed precisely in response to arguments that low achievement and high dropout rates for ELL students were caused by costly experimental language programs.55 A number of other states are currently contemplating English-only initiatives. d. Dual Language Immersion Programs
The most promising program today for ELL students just happens to be one of the most promising programs for English-only speaking studentsnamely, Dual Language (DL) Immersion. DL programs grew in number as a result of the 1994 Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), the forerunner of No Child Left Behind. Under ESEA, the U.S. Department of Education for the first time actively promoted the development of educational programs whose goal was dual language competency both for non-English native language students as well as for students whose home language was solely English. The Department envisioned programs designed to create dual language competencies in students, without sacrificing their success in school or beyond. Unique among program alternatives, the goals of DL, accordingly, are to provide high-quality instruction for ELL students and simultaneously provide instruction in a second language for Englishspeaking students. Schools offering DL programs teach children language through content,
55
Christine H. Rossel, The Near End Of Bilingual Education, Education Next, Fall 2002., 48.
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with teachers using teaching methods that ensure childrens comprehension, and using content lessons to convey vocabulary and language structure. The programs generally strive for half language-minority students and half native English-speaking students in each classroom, and also aim to teach cross-cultural awareness.56 Two basic models of DL programs are in use. In programs using the 50:50 approach, instruction is in Spanish for half of the day and in English for the other half. In the 90:10 model, kindergarten children spend 90 percent of the day in Spanish, with the level decreasing to 50 percent over a period of years (usually, by third grade), with the amount of English increasing inversely. More than 400 DL programs are in operation in the United States, and the number is increasing rapidly. The programs are popular both with ELL students and native English speakers. More important, they appear to be effective: research indicates that DL is an excellent model for academic achievement for all children.57 A recent example is the current enthusiasm surrounding the DL program at Dixie Downs Elementary School in Washington County, Utah. During its initial implementation phase, the program stirred local opposition to teaching Spanish and English equally in a public school. Eighteen months later, school officials and parents were delighted with the results. At the beginning of the first school year, 31 percent of first-graders were reading at grade level in English. By the end of the year, 58 percent were at grade level. The school also passed its yearly progress goals of having at least 10 percent fewer children fail grade level testing than the year before. According to school officials, 40 students opted out of the program because their parents feared that participation could slow the progress of their monolingual children a position articulated by the local Citizens Council on Illegal Immigration, which argued that total immersion of non-English kids into English language courses, until they can join regular classes, is the only way to go.58 On the other hand, school officials are quick to point out that 137 students transferred in from other areas, representing more than 100 new families. Interestingly, many of these families came from higher-income areas, specifically so that their children could become bilingual. Interest in the dual immersion program increased overall enrollment in the school to the point that it now operates at capacity, while officials look to hire more aides for larger classroom sizes. The program also appears to have fostered a level of cross-cultural tolerance not always in evidence. Even though the schools population has traditionally been low-income and Spanish-speaking households, school officials are finding that the students are accepting of each other and have
56 57 58
Garcia & Jensen, Dual Language Programs, 2. Ibid., pg. 4. David Demille, Bilingual Effort Earns Props, The Spectrum, December 15, 2007 (Online http://www.thespectrum.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071215/NEWS01/712150308 accessed 17 December 2007).
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learned how to work successfully together.59 Of Dixie Downs total enrollment of 516 students, 330 are enrolled in the DL program. Another example of the popularity of these programs can be found in the Liberty Bell Elementary School in the Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania. In that case, the program is so popular among nonLatinos that, according to one parent, Kimberly DelSordo, for the past several years parents have camped at the school for sign-ups since it is a first-come-first-served process. The year my first child was eligible for the program, the line formed on Friday evening for Monday morning enrollment. I still remember that we were number "7" and my husband spent three nights in a tent on the school sidewalk. We have never doubted that decision; we made many good friends that weekend, and our kids have flourished in the program. Among the most prominent studies supporting the benefits of DL is an evaluation of the Key School in Arlington, Virginia, where researchers found that 100 percent of Spanish-speaking ELL students demonstrated oral English fluency by third and sixth grades. They also found that English writing samples from Spanish Speaking ELL students were indistinguishable from those of native English speakers, and all were of high quality.60 A somewhat older study of the Amigos Dual Immersion Program in Cambridge, Massachusetts, found that third-graders performed consistently at grade level, which included native monolingual English students.61 The study also found that students from Amigos outperformed their Spanish ELL peers in more conventional bilingual education programs (i.e., English as a Second Language or ESL) in math and reading, as well as in Spanish and English.62 These and similar results have been confirmed by numerous other researchers, including a seven-year study undertaken by the Center for Applied Linguistics, which collected data from 344 students in 11 SpanishEnglish DL programs around the country.63 That study concluded: There is widespread acceptance of the value of DL programs. These programs can work for all students, allowing them to meet high academic standards, function in two languages at high levels of academic excellence and share cultural understandings not possible through more traditional educational efforts.... Having all U.S. students become fluent in more than one language is not only a marketable skill in todays increasingly diverse and global society, but, as the students mentioned demonstrate, it can also contribute to increased cognitive flexibility and high achievement in math, science, and language arts.64
59 60 61 62 63 64
Ibid. Garcia & Jensen, Dual Language Programs, 4. Ibid. Ibid., pg. 5. Ibid. Ibid., pg. 6.
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Research conducted in the specific context of preschool also supports dual-language immersion as a promising program. In one such study, by NIECR, three- and four-year-olds were randomly assigned to a DL class or an English-only immersion class. Approximately half the children were Spanish-dominant and half English-dominant. The DL program alternated between Spanish and English classes weekly. All classrooms used the same curriculum.65 The DL program and the English-only programs were compared on a variety of measures, including how well they fostered students growth in language, emerging literacy and mathematical skills. According to the researchers: Children in both DL and EI programs made strong gains on English language measures of achievement. No significant differences between treatment groups were found on English language measures. However, only the DL children made gains in Spanish language acquisition. In fact, Spanish language children gained against Spanish language norms while their peers in the EI program lost ground against Spanish language norms.66 Such results are further evidence of the benefits of the dual-immersion approach, and particularly its applicability to preschool.67 Apart from DL programs, the overall body of evidence on the effectiveness of bilingual programs is mixed, presumably due to the uneven quality of bilingual programs across the country. They are, for example, constrained by the shortage of trained teachers, and they encounter political resistance from those who paint the programs as a boutique alternative, and argue against teaching in Spanish where tax dollars are involved. The Push Toward Bilingualism The push for English-only instruction stands in sharp contrast to a large body of research that increasingly shows that most young children are not only capable of learning two languages [but also] that bilingualism confers cognitive, cultural and economic advantages.68 Historically, bilingualism early in life was thought to confuse children and interfere with their ability to develop normal cognitive functions and succeed academically.69 This notion was repudiated by a landmark study by Elizabeth Peal and Wallace Lambert demonstrating the general superiority of bilinguals over monolinguals in a wide range of intelligence tests and school achievement.70
65
66 67 68
69 70
W. Steven Barnett, Donald J. Yarosz, Jessica Thomas, Kwanghee Jung, Dulce Blanco, Two-way and monolingual English immersion in preschool education: An experimental comparison, Early Childhood Quarterly no. 22 (2007), 278. [hereafter cited as Barnett et al., Two Way Immersion, with all citations referring to Two-way and Monolingual English immersion in preschool education: An experimental comparison]. PLA., 9. Ibid. Bialystok E., Second-language acquisition and bilingualism at an early age and the impact on early cognitive development. In: Tremblay RE, Barr RG, Peters RDeV, eds. Encyclopedia on Early Childhood Development [online]. Montreal, Quebec: Centre of Excellence for Early Childhood Development; 2006: 1-4. Available at: http://www.excellence-earlychildhood.ca/documents/ BialystokANGxp.pdf. I b id . Ibid.
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Subsequent research has found that bilingualism has been associated with a greater awareness of and sensitivity to linguistic structure, an awareness that is transferred and generalized to certain early literacy and nonverbal skills.71 Researchers have conducted countless studies on bilingualism, touching on virtually every aspect of the way in which second and additional languages are learned, how they are processed within the brain, whether a second language interferes with primary language acquisition or whether it enhances it, and the preferred methods in teaching a second language. Some key research findings related to bilinguals and bilingualism include: Knowing more than one language leads to greater cognitive flexibility. Stronger vocabulary and more diversified syntactical skills result in greater mental agility and enhanced cognitive processes.72 Although bilingual children may at first have smaller vocabularies in each language (but equal or greater vocabulary considering both languages) than monolingual children in their own language, bilinguals have a greater understanding of language structure.73 Bilingual children (four to eight years old) demonstrate a clear advantage over monolinguals in solving problems and tasks requiring specific attention to verbal and nonverbal cues.74 In a test of the cognitive processes of students 14 to 16 years of age, bilingual students exhibited superior learning strategies, after controlling for social factors, gender, scholastic achievement and language proficiency.75 Data from a test designed to introduce syntactic ambiguity that had to be resolved in order to make sense of problems revealed that bilingual children used more advanced cognitive and linguistic strategies to resolve ambiguities than did monolingual children. Similarly, bilingual children have been found to outperform their monolingual peers in the ability to ignore red herrings and other false or irrelevant facts in answering complex questions or solving complex problems.76 A recent study found that Hispanic students from bilingual households obtained .6 more years of education and earned bachelors degrees at three times the rate of Hispanics in English
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Linda M. Espinoza, Young English Language Learners in the U.S., (in press). Second language acquisition in early childhood. In New, R. & Cochran, M. (EDs.). Early Childhood Education. Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group. [hereafter cited as: Espinoza, Young ELL students in the U.S. with all citations referring to Young English Language Learners in the U.S.]. Joseph M. Guzman, Learning English, Education Next, (Fall 2002), [hereafter cited as: Guzman, Learning English with all citations referring to Learning English, Education Next]. Ellen Bialystok, Levels of Bilingualism and Levels of Linguistic Awareness, Developmental Psychology 1988; 24(4):560-567 as quoted in Bialystok, Second Language Acquisition, 2. Bialystok, Second Language Acquisition, 2. Guzman Learning English, 61. Guzman, Learning English, p. 65.
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monolingual households (15.6 percent versus 4.6 percent). They also entered high school occupations at twice the rate of English monolinguals.77 In addition to these results, experts agree that, to achieve native-like fluency in a second language, a child needs to acquire the primary elements of the second language before age six and the final elements before age twelve. During these early years, research demonstrates, the childs brain can easily grasp multiple languages and will learn important inhibitory reflexes, so that he or she will use the correct language depending on the context.78 The development of these inhibitory reflexes is highly correlated with superior cognitive development.79 Moreover, a substantial body of evidence suggests that second languages are stored and activated in different parts of the brain, thus causing no interference with primary language acquisition.80 The ability of the brain to switch back and forth between language storage and activation areas is also correlated to high cognitive functioning. In the field of psycholinguistics, failure to develop bilingualism early in life is regarded as a missed opportunity for higher brain development.81 For this and other reasons, pre-K, ELL and bilingualism advocates are coming together around issues of early childhood education and the preferred methods for second language acquisition. Conclusion In sum, the Latino education crisis continues largely unabated, with no solid research or political consensus on how best to address it in the context of pre-K, elementary or secondary schooling. One thing is clear: In the case of ELLs, the growing movement towards requiring English Immersion as a solution is not supported by the research and it is responsible for system-wide failures in the education of ELLs, as in the case of California's major school districts. Best practices point to Dual Language programs as a real advance for all involved, followed by transitional bilingual programs, both of which are backed by extensive research supporting the cognitive and other benefits of developing and maintaining a firm grounding in one's native language, while learning a second. Section Two: Childrens Educational Television This is not the first time that the nation has confronted an educational achievement gap. In the mid-1960s, amidst the ongoing battles over desegregation of the public schools, education reformers also began to focus on a significant achievement gap separating white and African American students. One effort that grew out of this concern was childrens educational television. The television programming that resulted was creative, engaging, intelligent, and most significant, effective. In particular, Sesame Street, the originator of the genre, has played a vital role in
77 78
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I b id . Ellen Bialystok et al., Attention and Inhibition In Bilingual Children: Evidence From The dimensional change card sort task., 325-339 as quoted in Bialystok, Second Language Acquisition, 2. Bialystok, Second Language Acquisition, 3. Kim, K.H.S., Relkin, N. R., Lee, K. M., & Hirsch, J.(1997). Distinct Cortical Areas Associated With Native and Second Languages, 70:347-366 as quoted in Monika Ekiert, The Bilingual Brain, 4. I b id .
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enabling millions of preschool children to develop fundamental academic and cognitive skills that benefit them not just in elementary school, but throughout their academic experience. Unlike the Head Start model specifically targeting, and indeed restricted to, low-income families, Sesame Street and the Childrens Television Workshop that created and produced it quickly moved away from a commitment to help close the achievement gap. Given its runaway success with all U.S. children in its first year, by its second season, Childrens Television Workshop leaders took the view that, There is a basic level of literacy whose achievement opens up greatly expanded opportunities for employment and many other privileges. While Sesame Street could not determine which group of students would cross the line first, it could and did aim to ensure that the maximum number possible would do so.82 Childrens educational television continues to play an important role in the early education of Americas children. It has evolved so far beyond its original mission, and its viewers are so diverse and large a group of children, that it is no longer thought of as a dedicated resource in the fight to close the achievement gap. Rather, it is regarded as a tool for preparing all children for the academic challenges that await them. The Childrens Television Workshop Model The Childrens Television Workshop (CTW) was initially funded with $8 million ($57 million in 2007 equivalent dollars) in grants from the U.S. Department of Education, the Carnegie Foundation and the Ford Foundation, among others.83 Its purpose was to harness the ever broadening reach of television to serve poor children [who] had few available resources. Nursery schools and other opportunities for formal early education experiences were in short supply. Those that did exist were available only to those families that could afford them.... Television could be a way to reach many, if not most, of the children who were in need of such help.84 Thus, CTWs initial funded mandate was to create, broadcast, promote and evaluate an experimental educational television series of 130 hour-long programs that would seek to advance the school readiness of three- to five-year-old children, with special emphasis on the needs of youngsters from low-income and minority backgrounds.85 At the time, of course, the targeted minority children were principally African American.
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Shalom M. Fisch and Rosemarie T. Truglio, G is for Growing: Thirty Years of Research on Children and Sesame Street, (eds, Lawrence Earlbaum Associates, Mahwah, 2001), 5. [hereafter cited as Fisch et al., G is for Growing, with all citations referring to G is for Growing Thirty years of Research on Children and Sesame Street]. Fisch et al., G is for Growing, 4, 26. Ibid., p.26. Ibid., p.4
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CTW successfully accomplished its objective by fostering collaboration among commercial producers, educators and researchers. Under the CTW Model, producers, researchers and educational content specialists collaborate closely throughout the life of a project, from its initial inception through the completion of the final product. Each group brings its unique perspective to the table to ensure that the results will be entertaining, educationally sound, and both appealing and comprehensible to the target audience.86 The emphasis on research is worth noting. CTW relies on formative research to pre-test distinct elements of the show, an approach that has proved critical to the success of the series.87 The testing is aimed at determining whether a select group of pupils watching particular elements are actually able to accomplish the educational objective of the tested element. Research is also aimed at bringing the childs eye to the process, answering such questions as whether a health message is better carried by a green dinosaur or a red parrot, or how many times a learning unit needs to be repeated before a three-year-old learns its content. Often, the results of formative research lead to changes in the production that are made before a show airs nationally. The second key area of research is summative research, which is used to evaluate what, in fact, children who watched the show learned, and how their performance on various tests was affected by watching a particular show. The results of the summative research are also fed back to the production and curriculum teams and used to inform future decisions. In general, summative researchers pre-test and post-test children who have seen Sesame Street episodes, comparing the results with a control group of children who have not, and compare how each group performs with respect to a variety of measurements, such as vocabulary augmentation, number recognition and manipulation, etc. This approach was created in the earliest days of the Childrens Television Workshop, and it continues today, even after the organization was renamed the Sesame Workshop in 2000. Tests are rigorously conducted, data is statistically controlled for factors that could influence the data other than viewing Sesame Street age, sex, geographic location, socioeconomic status, parents educational level, and whether the child watches Sesame Street at home or in a school environment.88 These test results have long been essential to program funders, who understandably expect to see positive results before renewing funding. Key Research into Educational Programs Effectiveness More than 1,000 studies have focused on Sesame Streets effectiveness alone. The most significant are longitudinal studies that follow a child from his on her earliest exposure to childrens educational television through elementary and, in some cases, secondary school. Key findings that emerge include:
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Ibid., xvi. Ibid., pg. 4. Shalom Fisch, Learning from Television, Televizione, December 13, 2005, 10 [hereafter cited as Fisch, Learning from TV, with all citations referring to Learning from Television].
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Among three- to five-year olds, heavier viewers of Sesame Street showed significantly greater growth than nonviewers in an assortment of academic skills related to the alphabet, sorting and classification, numbers, shapes and relational terms. The areas that showed the greatest effects have been those most emphasized on Sesame Street.89 These effects held after controlling for a number of variables, including whether the viewer was a native English or Spanish speaker.90 In a follow-up study conducted a year later on the same children, kindergarten teachers rated frequent Sesame Street viewers (not identified to them as such) as better prepared for school than their nonviewing peers based on such issues as verbal and quantitative readiness, attitude towards school and peer relationships.91 In another study, researchers followed low- Socio-economic Status (SES) preschoolers over a three-year period, and found that watching educational television correlated positively with the amount of time children spent reading and in educational activities, as well as their letter-word knowledge, math skills, vocabulary size, and school readiness on age-appropriate standardized tests.92 Teachers also rated these children as better adjusted to school. In a 2001 study, the U.S. Department of Education analyzed data on 10,000 students dating back to 1993. Results indicated that preschoolers who viewed Sesame Street were better able to recognize letters and tell connected stories when pretending to read. Moreover, in the first and second grade, these former preschoolers were likely to be able to read story books on their own and were less in need of remedial help.93 Another key study found that educational television viewing in early childhood significantly correlated to reading and TV-watching habits in adolescence. The more youngsters watched childrens educational television early in life, the more they were interested as adolescents in watching educational programming and reading.94 In a re-contact study looking at two segments of a high school student population, one group whose members had been frequent viewers of Sesame Street and other childrens educational programming, and another whose members were nonviewers, researchers found that Sesame Street viewers had significantly higher grades in English, Mathematics and Science in junior high or high school. They also read books more often, showed higher academic selfesteem and placed a higher value on academic performance.95 These differences held true even after statistically removing the effects of early language skills and family background. The educational benefits of Sesame Street were also demonstrated in studies of international coproductions. For example, a 1996 Summative Study involving Plaza Sesamo, a Mexican co-
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Fisch, Learning from TV, p.10. Ibid. Ibid., p.11. Ibid. Ibid. Daniel R. Anderson, Early Childhood Viewing and Adolescent Behavior, Monographs of The Society for Research In Child Development, 2001, 66 (1, Serial No. 264) [hereafter cited as Anderson, et al. Childhood Viewing and Adolescent Behavior, with all citations referring to Early Childhood Viewing and Adolescent Behavior]. Fisch et al., G is for Growing, 137-139.
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production, found significant differences in cognitive skills, with Plaza Sesamo viewers holding a clear advantage, particularly in the areas of literacy and mathematics.96 Beyond Sesame Street Other childrens educational television programs have had a similarly impressive impact. Dragon Tales is described by its creators as a school-readiness project.97 The show was designed to encourage young children to pursue challenges that will help their growth and development, to help them recognize multiple ways to approach and learn from obstacles in their lives, and to help them understand that trying and failing is a natural and valuable part of learning.98 In a comprehensive study, Dragon Tales viewers demonstrated a significant increase in the frequency with which they took on challenging tasks, took the lead in organizing play with others, shared with older children, and cooperated with others. Researchers also concluded that Dragon Tales helped spark considerable interaction between child and parent. Between the Lions is designed to foster the literacy skills of its viewers, with a target audience of children between the ages of three and seven. The program seeks to foster the literacy skills of its viewers while playfully demonstrating the joys of reading.99 In a summative evaluation of Between the Lions, 164 kindergarten and first-grade schoolchildren were tested before and after regular exposure to the show. Children who watched Between the Lions improved significantly more than the control group in the areas of letter identification, phonemic awareness, letter-sound correspondence and a general measure of reading ability. The controlled group watched other educational programming focused on math skills.100 Blues Clues was designed to promote mastery of thinking and problem-solving skills among pre-K children. Research indicates it is accomplishing its objective. A study of 120 preschool children found a significant gain in problem-solving skills, gains that increased over time.101 Researchers developed more than 50 different pictorial tests to assess the extent to which regular Blues Clues viewers had learned sequencing, patterning, relational concepts, transformations, and other skills related to creativity and problem solving.102 During the first season of the program, regular Blues Clues watchers scored 80 percent on the tests, while nonviewers scored 60 percent. The gap between viewers and nonviewers increased during the
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Shalom M. Fisch, Childrens Learning from Educational Television: Sesame Street and Beyond, (Lawrence Earlbaum Associates, Mahwah, 2004) 27-28. Sesame Workshop website: http://www.sesame Workshop.org/dragontales/. Dr. Langbourne W. Rust, Summative Evaluation of Dragon Tales. (Final Report conducted for Sesame Workshop, 2001) 4 [hereafter cited as Rust, Dragon Tales with all citations referring to Summative Evaluation of Dragon Tales]. Between the Lions PBS website: http://pbskids.org/lions/parentsteachers/program/, viewed February 24, 2008 Deborah L. Linebarger, Ph.D., Summative Evaluation of Between The Lions: A Final Report to NGBH Educational Foundation, (University of Kansas, July 2, 2000) 4 [hereafter cited as Linebarger, Between The Lions]. Daniel R. Anderson, Researching Blues Clues: Viewing Behavior and Impact, Media Psychology, 2 (2000): 107. Ibid.
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second season, with the regular viewers achieving an average score of 87 percent, while the control group scored 56 percent. Researchers tested the same group of children on riddle comprehension, deciphering, creative thinking, pattern perception, expressive vocabulary, nonverbal skills and the ability to solve new problems. In each area, Blues Clues viewers outscored non-viewers.103 Square One TV was designed to promote positive attitudes and enthusiasm for mathematics, to encourage the use and application of problem-solving process, and to present mathematical content in an interesting, accessible and meaningful manner.104 In one study of the program, researchers administered pre-tests and post-tests to groups of viewers and nonviewers, and found that viewers scored significantly lower than nonviewers in the pre-test (before watching the program) and significantly higher on the post-test (after watching) on measures of the number and variety of problem-solving actions and techniques used and the mathematical completeness and sophistication of the solutions.105 Has Childrens Educational Television Closed the Achievement Gap? Little doubt remains about the effectiveness of childrens educational programming in preparing preschoolers for kindergarten and in developing literacy, mathematical and cognitive skills crucial to those children in their elementary and secondary school experience. But does it close the achievement gap between white students and Latino, specifically Spanish-speaking ELL, students? The evidence indicates that the programming is effective, improving viewers skills in ways that help them achieve in school. That appears to be true regardless of income, ethnicity or native language. But it does not appear to close the achievement gap. Three reasons stand out. First, childrens educational television programming lifts not just minority and low-income children, but white, middle- and upper-income children, as well. So while it produces gains among Latino and low-income children, those gains are matched, even exceeded, by white children from wealthier families. Of course, it is hardly an indictment of childrens educational television to say that it has an important and positive impact on children of all incomes and ethnicities. But it does help explain why the achievement gap is not narrowing. Second, the extent of the impact of childrens educational television varies on the basis of, by now, predictable risk factors. Among them is language. Not surprisingly, research has found that ELL children do not learn as much from English programming as do English-speaking children. As one study concluded: Language turned out to be a suppressor variable in that Hispanic American children often viewed Sesame Street, but, having English as a second language,
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Daniel R Anderson, (2000) Researching Blues Clues: Viewing Behavior and Impact. (pg. 187-190) NJ: Lawrence Earlbaum Associates, Inc. Edward T. Esty, Shamol M. Fisch, Square One TV: Using Television to Enhance Childrens Problem Solving. (Childrens Television Workshop, New York, 1991), 2. Ibid. p 4, p 21.
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performed less well than the average native English-speaking children in the sample.106 Third, children from low-income families register smaller gains from watching childrens educational television than middle- and upper-income, probably because they lack a variety of important supports parents educational attainment, time spent being read to, etc. Indeed, many of these are also ELL children, and research has amply demonstrated that the combination of risk factors is powerful. So while childrens educational television improves the skills of low-income and ELL students, the achievement gap persists. Children who view the programs outpace the rest of their nonviewing cohorts, but the gap between different groups of viewers remains. The result is that low-income students, and low-income ELL students in particular, are likely to enter kindergarten already on the short end of an achievement gap. Many of them have watched and learned from childrens educational television, and are likely to be more advanced than their nonviewing peers, but they are nevertheless behind. Section Three: Closing the Gap Preparing Latino Children to Succeed in School As distressing as the persistence of the achievement gap between white and minority students is, there are several reasons for optimism that real progress is within reach. First, we know we can make progress in improving students chances of succeeding in school, because weve already done it. One significant measure of that is the declining rate of high school dropouts. According to the U.S. Department of Education, the drop-out rate for Latino students has declined from one in three in 1972 to just over one in five today. Over the same period, African American and white dropout rates have both been cut in half. The African American dropout rate has declined from one in five to one in ten, while the white dropout rate has gone from one in eight to one in sixteen. The bad news is the disparity between the different groups. The good news is the overall trend line of declining dropouts, demonstrating that progress is not just possible, but ongoing. Second, we know from research that we can make progress with pre-K students in particular. Pre-K prepares children for what they will encounter in school, and has both short- and long-term benefits, a significant increase in graduation rates for pre-K students is chief among the latter. Third, we know some specific educational approaches work. Research described in this white paper, for example, demonstrates the value of early learning, and pre-K in particular, and points the way toward a bilingual approach to education (i.e., Dual Language Immersion) that allows Spanish-speaking children to learn both academic Spanish and English and keep up with their English-speaking classmates in the substantive areas at the same time.
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Fisch, et al., G is for Growing, p. 109.
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Fourth, we know that childrens educational television, when devised with the attention to research demonstrated by the Sesame Workshop, can be a most powerful tool in preparing pre-K children for the classroom. Reams of data make clear that childrens educational television has a significant impact on children who watch it. Indeed, in the sole study focused on ELL students in a bilingual classroom setting, researchers concluded that ELL viewers achieved strong language-skill gains from viewing Between the Lions.107 Fifth, making that record of success all the more significant is the knowledge that childrens educational television has strong penetration into, and is very popular among, low-income, black and Latino families, including those in which the mother does not speak English as their first language.108 One study found that 83 percent of children from the poorest communities were regular viewers of Sesame Street, a higher percentage than in non-poor communities.109 In addition, nearly 90 percent of Latino preschoolers had watched Sesame Street before starting school, a clear indication that Latino families value childrens educational television,110 and that the programming is reaching these audiences. Sixth, the growing political strength of the Latino population in the United States adds real urgency to efforts to address the issue, and real political rewards for politicians and policymakers who are able do address it in ways that are effective and not punitive. How best to turn these reasons for optimism into an effective, nationwide program or programs to close the Latino education gap? Towards a New Approach to the Latino Education Crisis Building on the popularity and proven success of dual language immersion programs, V-Me will seek to create a new genre of childrens educational television that has as its objective teaching not only the underlying skills Sesame Street and its progeny are known for, but also English to Spanish speakers (of all ages) and Spanish to English speakers (of all ages). Our emphasis on creating entertaining and educationally sound programming that also teaches English to Spanish speakers and Spanish to English speakers is in line with current U.S. policy as embodied in the 1994 Elementary and Secondary Education Act, which actively promotes the development of educational programs whose goal is dual language competency both for ELLs and native English speakers. In creating such programming, we intend to follow the successful model pioneered by Sesame Workshop (and, indeed, plan to collaborate with Sesame Workshop) and therefore we will seek key participation from educators, curriculum specialists, language acquisition specialists, researchers (both for formative and summative research), ELL specialists, cutting edge television producers, digital content specialists and digital marketing teams for new media. By targeting our digital TV programming to ELLs, we can improve their academic English (and those of their parents and grandparents) with the concomitant benefits that they will understand more of the substantive lessons
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Uchikoshi, Y.(2006). Early Reading in Bilingualism Kindergarten: Can Educational Television Help? Scientific Studies of Reading, Volume 10 (pp. 89- 120). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. Fisch, et al., G is for Growing, p. 118. Ibid., p.119. Ibid.
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embodied in the educational programming they watch and will be better prepared for success in school and society. At the same time we believe we can teach Spanish to English dominant children at an age where research has shown they can effortlessly acquire a second language to their undoubted long term benefit. Call to Action As we face the challenge of upgrading our educational system and making it more efficient and effective for children of this generation, we can no longer justify the age-old division between the pre-k movement (i.e. brick and mortar) and childrens educational television. The fact that for historical reasons each has evolved and remained completely separate is no reason for maintaining the status quo especially when they have overlapping missions. 1. National Covening
Thus, as a first step in fostering new approaches to the Latino Education Crisis, V-Me is prepared to commit significant organizational resources to bringing together both sides of the aisle with a focus on how we can work in common purpose to help close the Latino achievement gap, especially, among ELLs. This convening would seek to include all of the various stakeholders researchers, educators, politicians and other Latino leaders, childrens advocates, childrens programming experts, language acquisition specialists, ELL specialists, television and digital media producers and marketers, educational book publishers and the foundations and other NGOs that support early education, bilingualism and / or educational media. The purpose of this convening will be to make all aware of the most recent successful models for teaching ELLs; to explore the research concerning the effectiveness of high quality preschool programs, as well as the research relating to the effectiveness of childrens educational television in closing the achievement gap and fostering school readiness; and to review the current state of the research and learning regarding bilingualism and second language acquisition. We will also seek to recruit leading experts in their fields who would be interested in providing input into the new programming V-Me intends to develop. 2. Funding
In addition to V-Mes own resources, V-me will use the convening also to lay the groundwork for seeking broad funding support from the U.S. and various State Departments of Education and from foundations that have a strong interest in education, promoting bilingualism and /or closing the educational achievement gap. It is our hope that such funders will view V-Mes new programming, as well as related in-class and in-home initiatives, as an important and cost effective way to harness and combine the power of television and all forms of digital media with key advancements in classroom teaching. The fact that V-me will in June 2009 be available in over 70 million homes nationally and will cover over 80% of all Hispanic households puts a rare and costly resource at the disposal of the cause to close the yawning minority achievement gap. 3. Parental Involvement
A key element to success in school is parental involvement, particularly with their child in the home. Recent statistics show that one in four children entering the public school system are 45
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Latinos, many of whom come from Spanish dominant homes. For many parents, lack of English has proven to be a wall that often separates them not only from teachers, but also from their own childs learning. The proven power of childrens educational television to be effective not only in the classroom but to reach into the home presents unique opportunities to fashion a 21st century educational experience one that allows what the teachers teach to be carried into the home where eager parents that have been blocked by the language barrier can, with V-mes new programming, participate and enrich their childs learning and themselves. As a second phase of this Call to Action, we would like to convene and pursue collaborations with formal and informal educational institutions, new media marketing specialists, the leadership of successful Pre-K programs, etc., to see how best to develop specialized materials and activities that, together with V-Mes programming, can help support and encourage parents to more actively and effectively participate in their childs learning. Conclusion For too long, Latinos and other minority students in the United States have lagged behind their white peers. Their failure is not their doing. Rather, it is a reflection of their exposure to key risk factors and the failure of a number of American institutions to acknowledge and address the problems that result from a rapidly changing demographic profile. These children will personally bear the burden of this institutional failure for the rest of their lives. Their children, however, need not. The time for a new approach has arrived, and the necessary tools are within reach.
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Buysse, V., Castro, D. C., West, T., & Skinner, M. L. (2004). Addressing the needs of Latino children: A national survey of state administrators of early childhood programs. Executive summary. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina, FPG Child Development Institute. Calderon, M. (2007). Buenos Principios: Latino Children in the Earliest Years of Life. National Council of La Raza, Washington, DC. Capps R., Fix M., Murray J., Ost J., Passel S. J., Herwantoro S. (2005). The New Demography of American Schools: Immigration and the No Child: Left Behind Act. The Urban Institute, Washington, DC. Chernin R., A., & Linebarger L. D. (2005). The Relationship Between Childrens Television Viewing and Academic Performance. Archivess Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine Volume 159: 687-689 Downloaded on October 26, 2007 from: www.archpediatrics.com Children Now: California Report Card, The State of the States Children 2006-07. Retrieved on October 16, 2007 from: http://publications.childrennow.org/assets/pdf/policy/rc07/ca-rc-2007.pdf Crawley, A. M.; Anderson, D. R.; Santomero, A; Wilder, A; Williams, M; Evans, M. K.; Bryant, J. (2002) Do Children Learn How To Watch Television? The Impact of Extensive Experience with Blues Clues on Pre School Children. Journal of Communication, Volume 52 Issue 2 (pp. 264-280). David, J., Lewis, S. (2002) Strategies to Promote Language and Social Development., Why? Research? Building Local Laboratories., The Head Start Impact Study. Headstart Bulletin, Issue 74. De Jesus, A., Vasquez W. D. (2005). Exploring the Education Profile and Pipeline for Latinos in New York State. Policy Paper. Ehri, C. L., Dreyer, G. L, Flugman, B. Gross, A. (2007) Reading Rescue: An Effective Tutoring Intervention Model for Language Minority Students Who Are Struggling Readers in First Grade. American Educational Research Journal, Volume 44, No. 2 (pp. 414-448). Espinosa, M. L. (2002). High-Quality Preschool: Why We Need it and What it Looks Like. Preschool: Policy Matters, Issue 1. Espinosa M. L. (2006). Young English Language Learners in the U.S. University of Missouri-Columbia. Francis, J. D. Practical Guidelines for English Language Learners. Presented at LEP Partnership Meeting, Washington, DC on October 28, 2006. Fisch, M. S., (2004). Childrens Learning from Educational Television: Sesame Street and Beyond. Mawah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
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Fisch, M. S., Truglio T. R. G is for Growing. Mahwah: Lawrence Earlbaum Associates, Publishers, 2001 Flynn, K., & Hill, J. (2005). English Language Learners: A Growing Population. Policy Brief. Mid-Continent Research for Education and Learning, Denver, CO. Frede, F. E., Jung, K., Barnett, W. S., Lamy C., Figueras M., (2007) The Abbot Preschool Program Longitudinal Effects Study. (APPLES). Fry, R. (2003). Hispanic Youth Dropping Out of U. S. Schools: Measuring The Challenge. Pew Hispanic Center, Washington, DC. Fry, R. (2007). How Far Behind in Math and Reading are English Language Learners. Pew Hispanic Center, Washington, DC. Garcia E. E., et al. (2007) Para Nuestros Nios: Expanding and Improving Early Education for Hispanics. National Task Force on Early Childhood Education for Hispanics, Tempe, AZ. Garcia, E. E., Gonzales, M. D. (2006), Pre-K and Latinos: The Foundation for Americas Future. Pre-K Now, Research Series. Garcia E. E., Jensen B. (2006) Dual-Language Programs in U.S. Schools: An Alternative To Monocultural, Monligual Education. Gentzkow, M., Shapiro, M. J. (2006). Does Television Rot Your Brain? New Evidence from the Coleman Study. Georgetown College. TV for Tots: Georgetown University Early Learning Project. Research News: Science. Retrieved on September 19, 2007 from: http://college.georgetown.edu/reseacrh/mind/30228.html Gormley, T. W., Phillips D. (2003). The Effects of Universal Pre-K in Oklahoma: Research Highlights and Policy Implications. Graham, J., How Television Viewing Affects Children. Family Issues Facts: A Fact Sheet for Families and People Who Work With Families. Bulletin #4100. University of Maine Cooperative Extension. Grantmakers for Education. (December 2007). Making the Most of Our Investments: How PK-3 Alignment Can Close The Achievement Gap From The Start. Guzman M., J., (Fall 2002) Learning English. Education Next. Hancox, J. R., Milne, J. B., Poulton, R. (2005). Association of Television Viewing During Childhood with Poor Educational Achievement. Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine Volume 159: 614-618. Found in www.archpediatrics.com downloaded on October 26, 2007.
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Hill D., J. & Flynn K. (2008). English Language Learners: Asking the Right Questions. National Staff Development Council Volume 29 No.1. Jordan, B. A., James, C. H., McDivitt, A. J., & Heitzler, D. C. (2006). Reducing Childrens Television-Viewing Time: A Qualitive Study of Parents and Their Children. Pediatrics, Volume 118 No. 5. (pp.e1301-e1310). Downloaded on October 26, 2007. from: www.pediatrics.org Jordan, B. A. (2005). Learning to Use Books and Television: An Exploratory Study in the Ecological Perspective. American Behavioral Scientist, Volume 48 No. 5 (pp. 523-538) Jordan, B. A. (2006). Exploring the Impact of Media on Children. Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine Volume 159: 614-618. Found in www.archpediatrics.com downloaded on October 26, 2007. Johnson, G. J., Cohen, P., Kasen, S., Brook., S. J. (2007) Extensive Television Viewing and the Development of Attention and Learning Difficulties During Adolescence. Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine Volume 161: 446-447. Found in www.archpediatrics.com downloaded on October 26, 2007. Krashen S. (2002).Is Bilingual Education Bad For You? Another Bogus Argument Against Bilingual Education. Language Policy Research Unit. Retrieved December 20, 2007 From: http://www.language-policy.org/content/features/articles6.htm Krcmar, M., Grela, B., & Lin, K. (2007) Can Toddlers Learn Vocabulary from Television? An Experimental Approach. Media Psychology, Volume 10 (pp. 41-63). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. Laosa M. L., Ainsworth P. (2007) Is Public Pre-K Preparing Hispanic Children to Succeed in School? Preschool Policy Brief, Issue 13. Lee, J., Grigg, W., & Donahue, P. (2007). The Nations Report Card: Reading 2007 (NCES 2007-496). National Center for Education Statistics, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, Washington, DC. Linebarger L. D., Walker D. (2005) Infants and Toddlers Television Viewing and Language Outcomes. American Behavioral Scientist, Volume 48, No. 5: (pp. 625-645). Sage Publications. Linebarger, L. D. (2000). Summative Evaluation of Between the Lions: Juniper Gardens Childrens Project. WGBH Educational Foundation. Los Angeles Unified School District, Office of Research and Evaluation. (December 2007) Fact Book: Achieving A+ Summit: Acquisition of English Academic For All. Los Angeles. Lutkus, A. D, Grigg, W. S; & Dion, G. S. (2007). National Assessment of Educational Progress. The Nations Report Card. Retrieved on November 20, 2007 from: http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/pubs/dst2007/2008452.asp
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McLanahan S., Haskins R., Pason C., Rouse C., Sawhill I (2005) The Future of Children-School Readiness: Closing Racial and Ethnic Gaps. Volume 15 No. 1 Marshall, M. J. (2002). Learning With Technology: Evidence that Technology can, and does, support Learning. A White Paper Prepared for Cable in the Classroom. San Diego State University. Matthews H., Ewen D. (2006). Reaching All Children? Understanding Early Care and Education Participation Among Immigrant Families. Center for Law and Social Policy, Washington, DC. Moeller, B. (1996). Learning From Television: A Research Review. CCT Reports, Issue No. 11. Orfield, G., Losen, D., Wald, J., & Swanson, C., (2004) Losing Our Future: How Minority Youth Are Being Left Behind by the Graduation Rate Crisis, Cambridge, MA: The Civil Rights Project at Harvard University. Contributors: Advocates for Children of New York, The Civil Society Institute. Pecora, N., Murray, P. J., Wartella, E., (2007). Children and Television: Fifty Years of Research. Mawah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Pew Hispanic Center (2002). Fact Sheet, Educational Attainment: Better Than Meets the Eye, But Large Challenges Remain. Washington, DC. Retrieved November 12, 2007 from: http://pewhispanic.org/files/factsheets/3.pdf. Presidents Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans. (March 21, 2003). From Risk to Opportunity: National Task Force on Early Childhood Education for Hispanics. Retrieved from: http://www.yic.gov/paceea/finalreport.pdf Research Summary and Bibliography for Structured English Immersion Program Models. (2007) Arizona English Language Learners Task Force. Rideout V., Hamel E., (2006). The Media Family: Electronic Media in the Lives of Infants, Toddlers, Preschoolers and Their Parents. The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, Menlo Park, California. Rideout, V., Roberts, F. D., Foehr, G. U., (2005) Generation M: Media in the Lives of 8-18 Year-olds. The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, Menlo Park, California. Rossell, H. C. & Baker K., (February 1996). The Educational Effectiveness of Bilingual Education. Research in the Teaching of English, Volume 30 No. 1 Rossell H. C., (Fall 2003). The Near End of Bilingual Education. Education Next. Rust. W. Langbourne (2001) Summative Evaluation of Dragon Tales. Langbourne Rust Research, Inc. Briarcliff Manor, NY. Retrieved on October 16, 2007 from: www.lnagrust.com/DragonTales%20FInalReportforDOE.htm 51
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Schmitt, L. K., Anderson, R. D. (2002) Television and Reality: Toddlers Use of Visual Information from Video to Guide Behavior. Media Psychology, Volume 4 (pp.51-76). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. Schmitt L. K., Anderson R. D. (2002). Television and Reality: Toddlers Use of Visual Information from Video to Guide Behavior. Media Psychology Volume 4 (pp. 17-76). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. School Readiness Report. (2007) An Examination of Community Conditions in Marion County and Indiana that Affect Early School Success. Success by 6, United Way of Central Indiana. Scott-Hill, K. (2004). Los Angeles Universal Preschool Master Plan. First 5 L.A., Los Angeles, CA. Thakkar, R. R., Garrison M. M., & Christakis, A. D. (2006) A Systematic Review for the Effects of Television Viewing by Infants and Preschoolers. Pediatrics, Volume 118 No. 5 (pp. 2025- 203 1). The Connecticut Commission on Children. (2002). School Readiness Is One Smart Little Investment. School Readiness UPDATE Early Reading Success. The Connecticut Commission on Children Volume 4 No. 1. Uchikoshi, Y. (2006). Early Reading in Bilingualism Kindergarten: Can Educational Television Help? Scientific Studies of Reading, Volume 10 (pp. 89-120). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. Uchikoshi, Y. (2006). Effects of Multimedia Stories on Literacy Development for Early English Language Learners. Presented at University of California, Davis on June 27, 2006. Unlanoff, H. S., Pucci, L. S. (1999) Learning Words from Books: The Effects of Reading Aloud on Second Language Vocabulary Acquisition. Bilingual Research Journal, Volume 23, No. 4. BRJ Online retrieved November 26, 2007 from: http://brj.asu.edu/v234/articles/art6.html Vanderwater A. E., Bickham S. D. (2004) The Impact of Educational Television on Young Childrens Reading in the Context of Family Stress. Applied Developmental Psychology Volume 25 (pp. 717-728) Elsevier Inc. Vaugh S., Cirino, T. P., Thompson, L. S., Mathes, G. P., Carlson, C., & Hagan C. E., Durola, S., Fletcher, J., & Francis, J.D. (2006) Effectiveness of a Spanish Intervention and English Intervention for English-Language Learners at Risk for Reading Problems. American Educational Research Journal, Volume 43, No.3 (pp. 449-487) Wartella, A. E., Lee, H. J., Caplovitz, G. A., (2002) Children and Interactive Media. Childrens Learning from Television. Winsler, A; Diaz, R. M.; Espinosa, L. (1999). Learning a Second Language Does Not Mean Losing the First: A Replication and Follow-up of Bilingual Language Development in 52
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Spanish-Speaking Children Attending Bilingual preschool. Child Development Volume 70, No. 2 (pp. 349-362). Wright, J., et al. (2001). The Relations of Early Television Viewing to School Readiness and Vocabulary of Children from Low-Income Families: The Early Window Project. Child Development Volume 72 (pp. 1347-1366). Zill, N., & West, J. (2001). Entering kindergarten: A portrait of American children when they begin school: Findings from The Condition Education 2000 (NCES Publication 2001035). Retrieved September 14 , 2007 from http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2001/2001035.pdf Zimmerman, R. F., Christakis, A. D., Meltzoff, N. A. (2007) Television and DVD/Video Viewing in Children Younger than 2 Years. Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine Volume 161: 473-479. Found in www.archpediatrics.com downloaded on September 19, 2007. Zimmerman J. F., Christakis A. D., (2005). Childrens Television Viewing and Cognitive Outcomes. Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine Volume 159: 619-625.
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About the Author
Mario L. Baeza
Chairman and CEO The Baeza Group, LLC Founder and Chairman VMe Media, Inc.
million records, received numerous Grammy nominations and a Grammy for best female R&B vocal performance, 5 American Music Awards and 3 Billboard Awards. She also was entered into the Guinness Book of Records for being the first female to have four songs in the top ten pop charts at the same time, a feat equaled only by the Beatles. In 2004, AJM Records and Baeza Music Publishing were awarded two ASCAP awards for singles released on Ashanti's second album. In 2007 AJM Records released the soundtrack to a feature film entitled, Downtown A Street Tale, featuring performances by Irene Cara and Petula Clark In 2003, Mr. Baeza was appointed by Mayor Michael Bloomberg to serve as Chair of the New York City Latin Media and Entertainment Commission. The Commission has as its objective to make New York City once again the Latin media and entertainment capital of the world. The Commission includes prominent Latino and media industry leaders in New York and already has a record of notable successes. In 2004, Mr. Baeza was a U.S. Congressional appointee to the Independent Task Force in TV Measurement, which was created to review and analyze Nielsen Media Research's recruitment and sampling methodologies, with a particular focus on their impact on people of color. The Task Force's groundbreaking report and recommendations were accepted wholesale by Nielsen and changed Nielsen's approach to doing business in African-American, Latino and Asian communities. In 2005, Mr. Baeza was elected Chairman of the Upper Manhattan Development Zone, a quasi-public entity that is authorized to disburse over $250,000,000 in financings and investments (and in grants to non-profit cultural institutions) all for the purpose of spurring economic development and job growth in Harlem and the South Bronx, New York. In 2006, after six years of work, The Baeza Group partnered with WNET/Thirteen, the flagship PBS affiliate station, to form V-Me Media, Inc., a new national Spanish language television network distributed through the digital channels of public television affiliate stations. The channel officially launched on March 6, 2007 reaching over 28 million homes and will cover over 50 million homes and 72% of the U.S. Hispanic population by the end of 2007, making it the fastest growing and one of the most widely distributed networks of its kind. Mr. Baeza serves as V-Me's Founder and Executive Chairman. Mr. Baeza is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Cornell University (where he was graduated in three years with honors and distinction in all subjects) and a graduate of Harvard Law School. Mr. Baeza has been a Herman Phleger Visiting Professor of Law at Stanford Law School and a Lecturer in Law at Harvard Law School, where he taught a large lecture course entitled, "New Technology and the Law." He is a member of the Board of Directors of Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE:ADP), where he is amember of the Executive Committee and chairs the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee; he was the lead director of Tommy Hilfiger Corporation (NYSE:OM), until its sale in May 2006, and is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Ariel Mutual Funds complex, the largest minority-owned asset management firm in the United States. In 2007 he joined the Board of the Israel Discount Bank of New York and in 2008 joined the Board of Brown Shoe Company, Inc. (NYSE:BWS). Mr. Baeza is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, Inc. (former member of the Board). His charitable activities include membership on the boards of directors of The Hispanic Federation, Inc., Catholic Charities, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, the Cuban Artists Fund and Channel Thirteen/WNET. Mr. Baeza has been featured as one of The 100 Most Powerful Latinos by Poder magazine and one of The 100 Influentials by Hispanic Business magazine.
Mario L. Baeza is the founder and controlling shareholder of Baeza & Co., which was formed in 1995 in order to create the first U.S. Hispanicowned merchant banking firm focusing on the Pan-Hispanic region. In 1996, Baeza & Co. entered into a partnership with Trust Company of the West, a global asset manager with approximately $90 billion under management, for the purpose of forming TCW/Latin America Partners ("TCW/LAP"). Led by Baeza & Co., in 1997 TCW/LAP raised $230 million in committed funds and thereby became one of the pioneering Latin America-focused private equity funds. Baeza & Co. provided the entire management team for TCW/LAP and the anchor clients for the funds TCW/LAP managed. Mario L. Baeza served as Chairman and CEO of TCW/LAP from its inception until 2003 and as Chairman until 2006. In 2003, Mr. Baeza formed The Baeza Group, a Hispanic-owned alternative investment firm specializing in the management of private equity investments targeting the U.S. Hispanic domestic emerging market and hedge fund products centered around global macro strategies. From 1994 to 1996, Mr. Baeza was President of Wasserstein Perella International Limited and Chairman and CEO of Grupo Wasserstein Perella, a Latin American focused joint venture between Baeza & Co. and Wasserstein Perella. From 1974 to 1994, Mr. Baeza was an associate and then, at the age of 29, became a partner of the international law firm of Debevoise & Plimpton where he specialized in domestic and international mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance and the negotiation and structuring of private equity funds and private equity investments. Mr. Baeza also founded and was the head of the firm's Latin America Group and, prior t o t h a t , i t s E S O P l e v e r a g e d b u yo u t p r a c t i c e , a s w e l l a s i t s telecommunications and new technology practice. Mr. Baeza was consistently the top or one of the top billing partners of the firm. Mr. Baeza has had a long and successful career in media. In 1992, Mr. Baeza, together with Wynton Marsalis, Gordon Davis, Albert Murray and Nat Leventhal, co-founded Jazz@LincolnCenter which became a full constituent of Lincoln Center co-equal with the Metropolitan Opera, NY Philharmonic and American Ballet Theatre. In 2004, Jazz@Lincoln Center moved to its new home in the Time-Warner Center after a successful $130 million capital campaign, the largest for Jazz music in history. Led by Wynton Marsalis, the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra has become the most celebrated Jazz orchestra of its day and the organization's educational and outreach programs have become role models for other arts organizations. Mr. Baeza also founded, Hillside Broadcasting Corp., which acquired a controlling interest in WWAY-TV (Wilmington, N.C.) and KSLA-TV (Shreveport, LA.), both ABC television station affiliates, and significant interests in WKRS (FM) and WOR (AM) radio stations in New York City. All properties were eventually sold at substantial premiums to their acquisition cost. In 2000, Mr. Baeza formed AJM Records, an independent record label, that signed and successfully launched the career of Ashanti in ajoint venture with Def Jam/Murder Inc. records. Ashanti's first album sold over 5
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Appendix 1: Description of V-Mes Spanish Language and Bilingual Education Programming In addition to the attached, you may download this information directly from the yousendit website by visiting:
http://www.yousendit.com/transfer.php?action=download&u fid=89A630F12B414ACE http://www.yousendit.com/transfer.php?action=download&u fid=0DE46EB7468F53CB http://www.yousendit.com/transfer.php?action=download&u fid=89A630F12B414ACE
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. 4.101,44.
li
CRITERIA FOR KEY SKILL-DEVELOPMENT AREAS THAT
SUPPORT CURRICULUM
PHYSICAL
Characters serve as role models for exercise. Through the characters' physical activities, children learn and acquire healthy habits. Characters eat "healthy foods" and develop a sense of personal responsibility involved in making positive nutritional choices.
COGNITIVE
Characters demonstrate logical thinking and develop opportunities to acquire and apply math, science and language skills through observation, measurement, counting, comparing, categorizing and asking. Asking questions and more questions establishes the basis of the scientific approach. Characters respect knowledge and learning by "asking" those who know more, whether a book or an adult. Characters act out problem-solving skills and recap the learning process by stating the moral towards the end of the show. As characters listen to others without being judgmental, children learn, adapt and accept ideas from others. Children see characters go through similar situations in different episodes, which reaffirms the lessons learned.
EMOTIONAL/IMAGINATIVE
Characters demonstrate imagination, an open mind, and how fantasy can create "worlds" that empower actions, providing a safe environment to try different options, where initial failure is often a step towards learning. Although characters may not be in total control over different environments, they use their minds to explore options and find solutions, developing a unique passion for learning and for caring about the world.
METACOGNITIVE
The child transfers knowledge from the show to his/her own reality when characters return home after exploring imaginative worlds where learning takes place. By "sharing" with others and observing them, characters adopt new perspectives in order to learn. Children learn the special and ingenious ways in which animals face challenges, which leads to critical thinking, and respect for the challenges they themselves face.
SOCIAL
The wonder of nature and respect for others is ce ntr al to ma n y ep i so d e s. T h er e ar e ma n y opportunities to discover new places, and learn from experiences (places, sounds, perspectives). Characters face "kid-problems/challenges," and yet find strategies and alternative solutions to resolve them. Whether picking up toys, learning to swim, trying out new foods, or getting dressed, realizing that situations may have different solutions depending on one's perspective empowers the child to measure accomplishments by learning and not just by succeeding. Through trial and error, characters see the importance of not giving up.
ADDITIONAL EDUCATIONAL CURRICULUM

Traditional educational elements are incorporated in the episodes. Characters make use of books and maps, which introduce children to basic research tools. Episodes follow a "regular" pattern: character faces a challenge and use imagination to deal with it. Viewers are invited to "solve the problem" before the character does by imagining different scenarios. Eac h s ho w e nd s o n a p o si ti v e no t e t h at underscores the skill to be achieved, and restates the lesson to reinforce the learning.
VMe
is proud to offer the largest, most widely distributed block of world-class educational preschool content in Spanish TV Age-appropriate programs help preschool children develop intellectually, emotionally and physically. Each program incorporates strong cognitive and social skills modeled by empathetic characters that children can easily relate to.
Programming Educational Curriculum
Emotional and social development is based on acknowledging respect for others, using one's imagination, expressing emotions, following healthy habits and caring for the environment. The scientific method is introduced through observation, measurement, categorizing, comparison, and asking questions.
The educational curriculum of each program develops the child's critical thinking, self-esteem, Problem-solving skills, critical thinking, and cognitive ability and life-long love of learning. transferring skills to reality all underpin the V-Me preschool offer. The programming From color, pattern, and number recognition provides a safe, positive environment for to contrast and comparison, from observing children as well as parents, teachers, caregivers behavioral patterns in others, formulating and and anyone dealing with preschoolers. expressing ideas, to establishing hypotheses and modifying knowledge, each program The section below provides the criteria used highlights and reaffirms different skills. in the selection of programming.
DEVELOPMENTAL CRITERIA
SKILL DEVELOPMENT
Physical Emotional/Imaginative Social
CURRICULUM VALUE
Health, exercise
EDUCATIONAL VALUE
Supports exercising and learning about healthy food Learning how to use imagination to solve problems and face challenges Learn how to interact with others,.Show respect and adapt to different situations. Develop skills that will prepare children to build on knowledge Learn to apply knowledge in life
Use imagination and fantasize and express emotions Establish relationships, respect others Acquire knowledge Transfer knowledge to reality
Cognitive Motacognitive
For Program Title, See attached chart
PROGRAMMING BY
TITLE & SKILL
COGNITIVE Cinco Connie Brambly Minutes la CyberHedge Mas Vaquita chase
CURRICULUM STRENGTH
E l Honk Mund Toot & o de SwoHenrySwoosh Las L o s Tres Jim Disfraces Hoobs d e l a Kipper Mellizas de Bebes Dougie Luna
ii
*
41/111
* * * * A * * *
*
age
fib
of*
* * *
Los Pies Magiccs Musti Percy Plaza Rubbade Sesame dubbers Fan-y
Vitaminix
ot.
**
404
* * *
* * *
KIDS PROGRAMMING
V-Ine is proud to offer the largest, most widely distributed block of world-class educational preschool content in Spanish TV Programming from international leaders in quality including HT Entertainment, Alliance Atlantis, Sesame Workshop, ThirteenANNET and Cromosoma. Brambly Hedge - Loveable mice teach respect for nature, elders and the community. Five Minutes More/Cinco Minutos Mas - Innovative shorts - with characters from Jim Henson.'" - promote literacy, story telling and reading aloud to children. Connie The Cow/Connie la Vaquita - Stories, interactive games and discoveries with curious Connie, her family and her animal friends. Cyberchase - Three friends and their cyberpal battle villains in Cyberspace. Award-winning math series for kids aged 8-12. Henry's World/EI Mundo de Henry - The extraordinary story of Henry Wiggins, an eight-year-old boy who has amazing powers whenever he eats his mother's mushy carrots. Honk, Toot and Swo-woosh - A car, tugboat and helicopter share adventures, problem-solving skills and fun-filled, positive life lessons. Hoobs Jim Henson'srm puppet aliens promote basic discovery, research and technology. Lunar Jim/Jim de la Luna - An animated 3D astronaut teaches preschool science and creativity through amusing adventures of discovery. Kipper Award-winning series with Kipper the Dog and pals: Tiger the terrier, Pig, and Pig's nephew Arnold. The Baby Triplets/Las Tres Mellizas Bebes - Spain's famous mischievous Baby Triplets mix play with language and social development. Dougie in Disguise/Los Disfraces de Dougie - A boy's vivid imagination transforms his books into a world of magic, wisdom and creative play. Franny's Feet/Los Pies Magicos de Franny - Learning and geography are magical fun as Franny travels the world to meet and help new friends. Musti - An inquisitive white kitten plays and learns in a colorful world. Nouky and his Friends/Nouky y sus Amigos - Noukie the bear, Paco the donkey and Lola the cow help friends to understand the little mysteries of everyday life in each episode. Percy the Park Keeper/Percy el Guardabosque - Gentle and wise, Percy tends the park, teaches nature lessons, and helps his needy animal friends. Plaza Sesamo - Latin American version of Sesame Street. Animation, music, and characters teach and delight preschoolers. Rubbadubbers Animated bath toys turn an everyday bathroom into a world of imagination and fantastic adventure. 7 Pets - Follows the adventures of seven baby animals who learn from each other the values of teamwork, confidence, courage, dedication, acceptance, and friendship.3 Ibid.
www.VmeTV.com

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The Latino Education Crisis: Towards A New Approach to Preparing Latino Children for Success in School and in Life

A White Paper and Call to Action

May 20, 2008

The Latino Educational Crisis

The Latino Educational Crisis

Table 2 Percentage of Children Scoring Below the Basic Level in Math

Percentage of Children Scoring Below the Basic Level in Reading

Source: NAEP 2005

Making Sure Programs are of High Quality

Table 9 YEAR TOTAL K-12 ENROLLMENT

K-12 GROWTH E L L SINCE ENROLLMENT 1993-94

ELL GROWTH SINCE 1993-94

The New Demography of American Schools, pg. 10.

*Source: The New Demography of American Schools, pg. 10

*Source: English Language Learners: A Growing Population, p. 2

Fisch, et al., G is for Growing, p. 109.

108 109 110

About the Author

http://www.yousendit.com/transfer.php?action=download&u fid=89A630F12B414ACE http://www.yousendit.com/transfer.php?action=download&u fid=0DE46EB7468F53CB http://www.yousendit.com/transfer.php?action=download&u fid=89A630F12B414ACE

CRITERIA FOR KEY SKILL-DEVELOPMENT AREAS THAT

ADDITIONAL EDUCATIONAL CURRICULUM

Programming Educational Curriculum

For Program Title, See attached chart

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