Christie Duffy
Correspondent
Plans are underway to restructure the way some students are taught in the Paterson’s school district. The goal– to give sixth through eighth graders who are not native English speakers the opportunity to learn in Spanish.
The Director of the World Languages Department for Paterson Public Schools Rogelico Suarez says this will correct the current system– which hasn’t always worked.
“Students are pretty much put in a monolingual setting with ESL support. Regardless of the level of English that they have. And what has happened with that is for two, three, four years, they are negotiating meaning for content. So they’re not getting the content because they’re trying to learn a second foreign language,” said Suarez.
Suarez says Paterson students represent over 30 languages. They try to help as many as they can through their existing English language support staff. But Spanish is the most prevalent second language, which is why they’re launching the new intensive program.
Right now they are looking to hire Spanish-speaking teachers, they’re consolidating current staff, and getting ready to set up new classrooms. Starting in September, this new native language instruction program will be underway for upwards of 500 students.
Inside some classrooms in the lower grades– teachers are already teaching students in Spanish. The city also has teachers who teach in Bengali and Arabic according to the principal at School 15, over 80 percent of her students are English language learners.
“At the same time, we are increasing– I want people to understand increasing the amount of English they are receiving daily. Right now they receive about 40 minutes, not consistently. What we’re trying to do is increase it to 60 minutes,” said Suarez.
Some who struggle, may even get more, says Suarez.
Paterson’s School District is under state control. While the board of education will also vote on the plan next week, the superintendent plans to implement the new program come September.
“A lot of people in the community are still having a hard time understanding what it is all about but I personally believe it’s going to be a benefit. One of the concerns I’ve always had is that the classrooms are overcrowded with various language barriers,” said Paterson Board of Education Commissioner Corey Teague.
Suarez says teacher reaction to the plan is– it’s about time. As for parents, they are planning forums in the coming weeks to give them information and to get feedback on the change.