Many California School Districts See an Increase in English Learners

Feb
24

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The Escondido district also has seen the biggest increase in English learners over the last decade, gaining 2,200 in the last 10 years, while enrollment remained relatively static.

Last school year, 47 percent of students enrolled in Escondido’s elementary and middle schools were classified as English learners, up from 37 percent 10 years ago.

Vista and Oceanside unified school districts saw similar increases. In the last decade, the percentage of students learning English has crept up 6 percent in each district, to 28 percent in Oceanside Unified schools and 31 percent in Vista Unified.

Districts with larger percentages of English learners need to make sure that their teachers are trained to successfully deal with a more diverse student body, said Sandy Gecewicz, chief academic officer at Vista Unified School District.

“It puts a greater sense of accountability and onus on us to make sure that we are addressing the needs of every student,” she said.

Most North County students learning English speak Spanish as a first language.

In the large districts in Vista, Escondido and Oceanside, more than 90 percent speak Spanish.

Spanish speakers make up less than 30 percent of all English learners in Del Mar, 32 percent in Poway and 56 percent in Solana Beach. In Del Mar, nearly as many students speak a first language of Korean or Mandarin as Spanish.

School districts have beefed up their programs for students learning to speak English over the last several years in response to the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, Nava said. The federal legislation included English learners as one of the groups that need to meet federal standards each year for schools and districts to avoid sanctions,

“I think that was one of the best things that happened to English learners,” Nava said about the legislation. “There was this attention that was drawn to them as a unique cohort of students.”

Source: STACY BRANDT - North County Times

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