Effective Programs For Hispanic Students - Essay Example

lthough schools cnnot chnge the socil relity, they cn crete different society within their wlls. Getting to know the students nd their fmilies s well s welcoming their lnguges nd cultures cn build coherent community where the bilingul progrm becomes n integrl prt of the school. Improvement of bilingul progrms necessittes fundmentl chnges within the whole school becuse the overll qulity of the school will ffect the bilingul progrm. For the most prt, good bilingul progrms exist within good schools.

To crete sound context for bilingul lerners schools should set cler gols, crete bilingul biculturl society, integrte the bilingul progrm into the school community, know the bilingul students, provide ledership nd support for the bilingul progrm, set high expecttions for bilingul students, hire qulity personnel willing nd prepred to work with bilingul students, estblish productive prtnerships with prents nd communities of the bilingul students. Commitment of principls nd minstrem stff to the progrm nd the students mkes it possible for bilingul progrms to be integrted into the whole school.

ll stff nd not only the bilingul stff should be responsible for the bilingul students' eduction. In turn, the bilingul stff should prticipte in generl school ctivities nd decision mking. When curriculum improvement or specil progrms re introduced, the bilingul progrm should lso be included. Regrdless of how integrtion is implemented, school mission, curriculum, nd environment must reflect the presence of students of different lnguges nd cultures. Otherwise, integrted nd two-wy progrms tht succeed in bringing both groups of students together will remin isolted within the school.

In order to mnge the sitution when the school district oppose introduction of bilingul eduction, necessry strtegies should be pplied. First of ll, it is importnt to mke bilingul students need to feel tht their school is community tht cres for them, trets them s individuls, nd wnts them to succeed. In effective schools, dministrtors nd techers know their students nd students know ech other. Knowledge of the students nd personliztion of the teching re keys to good teching. Becuse techers relte to students both s lerners nd s children or dolescents, techers must estblish how they will ddress these two types of reltionships, wht they need to know bout their students, nd how they will cquire this knowledge.

The techer--lerner reltionship implies involvement between techers nd students round subject mtter, wheres dult--child or dult--dolescent reltionships re more personl nd intimte. Focusing on both types of reltionships bridges the gp between school nd the world outside it, gp tht is especilly importnt for mny bilingul students whose world differs gretly from school. Techers working with young students hve succeeded in combining both types of reltionships in the context of the clssroom. For exmple, Czden, Crrsco, Mldondo-Guzmn, nd Erickson ( 1980) observed Mexicn mericn techer working with first-grde Spnish spekers.

Every morning s they st in circle, she collected homework nd ddressed the children with endering terms, sking questions bout them nd their fmilies. In successful high schools these reltionships hve been somewht seprte with the