Ms. Betty Sobotka is one of two ESL teachers within the elementary level at Springfield International Charter school. She has been an ESL teacher within Springfield and Holyoke schools for over six years. Currently, Ms. Sobotka works with ELL students in the 3rd – 5th grades and her other colleague works with ELL students in the K-2nd grades. There are 45 ELL students are enrolled in Springfield International Charter School. These students represent 7.5% of the total school population. Currently the total amount of students at Springfield International Charter School within Elementary (K- 5) are roughly around 600 students.
The ELL population is growing steadily. Ms. Sobotka stated the addition of a third ESL teacher is extremely needed. Currently, there are only two ESL teachers. The need for a third ESL teacher for this particular year is because the students came in extraordinary low. Ms. Sobotka explained even if the teachers say they are the Kindergarteners, but in actual fact they are Preschoolers, the 1st Graders are like Kindergarteners etc. Also, due to the pandemic and online learning, it played a major role on these students readiness for a school environment in which these students lacked in areas of behavior and discipline.
ELL students come from a vast number of different countries. For instance, Saudi Arabia, Haiti, Somalia, Iraq, Dominican Republic, Colombia, Costa Rica, Mexico, and Poland. Other students were born in the United States, but their parents immigrated from Puerto Rico, Nepal, and Vietnam. The languages that ELLs students speak at home will be their native language such as Spanish, Polish, Arabic, Nepali and Vietnamese, French-Creole, and Portuguese. They do try to speak English in sense of the “social English”, but it is not the “academic English”.
Some families are here for the opportunities that are provided within the United States. Many are for work opportunities. Many families of ELL students have fled traumatic situations. Some ELL students who came from the Arabic countries fled the war and violence of ISIS. Other ELL students who came from Puerto Rico and Somalia fled poverty. The implications of the move to the United States have on ELLs’ student learning are that they feel torn from their homes. They have the pressure of learning a new environment, make all new friendships and get to know all their teachers.
The ELLs parents’ occupations vary from Aids within hospitals, some work within Springfield school systems, restaurant workers and one parent own his own trucking company. One an average the highest level of educational attainment among parents of Ell students are between the 8th grade through High School and some have Associate degrees. The strengths of ELL students’ families bring to the Springfield International Charter school includes instilling the importance of always doing your best and always put your best foot forward.
Springfield International Charter School assess English proficiency levels by using the WIDA ( ) system. First, ELL students are screened. For instance, for Kindergartners, these need to have 29/30 correct. At the beginning of the year a screener is used for every grade level. Whatever number the students obtains for speaking, writing, reading, and listening, a cumulative average is taken. If a student achieves a 4.5, he/she will not be placed in the program, meaning the student is proficient.
If a student achieves below a 4.5 score, he/she is enrolled in the program. The goal of the program is to have students increase their scores each year. Throughout the program, ESL teachers use the Can-Do descriptors, proficiency numbers from WIDA. The program is number originated and highly data driven. That is how ESL teachers analyze on how well the ELL students are able to leave and become more proficient with the English language. The State (Massachusetts) requires ELL students to exit the program in 6 years.
Some teachers within Springfield International Charter School feel well prepared to address the diverse needs of ELL students. Just a small handful of teachers feel more confident and well prepared to address the diverse needs of ELL students. These teachers are able to provide necessary differentiation that is needed within instruction of the curriculum. For other teachers who feels they are not well prepared to address the diverse needs of their ELL students, they rely heavily on the ESL teachers to step in with assistance more. All the teachers within Massachusetts are SEI certified but the class size of Springfield International Charter School it ranges from 30 -35 students per class. This poses a major frustration among teachers to provide the necessary differentiation that is needed for ELL students in this classroom.
There are only 3 ESL teachers at Springfield International Charter School. One ESL teachers who handles the 6th – 12th grades and two ESL teachers who handles the K- 5th grades. Overall, the ESL teachers at Springfield International Charter School are committed to helping their ELL students in becoming successfully proficient in English.