ESOL designation

[Anonymous]

From my review of Clarksburg ES it statistics, it seems that every single person of hispanic descent is labeled as ESOL (I think there were 33 hispanic kids and 34 ESOL). Is the label automatic if you are of hispanic descent?? Will my child will be labeled ESOL despite being born in the U.S. of two highly educated parents who were raised in the U.S. because of her hispanic background and the fact that I am trying to teach her spanish and french? When I started school, my parents had to fight to keep me out of bilingual education and I really saw the difference between myself and the other students who spent their early years in bilungual education. Those kids were done a disserve by being taught by someone that barely knew english and they were not prepared for HS not to mention college. I guess my main question is what does this designation mean? Will she be pulled out of class for remedial lessons despite the fact that she is being raised in a household that teaches her standard american english (I think that's the way MoCounty describes it)?

[Anonymous]

From my reading of the statistics on this page: http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/regulatoryaccountability/glance/currentyear/schools/02101.pdf , 14.6% of the children in the school are hispanic, and less than 5% are hispanic AND ESOL.

[Anonymous]

Me (pp) again. I think the total number of ESOL in the school on those statistics reflects a large Asian population (33% of school).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:From my review of Clarksburg ES it statistics, it seems that every single person of hispanic descent is labeled as ESOL (I think there were 33 hispanic kids and 34 ESOL). Is the label automatic if you are of hispanic descent?? Will my child will be labeled ESOL despite being born in the U.S. of two highly educated parents who were raised in the U.S. because of her hispanic background and the fact that I am trying to teach her spanish and french? When I started school, my parents had to fight to keep me out of bilingual education and I really saw the difference between myself and the other students who spent their early years in bilungual education. Those kids were done a disserve by being taught by someone that barely knew english and they were not prepared for HS not to mention college. I guess my main question is what does this designation mean? Will she be pulled out of class for remedial lessons despite the fact that she is being raised in a household that teaches her standard american english (I think that's the way MoCounty describes it)?

That is impossible. You read the stats incorrectly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From my review of Clarksburg ES it statistics, it seems that every single person of hispanic descent is labeled as ESOL (I think there were 33 hispanic kids and 34 ESOL). Is the label automatic if you are of hispanic descent?? Will my child will be labeled ESOL despite being born in the U.S. of two highly educated parents who were raised in the U.S. because of her hispanic background and the fact that I am trying to teach her spanish and french? When I started school, my parents had to fight to keep me out of bilingual education and I really saw the difference between myself and the other students who spent their early years in bilungual education. Those kids were done a disserve by being taught by someone that barely knew english and they were not prepared for HS not to mention college. I guess my main question is what does this designation mean? Will she be pulled out of class for remedial lessons despite the fact that she is being raised in a household that teaches her standard american english (I think that's the way MoCounty describes it)?

That is impossible. You read the stats incorrectly.

OP here: Okay I read the statistics incorrectly. I'll go back and look but my questions still remain. Is it an automatice designation? Would she be labeled as such just because other languages are spoken in her home? And what does the designation mean? (Yes, I am rephrasing my questions a bit)

[Anonymous]

No, to answer your question. First of all, ESOL designation has nothing to do with speaking 2 languages at home. It has to do with how well your child can speak, comprehend, read, and write in English. If you are English speaking and she speaks English just as much as she does Spanish, there would be no reason to put her in ESOL. It is not an automatic designation, and even if her entrance testing results deem her suitable for ESOL, you could still choose for her not to receive the services.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No, to answer your question. First of all, ESOL designation has nothing to do with speaking 2 languages at home. It has to do with how well your child can speak, comprehend, read, and write in English. If you are English speaking and she speaks English just as much as she does Spanish, there would be no reason to put her in ESOL. It is not an automatic designation, and even if her entrance testing results deem her suitable for ESOL, you could still choose for her not to receive the services.

Thanks!! That is all I needed to know.

[Anonymous]

PP is right, it's not an automatic designation. You have to test into ESOL. If your scores are too high, you don't get the designation or the services.

[Anonymous]

ESOL teacher here. OP, here's what you should know about MCPS and ESOL: in order to be tested, there must be documented evidence of another language at home. A home language survey is sent out at K orientation, asking what languages are spoken at home, even if your child always responds in English. I personally do not like this criteria, but it's a county policy. If another language is listed, teachers must test the student. There is a new test this coming school year, but a shy kid who doesn't talk much, especially on the first days of school, could easily come back as needing ESOL when he or she actually does not.

If you absolutely do NOT want your child in ESOL, put English for everything. It's what I did, even though my Hispanic husband speaks Spanish with our daughter. If your child was entered into ESOL, even if you refuse service, she will still have to be tested every spring for English proficiency, and it is a huge hassle that I would not want my child going through for no reason.

Also, ESOL and bilingual education are completely different things.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:From my review of Clarksburg ES it statistics, it seems that every single person of hispanic descent is labeled as ESOL (I think there were 33 hispanic kids and 34 ESOL). Is the label automatic if you are of hispanic descent?? Will my child will be labeled ESOL despite being born in the U.S. of two highly educated parents who were raised in the U.S. because of her hispanic background and the fact that I am trying to teach her spanish and french? When I started school, my parents had to fight to keep me out of bilingual education and I really saw the difference between myself and the other students who spent their early years in bilungual education. Those kids were done a disserve by being taught by someone that barely knew english and they were not prepared for HS not to mention college. I guess my main question is what does this designation mean? Will she be pulled out of class for remedial lessons despite the fact that she is being raised in a household that teaches her standard american english (I think that's the way MoCounty describes it)?

No, if your child speaks another language other than English, whether they only speak that language or speak it infrequently, they will be tested at the beginning of school. The test for little ones is pretty simple and playful. They look at pictures, and point to answers, and tell stories, and answer questions. If the score indicates that they need help, then they'll get it. How much depends on how far below they score, but all kids spend the majority of the day in the regular classroom. Age plays a role too. A new 8th grader with little English may be out of the classroom 2 or 3 periods of the day, whereas a kindergartener with no English at all might get a couple 1/2 hour sessions of help. Whether the help is pull out or push in would depend on the individual school

[Anonymous]

OP here: Thanks 21:39.Since I am the only one she hears Spanish from I will just be putting English for everything. I don't like the idea of her being pulled pout of class just because she doesn't do well on that one day. I have seen her respond well to questions at how (ex. What's this? while being shown a picture of a duck. Her response? DUCK!!). But when we are at gym classes or trying to show relatives she freezes up. I don't like the idea of her being pulled out of class and missing instruction time to receive services she does not need. If anything, I feel like that would only serve to further delay her.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here: Thanks 21:39.Since I am the only one she hears Spanish from I will just be putting English for everything. I don't like the idea of her being pulled out of class just because she doesn't do well on that one day. I have seen her respond well to questions at home (ex. Q: What's this? while being shown a picture of a duck. Her response? DUCK!!). But when we are at gym classes or trying to show relatives she freezes up. I don't like the idea of her being pulled out of class and missing instruction time to receive services she does not need. If anything, I feel like that would only serve to further delay her.

Just reposted to fix some typos

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:ESOL teacher here. OP, here's what you should know about MCPS and ESOL: in order to be tested, there must be documented evidence of another language at home. A home language survey is sent out at K orientation, asking what languages are spoken at home, even if your child always responds in English. I personally do not like this criteria, but it's a county policy. If another language is listed, teachers must test the student. There is a new test this coming school year, but a shy kid who doesn't talk much, especially on the first days of school, could easily come back as needing ESOL when he or she actually does not.

If you absolutely do NOT want your child in ESOL, put English for everything. It's what I did, even though my Hispanic husband speaks Spanish with our daughter. If your child was entered into ESOL, even if you refuse service, she will still have to be tested every spring for English proficiency, and it is a huge hassle that I would not want my child going through for no reason.

Also, ESOL and bilingual education are completely different things.

My husband and I speak both Spanish and English at home. My son is shy and has a slight stutter. I am an elementary teacher and have had kids whose parents speak fluent English be designated as needing ESOL because they didn't test well the first week of school. Once the label is on it takes a few years to take off the label. My son has a last name that is Hispanic and has brown skin; I don't want teachers to assume he is not fluent in English, so I am listing English only on all his kindergarten registration papers.

[Anonymous]

PP: Exactly! I don't want the stigma that comes with it when she doesn't actually need the services. Her last name is not spanish. But her first name clearly is and she "looks" hispanic. Why give myself and her unneeded headaches?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:ESOL teacher here. OP, here's what you should know about MCPS and ESOL: in order to be tested, there must be documented evidence of another language at home. A home language survey is sent out at K orientation, asking what languages are spoken at home, even if your child always responds in English. I personally do not like this criteria, but it's a county policy. If another language is listed, teachers must test the student. There is a new test this coming school year, but a shy kid who doesn't talk much, especially on the first days of school, could easily come back as needing ESOL when he or she actually does not.

If you absolutely do NOT want your child in ESOL, put English for everything. It's what I did, even though my Hispanic husband speaks Spanish with our daughter. If your child was entered into ESOL, even if you refuse service, she will still have to be tested every spring for English proficiency, and it is a huge hassle that I would not want my child going through for no reason.

Also, ESOL and bilingual education are completely different things.

It's not true that there has to be another documented language in the home. Our only language is English, but my kids were adopted from non-English speaking countries. We listed our home as English speaking only. My kids were tested every year through third grade.