Entering Oyster as Spanish-dominant -- Spanish proficiency test?

[Anonymous]

I've always wondered why DCPS has all these Spanish speaking schools but not one Amharic speaking school. Isn't the Ethiopian community just as large as Latino?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've always wondered why DCPS has all these Spanish speaking schools but not one Amharic speaking school. Isn't the Ethiopian community just as large as Latino?

Only in condensed areas in the city, around 14th and Military Road.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've always wondered why DCPS has all these Spanish speaking schools but not one Amharic speaking school. Isn't the Ethiopian community just as large as Latino?

Only in condensed areas in the city, around 14th and Military Road.

How does that answer the question. Btw, there are many in ward 4 (Takoma, Riggs area). So open one around 14th. There aren't many Latinos near Tyler yet another Spanish DCPS. Not one Ethipoian. If I didn't know any better........

[Anonymous]

What they should do is have the rich compete with the middle class for IB seats. That would put a stop to the rivalry. I think you'd see an uptick in people seeking Spanish daycare as they prep. to get a Spanish seat. You's also see a lot less of people championing the rights of OOB Latinos. A rich Anglo threatened with the possibility that their IB seat is in jeopardy could care a less about Latinos and the "richness" they bring to the program. Once a 1% is threatened all bets are off. That's what we're really talking about here. I don't attend Oyster nor would I want to, but I congratulate Anglo parents who find a way to have their child achieve a level of fluency they can pass a Spanish fluency test. You're not going to stop those families, rich inbounders. That's why this thread is so full of passion. Those kids will continue getting in and there's nothing you can do about it. Kudos to them!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I've always wondered why DCPS has all these Spanish speaking schools but not one Amharic speaking school. Isn't the Ethiopian community just as large as Latino?



Only in condensed areas in the city, around 14th and Military Road.



How does that answer the question. Btw, there are many in ward 4 (Takoma, Riggs area). So open one around 14th. There aren't many Latinos near Tyler yet another Spanish DCPS. Not one Ethipoian. If I didn't know any better........

What african weed are you smoking? Who else apart from the Ethiopians would be interested in learning Amharic ?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I've always wondered why DCPS has all these Spanish speaking schools but not one Amharic speaking school. Isn't the Ethiopian community just as large as Latino?



Only in condensed areas in the city, around 14th and Military Road.



How does that answer the question. Btw, there are many in ward 4 (Takoma, Riggs area). So open one around 14th. There aren't many Latinos near Tyler yet another Spanish DCPS. Not one Ethipoian. If I didn't know any better........

What african weed are you smoking? Who else apart from the Ethiopians would be interested in learning Amharic ?

Some DC schools were started to cater to native Spanish speaking Latinos (see Oyster language preference), why not cater to Ethiopian community. PS- everyone knows there is not any good weed in Africa.

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I've always wondered why DCPS has all these Spanish speaking schools but not one Amharic speaking school. Isn't the Ethiopian community just as large as Latino?



Only in condensed areas in the city, around 14th and Military Road.



How does that answer the question. Btw, there are many in ward 4 (Takoma, Riggs area). So open one around 14th. There aren't many Latinos near Tyler yet another Spanish DCPS. Not one Ethipoian. If I didn't know any better........

What african weed are you smoking? Who else apart from the Ethiopians would be interested in learning Amharic ?

Some DC schools were started to cater to native Spanish speaking Latinos (see Oyster language preference), why not cater to Ethiopian community. PS- everyone knows there is not any good weed in Africa.

You are confused. To the extent that native Spanish speaking Latinos are being catered to -- by "to the extent" I mean that you would have to heavily caveat such a statement -- it is to teach them English, not Spanish. Also, Africa, particularly the horn, as plenty of good weed. Google "qat".

All that said, interest in bilingual schools is such that -- as we have seen with SELA -- an Amharic immersion school might attract non-Ethiopians who believe that learning any second language is better than none.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

But displacement is becoming an issue for native Spanish speaking kids who are also low income at Oyster. They are being displaced by people who can afford bilingual preschools; but they cannot afford To live IB for Oyster (in other words, the regular middle class). These people are taking a native speaker's seat, and the academic experience is worse as a result. I have personally seen the clear benefit of having children who come from Spanish speaking homes in my child's class. They raise the level and pace of the Spanish curriculum for all children. They bring their culture and experiences to the class. It is just a much better experience than having a classroom full of bilingual kids from English speaking homes.

I share your goals but disagree with your analysis of the situation. The number of OOB bilingual kids from non-Spanish speaking homes will always be few because the lottery is random and the number of OOB applicants who come from Spanish speaking homes is much larger (say, at least 10 x more). So the likelihood of cases like the one that generated the earlier fight is very small and not worth the trouble worrying about to prevent.

What we have to do is support the expansion of bilingual programs throughout the city and demand that DCPS seriously devote more resources to bilingual education so that it is truly excellent. DCPS has no clear curriculum standards and guidelines for bilingual education. At DCPS, the same office in charge of ESL (dealing with the issues of DC's large immigrant population) is also in charge of bilingual education. Furthermore, it is staffed by a handful (or fewer) of people. There are 7 or more DCPS bilingual schools and now they are proposing Roosevelt HS with dual immersion. We should require proper oversight of the language component of all these programs and also make it part of the evaluation process of students and schools. What is the incentive for a school to teach the second language well if they are only measured by their English reading and math scores? This is the conversation we should have among us and with DCPS. The link below has some info

http://www.american.edu/cas/seth/bilingual/upload/AU-CONFERENCE-SEPTEMBER-27-2014_Brito.pdf

+1000

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think Oyster should become city wide. That'll put a stop to this rivalry of IB vs OOB. However, be prepared for the IBs families to change their tunes when they're in the same lottery as everyone else. Suddenly, it would be just fine for a native but Anglo kid to get a Span. Dom. Seat. Funny what people do when it's their own kids.

Yes, this is the pipe dream of every English speaking family in DC who wants Spanish immersion for their kid. Non-wealthy English-speaking parents have been demanding this for DECADES. Unfortunately for you (and them) it's not going to happen. Oyster is not built on magical soil. One of the reasons Oyster has the highest test scores among immersion schools (and DC period), and can raise the money it does, even with a 25% FARMS pop., is because of those "hated" IB families. If Oyster became a citywide school, it would become indistinguishable from every other immersion charter...and DCPS knows this fact.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What they should do is have the rich compete with the middle class for IB seats. That would put a stop to the rivalry. I think you'd see an uptick in people seeking Spanish daycare as they prep. to get a Spanish seat. You's also see a lot less of people championing the rights of OOB Latinos. A rich Anglo threatened with the possibility that their IB seat is in jeopardy could care a less about Latinos and the "richness" they bring to the program. Once a 1% is threatened all bets are off. That's what we're really talking about here. I don't attend Oyster nor would I want to, but I congratulate Anglo parents who find a way to have their child achieve a level of fluency they can pass a Spanish fluency test. You're not going to stop those families, rich inbounders. That's why this thread is so full of passion. Those kids will continue getting in and there's nothing you can do about it. Kudos to them!

I think that you're the same poster I just responded to above. However, the same answer applies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've always wondered why DCPS has all these Spanish speaking schools but not one Amharic speaking school. Isn't the Ethiopian community just as large as Latino?

Only in condensed areas in the city, around 14th and Military Road.

How does that answer the question. Btw, there are many in ward 4 (Takoma, Riggs area). So open one around 14th. There aren't many Latinos near Tyler yet another Spanish DCPS. Not one Ethipoian. If I didn't know any better........

Amharic is pretty much only spoken in Ethiopia, and Ethiopian immigrant communities. The estimate is that there are about 2300 Amharic speakers in DC. By contrast, Wikipedia says there are about 600,000 Spanish speakers in the DC metro area. By the numbers, there just isn't the demand to support an Amharic immersion program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've always wondered why DCPS has all these Spanish speaking schools but not one Amharic speaking school. Isn't the Ethiopian community just as large as Latino?

Only in condensed areas in the city, around 14th and Military Road.

How does that answer the question. Btw, there are many in ward 4 (Takoma, Riggs area). So open one around 14th. There aren't many Latinos near Tyler yet another Spanish DCPS. Not one Ethipoian. If I didn't know any better........

Amharic is pretty much only spoken in Ethiopia, and Ethiopian immigrant communities. The estimate is that there are about 2300 Amharic speakers in DC. By contrast, Wikipedia says there are about 600,000 Spanish speakers in the DC metro area. By the numbers, there just isn't the demand to support an Amharic immersion program.

There are 250,000 Ethipoian people in DC metro.

[Anonymous]

All that said, interest in bilingual schools is such that -- as we have seen with SELA -- an Amharic immersion school might attract non-Ethiopians who believe that learning any second language is better than none.

Sure, but it has a low ROI for non-ethiopians. Better to learn a language you can use professionally or culturally. There are hundreds of millions of Spanish or Chinese speaking persons on this planet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've always wondered why DCPS has all these Spanish speaking schools but not one Amharic speaking school. Isn't the Ethiopian community just as large as Latino?

Great thinking! Go ahead, open an Amharic charter school, and surprise the naysayers!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've always wondered why DCPS has all these Spanish speaking schools but not one Amharic speaking school. Isn't the Ethiopian community just as large as Latino?

Only in condensed areas in the city, around 14th and Military Road.

How does that answer the question. Btw, there are many in ward 4 (Takoma, Riggs area). So open one around 14th. There aren't many Latinos near Tyler yet another Spanish DCPS. Not one Ethipoian. If I didn't know any better........

If you want to open an Amharic Charter school go ahead, no one is stopping you going through the process.