Schools in Patterson are increasingly diverse, with more than 20 languages spoken by local students and their families, board members learned Monday night.  

The number of English-learner students has doubled in the past seven years, said Miguel Guerrero, Patterson Unified School District’s director of categorical programs.

Of the 5,500 kids enrolled in local schools this year, 2,082 students are English learners.

Administrators say many of the students were born here, but English is not their primary language at home.

“In many households, the language spoken at home is Spanish,” district Trustee Ruben Piña said.

The California English Language Development Test, which English learners take each spring, helps teachers and administrators identify students in beginning through advanced levels of English

fluency.

The district’s goal is to get students to the advanced level and have them proficient enough in English to move out of English-learner classes and into English-taught curriculum. Students in kindergarten and first grade are tested in listening and speaking, while those in second through 12th grades are tested in

listening, speaking, reading and writing.

“The ultimate goal is that if a student is proficient, he is proficient on grade level,” Guerrero said.

Last school year, 1,760 students took the CELDT test. Of them, 655 fell at mid-point in the intermediate level, while 605 others were in advanced and early-advanced levels. Another 105 students were reclassified to fluent English proficiency. Those students will be monitored for two years to make sure they can maintain academic classes without outside support.

An advanced English learner must meet four criteria to be named fluent and English-proficient — high CELDT scores, high California Standardized Testing and Reporting scores in English, a positive teacher evaluation and a successful parent consultation.

On Monday, board members gave Guerrero the go-ahead to form a 10-person task force that will look into expanding Grayson Charter School’s dual-language immersion program to the middle and high school levels. The task force will also consider whether the dual-language program should be opened to other students in the community. The group will study curriculum, staffing, parent involvement and where to have classes.

The task force — community members, parents, teacher and administrators — will give the first report to the board in December.

“It would be a rough, rough draft,” Guerrero said.   

School board highlights

• Kathy Pon, assistant superintendent of educational services, reviewed the California Standardized Testing and Reporting scores for each school in the district.

• Kevin Cunningham, coordinator of operations and facilities, gave an overview of the summer projects at all school sites, including roofing, painting, carpet replacement and maintenance.
  
  

To reach Maddy Houk at the Irrigator, call 892-6187 or e-mail her at maddy@pattersonirrigator.com.