This 5 page paper uses San Juan Unified School District as the site for a case study. Issues addressed include: ethnic demographics, English learner demographics, assessment and placement procedures, and the primary ELL curriculum. The writer also provides ideas for involving ELL parents. 2 Tables are included. Bibliography lists 5 sources.
Name of Research Paper File: MM12_PGell.rtf
Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
Unified School District, About, 2004). San Juan, like the rest of Californian schools has experienced an ever-increasing number of minority students, most specifically those of Hispanic origin (San Juan Unified
School District, About, 2004). As the Hispanic student population has grown, the numbers of White and African-American students have declined (San Juan Unified School District, About, 2004). The groups that
have remained relatively constant in terms of percentage in San Juan are "students of Asian, Pacific Islander, and Philippine descent" (San Juan Unified School District, About, 2004). While they only
represent a small percentage, it is interesting to note that San Juan and other schools in California, more specifically, in Northern California, have enrolled a number of Russian and Ukrainian
students since the late 1980s. The ethnic make-up of the district is reflected in the following table. Ethnicity Enrollment % Total American Indian 1,081 2.1% Asian 2,209 4.3% Pacific Islander
392 0.8% Filipino 644 1.3% Hispanic 6,659 13.1% African American 3,837 7.5% White 35,993 70.7% Multiple/No Response 91 0.2% (Source: San Juan Unified School District, District, 2004). The following
table reports the number and proportion of languages: Enrollment % Total Spanish 1,665 3.3% Russian 920 1.8% Ukrainian 817 1.6% Rumanian 150 0.3% Farsi (Persian) 91 0.2% All
Other 615 1.2% Total other language 4,258 8.4% (Source: San Juan Unified School District, District, 2004). All 4,258 students whose native language is other than English participate in the ELL
program (San Juan Unified School District, District, 2004). Although it is challenging to gain ELL parent involvement, there are numerous ways in which to do so. For example: *
At the beginning of the school year, ask parents to attend a session at school to complete the necessary forms. Translators should be on hand. Teachers or administrators can share