Spanish speakers who can improve their English language skills to be deemed proficient will move to the top of the class in other subjects, Superintendent Don Armstrong told the Fort Bragg Unified School District last week.
“Some of our best students by far are found among the English redesignated. They are usually very hard working and dedicated students,” Armstrong said.
The board heard that Fort Bragg Unified School District is doing better than ever in the mandated process of turning English as a Second Language Students into Redesignated Fluent English Proficient RFEP students.
This year, 47 out of 53 students in the district deemed ready to make the jump did so and increased their test scores enough to be redesignated as fluent in English.
“We topped ourselves out this year. This is a real feather in our cap,” said Armstrong, who cited figures showing the district has steadily improved on this measure over the past several years.
“The EAP (English for academic purposes) teachers deserve a lot of credit,” he said.
As part of federal and state education reforms over the past decade, rules have tightened that demand efforts to improve proficiency in the English language, which is a key barrier to learning and good test scores. Students are tested in listening, speaking, reading, and writing.
English learner students must be tested within 30 days of the start of the school year or within two weeks of enrolling in a district; progress is then tracked through five grading stages from beginner to advanced. When a student reaches a certain level, they are classified as ready to make the jump to “proficient” in English.
Armstrong told the board the district manages to move students from English learners to English proficient in about five years, which he said is below the state average. Asked what the state average is, he said about seven years.
This year, 10 high school students were redesignated as English proficient, 11 at the middle school and 26 at Dana Gray. In 2010-2011, 46 out of 53 made the jump. Back in 2005-2006 the number was 40 out of 57.
