New York is a city of many languages, but when it comes to city school kids taking important state tests, English is the only language that counts.Tuesday Schools Chancellor Joel Klein said that newly-immigrated children will get more time to learn English before taking big tests that have an impact on their school careers. NY1 Education reporter Michael Meenan filed the following report.
Until now, city students learning English as a second language had to take important standardized tests in reading and math in English, even if they have been in the United States less than a year.
Schools Commissioner Joel Klein announced Tuesday that's about to change.
"I thought it was a mistake to require everyone to take the exam after the first year,” said Schools Chancellor Joel Klein. “The federal government has now changed that, and in New York, at least, we'll be able to exempt students for the first two years."
Klein was in Jackson Heights visiting P.S. 149, an elementary school where more than half of the school's 1,000 students speak a language other than English at home. Teachers at P.S. 149 say test time has never been easy at the school.
"I have to say that it's nerve wracking for them,” said teacher Tara Hendricks. “But when they get that one-on-one work with the teacher, it prepares them more so for the test."
At P.S. 149, 227 of the students in grades three through five have been in the U.S. for a year or less. Only 22.5 percent passed the state reading tests this year; 71 percent passed math.
Both statistics are much higher than the numbers citywide for English-language learners.
While it can be a big challenge to get kids who do not speak English to pass these standardized tests, the staff at this school says that with specialized teaching strategies their students can get good results.
"We worked very heavily with the teachers on scaffolding instruction, differentiating the instruction, so that children could move and progress at their own pace," said the school’s principal, Marlene Gonzalez.
One fifth-grader, born in Ecuador but in city schools since first grade, shared with NY1 his secret to testing success.
"When I go home, my mom is like ‘you got to study for the test,’” said student Kevin Sanchez. “So when it came time for the test, it was easy. But it's also hard because there are always new things."
Teachers at P.S. 149 say with more time to get new students ready for big tests in English, they expect the school to get even better results in the future.
