Hi Mary Ann,

Long time! Where have you been?
I'm in London,
Ujwala

--- Mary Ann Florez <MFlorez at arlington.k12.va.us>
wrote:


> I suspect it might be a little of all of your

> suggestions, depending on the case: lack of

> understanding--on both sides--of home country

> educational documents and their equivalencies here

> (although here just outside of DC, I think most

> school systems have a pretty good grip on that now);

> questions of age, residence (related to the school

> system, not immigration status, per se); lack of

> understanding of full options and what might most

> benefit the particular person; lack of informed

> advocacy for the student; etc.

> 

> One example:  a seventeen-year-old came to our

> program and wanted to enroll.  She had tried to

> register for high school, even though she said that

> she had finished "high school" in her home country. 

> She was here living with her sister, who was not

> designated as a legal guardian.  She said the school

> intake office said that they could not enroll her

> because she did not have a legal guardian.  She and

> her sister did not seem to want to pursue beyond

> that and came to us because they had seen a flyer

> about our program.  We suggested high school

> completion, but she said that she wanted to find a

> job and did not want to commit to that.  She also

> felt she didn't need it, as she had completed high

> school in her country.

> 

> It can be quite a mix of factors.

> 

> MaryAnn Florez

> 

> >>> ylerew at aol.com 02/09/06 8:56 AM >>>

> Could you tell me more about your comment youth have

> tried to get into 

> high school but they can't get in.  Why is that so? 

> It sounds that 

> they within the age of attendance.  Is it just a 

> misunderstanding/translation problem  about

> "secondaria"?  If so, is 

> there a need for educating the school district

> personnel around that?

> 

> Or is the district reluctant to admit even those

> under 21 (or whatever 

> the year is in your state) that the district feels

> may not succeed or 

> graduate?  In SD, we encountered the attitude that

> if students were 

> over 18 (even over 16 in some cases) and didn't have

> transferrable 

> credits, the high schools strongly discouraged them

> from entering and 

> referred them to adult ed programs instead.

> 

> I agree with you, that for many young people, high

> school would be a 

> better option than adult ed.  Given the limited

> funding of adult ed, 

> and therefore limited hours of instruction provided,

> high school can 

> offer more.  High schools have everything from

> science labs to 

> subsidized lunches, none of which exist in adult ed.

> Also, those youth 

> that need more adult guidance and supervision may

> not get that support 

> in adult ed.

> 

> On the other hand, some young people with adult

> responsibilities (say 

> they are working until past midnight and don't wake

> up for school in 

> the morning) may start in a traditional high school

> but eventually drop 

> out.  Or those that are significantly older, in

> years and in maturity, 

> than their high school peers may not feel that they

> fit in high school.

> 

> What are other people's thoughts about this decision

> regarding high 

> school versus adult ed?  Who should make the

> decision?  What 

> information is needed?  What is the role of those of

> us in adult ed in 

> this decision?

> 

> Also, I would be interested in learning about other

> options people have 

> found that work for ESOL youth.  What about Job

> Corps, Alternative High 

> Schools, YouthBuild?

> 

> Thanks!

> Yvonne Lerew

> 

> -----Original Message-----

> From: Glenda L. Rose <glenda at english-now.us>

> To: The Adult English Language Learners Discussion

> List 

> <englishlanguage at nifl.gov>

> Sent: Wed, 8 Feb 2006 20:36:37 -0800 (PST)

> Subject: Re: [EnglishLanguage] Adolescents in adult

> ESOL classes

> 

>     I run into this all the time.  A lot of it has

> to do with 

> misunderstanding the school system.  My students

> have graduated "la 

> secundaria" which looks an awful like Secondary

> (High) school but 

> actually means middle school.  So the public schools

> won't let them in 

> but they need English.  Personally, I haven't had

> any trouble with them 

> in the adult classes, except occasionally leaving

> some of the older 

> students in the dust with how fast the retain

> vocabulary.  I alway ask 

> if they have TRIED to get into the high school

> first.  I really feel 

> that's where they need to be, but if they can't get

> in and they want to 

> learn, I'm going to let them.  Our program is mainly

> self-paced and 

> self-directed, so perhaps that's why we haven't

> encountered to many 

> problems with them being at a different

> developmental level from the 

> adults.  Besides, many of them have adult

> responsibilities - taking 

> care of siblings, being the bread winner, etc.  I

> think they add 

> something to our learning community.

>   

>  Glenda L. Rose

>  Director, English Now

>  www.english-now.us 

> 

> Mary Ann Florez <MFlorez at arlington.k12.va.us> wrote:

>   I think it's interesting to consider that many of

> these students may 

> legitimately be caught between adolescence and

> adulthood. I have 

> encountered students in the past who are 16 or 17

> and have produced 

> documentation that shows that they have completed

> high school in their 

> countries. They are here, working with adults, as

> adults, perhaps 

> living with cousins or friends and paying rent,

> bills, etc. Some even 

> have children already. When they come into our

> classes, much of what we 

> teach--language and content--seems relevant to them.

> But 

> developmentally, contextually, they are out of sync.

> They aren't at the 

> same place that our adult learners are. Does anyone

> have any 

> suggestions of how they work to mediate that?

> 

> Thanks!

> 

> MaryAnn Florez

> Arlington, VA

> 

> ----------------------------------------------------

> National Institute for Literacy

> Adult English Language Learners mailing list

> EnglishLanguage at nifl.gov 

> To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings,

> please go to 

> http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/englishlanguage

> 

> 

> 

> 

> 

> 

>   

> ----------------------------------------------------

> National Institute for Literacy

> Adult English Language Learners mailing list

> EnglishLanguage at nifl.gov 

> To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings,

> please go to

> http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/englishlanguage

> 

> 

>     

> ----------------------------------------------------

> National Institute for Literacy

> Adult English Language Learners mailing list

> EnglishLanguage at nifl.gov 

> To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings,

> please go to

> http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/englishlanguage

> ----------------------------------------------------

> National Institute for Literacy

> 

=== message truncated ===


__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around 
http://mail.yahoo.com