Oh my!  It's so good to hear from you!  What a nice surprise on a Friday morning!

I'm still in Northern Virginia.  I'm working as the lead ESL specialist with the REEP program in Arlington.  We provide English language classes to adults in Arlington County.  I'm the lead ESL specialist, which is a fancy way to say that I do everything from curriculum development and teacher training to turning the xerox machine on in the morning and off at night!  But it's good to be back in program work, dealing with the teachers and students directly, on a daily basis.  I missed that.  I miss not having the time and exposure to "all the latest" in the field that I had when I worked at the Center for Applied Linguistics, but sometimes, you just need a change, right?

What are you doing in London?  I'm so jealous.  It's my favorite city.   I lived there back in the late 80s, just after my undergraduate work.  I still visit regularly.  I was there last fall, to see friends, catch up, etc.  It's too bad that I didn't know you were there.  I would have loved to get together!  But I'm sure that I will be over that way again soon.  I'll definitely let you know.

It's so good to hear from you!  Let's keep in touch!  And tell me all about what's going on.

Best regards,
MaryAnn



MaryAnn Cunningham Florez
Lead ESL Specialist, REEP
Arlington Education and Employment Program
Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education
Arlington Public Schools
2801 Clarendon Boulevard, #218
Arlington, VA 22201
703-228-8026 (Tel)
mflorez at arlington.k12.va.us 



>>> lalumineuse at yahoo.com 02/10/06 3:42 AM >>>

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

> 

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