Kaitlin Hanson, Bruce Karhoff, and Georgieann Ramsudh

EDL 703  Collaborative and Community-based Leadership

New Program Implementation and Communication Plan

May 6, 2013

A Plan to Implement an Adult ESL Program at Mott Hall Science and Technology Academy

            Mott Hall Science and Technology Academy (MHSTA) is a sixth- through eighth-grade middle school located on the third floor of 250 E. 164 Street, Bronx, NY 10456. The school is located in District 9 of the NYC Public School System, situated on the border of Morrisania and the South Bronx.

According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the neighborhood is primarily comprised of Dominican, Puerto Rican, and African families. There are 27,828 households with a total of 86,547 people. When surveyed about the languages spoken at home, 30,749 people (38.5%) replied that they only spoke English, while 49,104 people (61.5%) speak languages other than English. In regards to English language proficiency, 24,000 people reported that they speak English less than “very well”; this figure represents 30.1% of the people in this census tract. Throughout the neighborhood, many signs, advertisements, and logos are written entirely in Spanish.

            Upon further investigation of the demographics, there are many people new to the United States currently residing in the neighborhood. Overall, the foreign-born population is 28,159 people (32.7%). There are 9,847 naturalized U.S. citizens (35.5%) and 18,312 people (65%) who are not U.S. citizens.

            The level of education attained by members of the community varies greatly. Of the 50,298 people 25 years old or older living in the community, there were 11,402 people (22.7%) that reported that they had less than a 9th-grade education. There were 9,850 people (19.6%) who attended high school for some period of time but did not graduate. Additionally, there were 13,164 people (26.2%) who graduated from high school but pursued no further formal education.

            The income statistics of the community are also noteworthy. The median household income is $22,549. Astonishingly, 23.4% of households have an annual income of $10,000 or less.  In short, poverty is an acute issue in this neighborhood.

           With some of the challenges, however, there is incredible strength in this South Bronx/Morrisania community. Children and adults have the potential to be proficient in more than one language because of their home and school environments. Many people do not have the luxury of being immersed in so many different cultures and languages; this community is truly advantaged for its diversity.

            The South Bronx/Morrisania section of the Bronx is a blooming community with many attractions and features that make it unique. The school is located just a few blocks from Yankee Stadium. In addition to the baseball games played there, there are also football games, concerts, and events hosted at the stadium. The cultural activities that the stadium provides for the neighborhood is something that cannot be taught in a classroom; it is truly an experience that must felt in order to be appreciated.  In addition to the sports stadium, the school is just a few blocks from the Bronx Museum of the Arts, and a subway stop away from Hostos Community College.  Also, the Andrew Freedom Home is a New York City Designated Landmark that is just a few blocks away on the Grand Concourse.  Previously a wealthy businessman’s estate, it has been purchased by the city and has been renovated into an art space. These cultural and educational institutions serve not only the neighborhood, but also the borough more generally.

            There are several parks and fields in the area as well. The old Yankee Stadium property was converted into an outdoor baseball field, turf soccer/football field, basketball court center, playground, and outdoor fitness facility. The park is free for use by the public, and all-day permits can be purchased at a low cost by athletic teams or schools. Mullaly Park is located approximately five blocks from the school and has a pool, multiple turf fields, two baseball fields, a playground, and an indoor basketball court. Furthermore, Joyce Kilmer Park is four blocks from the school and has beautiful lawns and greenery, as well as a playground. During the warmer weather, the park is filled with food and ice-cream vendors.

            Recently, food and restaurant business have been booming in the area. Across the street from the school, an old pizzeria was shut down and renovated into a new food establishment. The new place still serves pizza, but the restaurant has opened up a secondary station that serves Dominican food. The new owners also own a bodega in the area and recognized the need for its remodelling and an upgrade of the food products for sale. The business is prospering because of the cultural awareness and its change-over to cultural food.

           MHSTA, like many schools in the South Bronx, has a high percentage of English Language Learners (ELL’s).  Of the 382 students, 71 students (18.6%) are currently classified as ELL’s, a vast majority of whom (63 of 71) are native Spanish speakers, while the other eight students come from West Africa, South Asia, or Eastern Europe.  These students are serviced through two ESL models: Transitional Bilingual Education (Spanish) and a Freestanding ESL program.

According to the school’s 2012 NYC Progress Report, the average score on the 2012 NYS ELA Exam for all grades was 2.62, and only 25.1% of students scored at a Level 3 or 4. On the other hand, the average score on the 2012 NYS Math Exam was 2.97 and had 46.6% of students score at Level 3 or Level 4. With students performing better in math than in ELA, the push for improving English proficiency in the community is warranted.

Both MHSTA and the neighborhood it serves have large numbers of speakers whose first language is not English.  The program proposed, therefore, is a series of ESL classes for adults connected to the school or community, with ancillary legal services for those immigrants who may need them.  While parents and adult family members of MHSTA students will make up one target group, half of the seats in the ESL program will be reserved for community members unaffiliated with the school.  To help recruit parents, we hope to enlist the Parent Teacher Association (PTA) to be co-sponsor of this initiative. According to Vera et al. ,  “ Programs [that] engage the family in the educational process, among other interventions, will effectively improve academic achievement.” (2012, p. 184) By linking the school to families and the community, especially through the lens of language acquisition, this program will hopefully positively impact student achievement.  

We propose that the ESL classes begin in January of 2014 to allow for the organization of the program and recruitment of adult students between September and December of 2013.  The first set of fifteen weekly classes will run January through April.  The level and length of future classes will be determined through ongoing program assessment, outlined below, but we anticipate having ongoing Beginner-level and Intermediate-level classes running concurrently at regular intervals throughout subsequent years.

MHSTA currently offers a popular Zumba class for parents on Wednesday evenings at 6 p.m.  in the school cafeteria. On Saturday mornings, MHSTA hosts its Saturday Academy for students.  Because the building is open and security staff is on site at these times already, we propose one class meet for one hour before the Zumba class on Wednesdays and another class for one hour on Saturday mornings.  ESL classes at these times may attract parents who are already coming to the school, either for the exercise class or to pick up or drop off their children for the Saturday Academy.  We recognize that many of the parents of MHSTA students have long work hours and multiple other time commitments, so we plan to offer the classes at times when they may already be making a trip to the school.  Getting more parents into the building, especially those who do not speak English and may be intimidated by the language barrier, will also benefit their children’s learning, as incidental relationships will be formed with school staff.  Schools working with community partners may establish increased and better communication with parents. According to Vera, et al. (2012), utilizing community resources, especially bilingual resources, to communicate to families will lead to more parent participation in the ESL programs because families get a sense of belonging and a sense that the school is not an “English only” space.

Free child care services will be offered to parents during the courses. We will ask one PTA member to volunteer to help supervise the babysitting, and we will recruit 8th-grade students seeking community service hours for high school to assist. There will be snacks and drinks provided as well.  In the school’s budget, there is a $500 line for OTPS (Other Than Personnel Services) that is granted to the Parent Coordinator to use for parent outreach services. This current school year, the money in the budget allocated for PTA/Parent Outreach was spent on a museum trip for parents. For the upcoming year, the money will be designated for the ESL program and the purchasing the supplies needed (S. Fernandez, personal communication, May 1, 2013).  We believe these services will make it easier for more parents and community members to take advantage of the new program. 

To teach the ESL classes, we will partner with Youth Ministries for Peace and Justice.  Youth Ministries is a non-denominational social services agency that has been working to revitalize South Bronx communities for twenty years.  Some of the programs they offer include arts, community activism, education, youth leadership training, and wellness programs, as well as ESL classes. These classes are integral for both the parents of our students and the community as a whole. After reaching out to the staff of Youth Ministries, we found that they provide volunteers who teach the ESL classes in a space that our school provides.  Youth Ministries associates its education philosophy with the radical educator Paulo Freire and his idea of pedagogy as community empowerment; as such, its mission and vision seem to align well with our program goals.  Furthermore, because Youth Ministries provides a wide range of social services, establishing a partnership between the school and Youth Ministries for an adult ESL program now may lead to other synergies in the future for the school. 

Currently, neither MHSTA nor the surrounding community provide any similar adult ESL programs. There are computer classes that are offered, free of charge, by a non-profit, community-based program, CFY, at the school.  There are also parenting workshops provided by the school social worker that are offered on a bimonthly basis to parents.  Unfortunately, before the proposal of this program, there have been no services offered that have integrated school and  community needs, aside from the Zumba classes.  This adult ESL program would work to bridge the gap between the members of the school community and the members of the surrounding community.

We anticipate that many of the adults enrolled in the ESL classes may also have immigration issues or other legal issues that may affect their children’s education.  We will thus incorporate access to legal services into the program.  Volunteers of Legal Service connect NYC lawyers to those in the city in need of pro bono services, and currently operate through about a half dozen NYC schools through its Children’s Project.  We will invite Volunteers of Legal Services to meet with our ESL class at least once each cycle of classes to explain the services they offer and to provide contact information.  Typically, once a family contacts Volunteers outside of the informational session, the family is connected directly to a lawyer or law firm, and the school is not involved henceforth.  In the past, Volunteers has helped school families with legal issues involving immigration, housing, medical claims, or public benefits.  

            With the language barrier and school-community disconnect in mind, several communication processes will be set up to inform and recruit from the school and neighborhood communities.  In October, after the initial, new school-year information has been disseminated, we will send a survey and messages home with the students about the adult ESL programs.  Notices will be sent in Spanish, and in French to West African households, and we will announce this opportunity to students to encourage them to help “recruit” their parents.  After the first round of recruitment is done by mid-November, we will then have members of the PTA, as an anticipated co-sponsor of the program, the school’s parent coordinator, and the school social worker make targeted phone calls to parents of their own communities; we recognize that establishing or using existing personal relationships with potential adult ESL students may make a difference in recruitment.  We will make sure that at least one key parent from West Africa is on board to help lead recruitment from that community.  See the Appendix for a sample recruitment flyer.

To attract adults not affiliated with the school to the program, we will first encourage parents of MHSTA students to sign up a friend to the ESL classes.  We will also post flyers around the neighborhood, targeting a few areas and stores where non-English speakers frequent, including the bodegas, hair salons, and ethnic restaurants.  Again, parents will be an important asset in identifying these places to promote the program and recruit community members.  Finally, we will work with Youth Ministries, who may know of adults in need of ESL classes through its other community work.

            To assess the program, we will closely monitor attendance, and contact those who miss several classes to see what issues prevented attendance.  At the conclusion of the first cycle classes in April, 2014, we will conduct a survey with program participants to determine whether they would like to continue with further classes, and at what level, and whether they would recommend the program to others.  We also want to monitor the classes’ effectiveness, with a pre- and post-test of the language abilities of all participants. (Youth Ministries may already do this as part of their program; if so, we will want them to share this information.)  Finally, we will get feedback from both the class teacher(s) and the director of Youth Ministries Center for Education for Liberation.  We will use the results of this feedback to inform the direction of future classes.

            In addition to the feedback specific to the adult ESL program, we will also analyze the School Environment Survey over the next few years to see if parental responses have changed.  Even if parents do not access this program themselves, we anticipate that this initiative will provide greater school-community connection, and influence all parents’ perceptions of the school.

In sum, an adult ESL program will provide a needed language education service to the members of the community at no cost, in a framework that makes the classes accessible to a wide range of neighborhood residents and school family members.  We believe that this initiative will better link the families of MHSTA to the Morrisania/South Bronx neighborhood, and form a partnership between the school and another agency serving the same community that has the potential to expand.  Finally, by empowering parents, both those who take advantage of the ESL program and those that help organize and recruit, we hope to see greater student achievement as an important indirect benefit of this program.

References

New York City Department of Education, (2012). Science and Technology Academy: A Mott Hall

School Middle School Progress Report 2012-13 (09X454). New York: NYC Department of Education.

United States Census Bureau. (2010). Zip code 10456. Retrieved from

http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/nav/jsf/pages/index.xhtml

Vera, Elizabeth M.; Israel, Marla Susman; Coyle, Laura; Cross, Joanna; Knight-Lynn, Laura;

Moallem, Isabel; Bartucci, Gina; Goldberger, Nancy. Exploring the Educational

Involvement of Parents of English Learners. School Community Journal. Fall/Winter2012,  22 (2), 183-202.