ELD Program implements new California standard

By Vera Resendez,
BlueDevilHUB.com Staff–

This year Davis High will be implementing the new California English Language Development standards for the first time.

The California State Board of Education first adopted the new standards on Nov. 7, 2012, however DHS did not teach by these standards until this year.

“This is the first year we’re making it a priority,” ELD teacher David Achimore said. He has taught at DHS for five years and is the current beginner level ELD teacher. There are various levels of ELD, which range from beginner to advanced ELD courses.

Although it may not be a highly visible program in Davis, the ELD program influences a significant share of its students. Hundreds of students of all ages are enrolled in an ELD class, and that number continues to grow. According to statistics provided by the school district, in 2011 there were 757 students and by 2015 there were 904.

The new standards focus on interactive learning as well as individual aspects such as vocabulary and sentence diagramming. “If you can break down or deconstruct a sentence, you will be able to comprehend that same sentence much better,” Achimore said.

The new standards cater to what ELD students seem to positively respond to, which is interactive learning. Zhuofu Hou, 16, moved from Beijing this year. His favorite way to learn English is “teacher talking and we answer.”

Hopefully the new standards will be helpful for those students who learn better through speaking rather than reading and writing. Juan Jimenez, 16, moved from Nayarit, Mexico to Davis this year. “My least favorite part is reading and writing,” Jimenez said in Spanish.

Continuing ELD students have noticed some changes in their classroom curriculum. Many have been enrolled in a sequence of ELD classes, so they are able to compare the class before and after the adoption of the standards.

Alaa Olmer, 15, moved to Davis from the United Arab Emirates her freshman year after her family won the immigration lottery. As a freshman she took ELD 1A, skipped 1B, and is now a sophomore in ELD 3A. “Our teacher teaches better. He talks and lets us write responses,” Olmer said.

Junior Yao Xu has also been in the ELD program for two years. “Last year more grammar and reading. This year more focused on vocabulary,” Xu said.

However, these students express mixed feelings about the implementation of the standards. “I think it will be [good]. That will improve the new people English, that will make them better,” Olmer said.

Xu raises the point that standardization makes it harder to individualize learning. “Some people will think it’s easy, but some people will think it’s hard,” Xu said.

Yet for learning a new language, classroom lessons are only part of the solution. Achimore also stressed the importance of community outreach for students learning English. “Something I’d like to provide more of is a communal feeling for EL students and their families,” Achimore said.

Achimore taught a Guatemalan student a couple years back who came to DHS speaking virtually no English. After a couple weeks, the student started dating a girl who only spoke English and by that fall, the student was nearly proficient in English. “I found it cute, but also really fascinating,” Achimore said.