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Schools

Dropout Rate High For English Language Learners

Somerville High School students with limited proficiency in English have the highest dropout rate compared to other student subgroups.

Despite the instructional support available to them, 22 out of 68 students with a limited grasp of English--many of them immigrants --dropped out before their expected graduation date last year, said school officials. 

Compared to other student subgroups, students with limited English proficiency have the highest dropout rate, according to the state’s Department of Elementary and Secondary Education website.

Some 13 percent of students at the high school aren't proficient in English (or weren't at one time), according to Assistant Superintendent Vincent McKay. McKay said that of those students who are immigrants, many come from Brazil and Central America and speak Portuguese and Spanish, respectively.

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Most receive English language education alongside curriculum instruction in isolated classes through the district’s English Language Learner (ELL) program. The program aims to make students proficient in the language so that they can join regular education classes, program director Sarah Davila explained.

Recently the district received a $15,000 grant to study the effectiveness of the ELL program and to focus on improving the graduation rate for its students.  

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“This is a huge concern of ours,” said Davila.  

Beside the ELL program, the district offers several services for immigrant students and their families, including translation and interpretation, counseling, and tutoring. Further, Davila said that last year the district charged her with expanding and improving those services.

Still, officials agree: students must work hard to overcome the emotional, familial and financial burdens tied to immigration.  

Many care for younger siblings or work up to full-time to help support their family, McKay said. Some enter the high school a few years older than their classmates and age out of the system at 22. Others, Davila said, move back and forth between Somerville and their home country or around Greater Boston. She said that several live alone, with friends or with distant relatives.

“School is just competing with life for them,” McKay said.

Credit-recovery = a Second Chance for Failing Students

Since last year, the high school has allowed students who have failed math classes to retake them for credit. McKay said the credit-recovery program particularly benefits transient students who have learned math sporadically or in a different language. Students in the program work at their own pace and receive credit as they finish units.

“Psychologically it’s so powerful to reward at-risk kids with credit as they go,” he said.

Recently the district received a $210,000 grant from the state to expand the program.

Insight from Within the Immigrant Community 

Warren Goldstein-Gelb, executive director of  an organization that advocates for Somerville’s immigrant community called The Welcome Project, said that the schools should offer interpretation during parent-teacher conferences. He also suggests educating teachers on cultural norms that influence students’ behavior in class, such as sitting quietly instead of eagerly participating. 

He also elaborated on some of the factors that school officials said lead to the high dropout rate among ELL students, including their age.

“Many times these students are older, so they may have been in eighth grade in their home country, and then here they’re in sixth grade,” he said. “One would imagine that if you’re 20 years old in a class of 16-year-olds, you’re at a different level of maturity and might feel like you don’t belong there,” he said.

Goldstein-Gelb said given a strong sense of belonging, ELL students might be more likely to stay in school.

“The extent to which young people feel connected and engaged to a school or community will increase the chances they will stay connected and engaged,” he said. The schools are working to be more accommodating of the rich cultural diversity of the city, but it’s hard.

But Goldstein-Gelb also pointed out that certain factors were out of students’ and the district’s control, namely the ineligibility for illegal immigrants to receive in-state tuition or federal aid.

“I’ve certainly seen and know some students who question why they are bothering to go to school if there’s no way they can further their educational aspirations,” he said.

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