Fluent in learning

CEDAR RAPIDS - Scott Bleuer's 9 a.m. Tuesday class at Roosevelt Middle School is smaller than most with only four students, but they're a unique group of kids.

Ilke Senturk, originally from Turkey, is drawing on the interactive whiteboard, matching up words to related pictures, while Diana Bonilla of Mexico, Noela Mbata of the Congo and Simeon Niyonkuru of Tanzania call out suggestions.

The sixth-graders are English-language learners of varying levels of competency and members of one of the fastest-growing subgroups in the Cedar Rapids school district and Iowa.

Ten years ago, Cedar Rapids schools enrolled a total of 169 students with limited proficiency in English, as determined by the Iowa Department of Education. Since then, the district's overall enrollment has dropped, but its number of English learners has risen to about 435 students - 364 of whom are receiving direct instruction in English, said Lisa Boyer, the district's English-language learning facilitator.

“We do what we can to help those students not just acculturate but also integrate into the classroom and community while holding onto their culture's values,” she said.

About 20 teachers throughout the elementary, middle and high schools work to get the students proficient in English - measured by a passing grade on the Iowa English Language Development Assessment and the Iowa Assessments. This can take between three and 10 years, Boyer said.

It's a job that varies in difficulty depending on the student and his or her educational background, said Bleuer, who has taught English-language learners in Iowa and Texas for 11 years.

Some of his students arrive with some English knowledge and had attended school in their native countries, but many are behind on the skills and knowledge they should have at their grade level. Bleuer also teaches special social studies and math courses for English learners.

“In my math group, there are some kids doing complex math at grade level, and then there are some who just got here where we have to go back to basic counting skills,” he said.

The children in the program represent 30 countries and more than than 40 languages. The majority of those students - about 200 - have a Spanish-speaking background, followed by about 120 students who speak the African languages Kirundi, Swahili or a combination of the two. There also are about 20 students each who speak Chinese or Vietnamese.

The influx of Spanish and Swahili-speaking students is large enough that the school recently hired full-time interpreters in those languages to help bridge the gap between school and home. Rama Muzo, originally from Tanzania, has been helping the district's Swahili-speaking families for the past year, and Alejandra Zaltron, originally from Argentina, started last month to assist on the Spanish side.

The two Roosevelt-based community liaisons spend most of their time working with parents and guardians. Iowa can be a strange place to families from Latin America or Africa, and some parents speak little to no English.

Zaltron and Muzo go where they are needed and help any way they can, from translating at parent-teacher conferences to directing families to community assistance for food and shelter.

For example, when the bus did not arrive to pick up Diana Bonilla one morning, her mother called Zaltron, rather than the school office, to sort out the transportation issue in Spanish.

“A lot of parents are embarrassed to call if they have trouble with English,” said Zaltron. “We're trying to get the word out that we're here to help.”

The fast-growing Swahili-speaking population can be attributed to African refugees from Rwanda, Burundi and the Congo, who first arrived in the area from Tanzanian camps during the late '90s, said Muzo. The local African immigrant community has grown as initial refugees put down roots and spread word to their friends and relatives.

Those families are adapting to a different culture, and Muzo helps mediate that divide.

“The kids live two lives. The structure at school is not the structure at home,” he said. “The parents find themselves in an awkward position many times wondering, ‘Is this a different situation in America, or is my child doing something they shouldn't do?' ”

School resources

Resources devoted to English-language learners in Cedar Rapids district:

• Number of schools serving ELL students, 1980-2003: 3
• Number of schools, 2010-12: 10
• Number of teacher and para-educator ELL positions in 2007: 13.56
• Number in 2012: 20.71
• Program cost for 2011-12: $1,138,472

For more help

Cedar Rapids school district families needing translation services in Spanish, Kirundi or Swahili may contact the district's community liaison and language advocates:

Cedar Rapids familias del distrito escolar que necesitan servicios de traducción en español, kirundi o swahili puede ponerse en contacto con el enlace del distrito de la comunidad y los defensores del lenguaje:

Cedar Rapids shule za wilaya familia wanaohitaji huduma za tafsiri katika lugha ya Kihispaniola, Kirundi au Kiswahili wanaweza kuwasiliana na jamii ya wilaya Liaison na mawakili wa lugha:

• Spanish: Alejandra Zaltron, (319) 558-3461
• Swahili and Kirundi: Rama Muzo, (319) 558-3510

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