Where are metro Atlanta's foreign-born students originally from? Check out this map to see the homelands of students from DeKalb, Fulton and Gwinnett counties.
Georgia’s largest school district is working on a plan to better help foreign-born students who are way behind academically.
Gwinnett County’s school district estimates it will work with 200 students this fall, mostly in high school, who test scores show are at least two years behind their peers. Many of them come from Central or South America and have trouble speaking or comprehending English, and some have had little formal schooling, Gwinnett officials say.
“We’re looking at some substantial gaps we’re trying to accelerate,” said Jonathan Patterson, Gwinnett’s associate superintendent of curriculum and instructional support.
Patterson said the students will work in small groups at four high schools, getting additional lessons in vocabulary, reading comprehension and math. Although they will attend four specific high schools, they will officially be students in what the school district is calling its International Transition Center. Patterson said Gwinnett administrators will learn what works for these students through experimentation.
“A lot we don’t know today, we’ll hopefully learn six months from now,” he said.
Gwinnett, like many Georgia school districts, is searching for answers as more foreign-born students enroll and many of them have trouble graduating from high school. Gwinnett has seen an influx of immigrants in recent decades, with one of four residents being foreign-born, according to the Atlanta Regional Commission.
This increase comes as state education officials work to raise standards for the annual proficiency exams, the Georgia Milestones, which require students to write more as opposed to answering multiple-choice questions.
State data show the graduation rate for the 2014-15 school year was just 56 percent for students categorized as "Limited English Proficient." In Gwinnett, it was nearly 49 percent. The statewide graduation rate for all public school students that year was just below 79 percent. Georgia's graduation rate is typically below the national average.
About one in six Gwinnett students are Limited English Proficient, approximately twice the statewide average, state statistics show.
Gwinnett has studied efforts such as Hall County’s Upstart Program that started two years ago to address a similar increase in its percentage of students with limited formal education. The program attempts to help students improve their English skills through work in occupations such as welding and help from bilingual University of Georgia professors and students. Hall officials believe Upstart is working because more of these students are staying in school.
Experts say Georgia schools should embrace the students' native language, saying research shows students who master that language can learn English or another language better. UGA world language associate professor Ruth Harman suggested Georgia add more dual-language immersion programs that teach students all subjects in two languages. Those programs have grown from 14 in 2014-15 to 37 statewide this fall. State officials are planning a dual-language teaching workshop next month.
“If you devalue (their native) language, you devalue the student,” she said.
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