A Failure to Communicate on Bilingual Ed

Recess was over and the kindergartners in burgundy and gray plaid were having too much fun as they scurried back into Room 11. Bilingual education teacher Karen Schwartz raised her voice above the din: “I really like the way Gustavo is sitting with his book and reading so quietly.”

The positive reinforcement was delivered in English, as are many other lessons in this class filled with pupils who speak Spanish at home. Here at the storied Vaughn Next Century Learning Center in Pacoima, Los Angeles’ most acclaimed charter school, there are 10 kindergarten classes taught on seven different levels, according to students’ familiarity with English.

The idea is to group pupils with the right teachers. A quick tour reveals “limited English proficiency” (LEP) students in a “full immersion” class in which no Spanish is used; a bilingual class where kids get some lessons in English but are already starting to read in Spanish; another in which a native Spanish speaker with an emergency teaching credential leads pupils who’ve had the least exposure to English. The lesson here is very basic: “Uno, dos, tres. . .”

In this classroom, especially, are some of the kids Principal Yvonne Chan worries about. If the so-called “English for the Children” initiative becomes law--if they are tossed into the deep end of a one-year English immersion class--some will swim, she says, but others may sink into special education, branded as dummies.

“Define to me what bilingual education means,” she says. “Nobody gives me identical definitions. So how can you tell me it doesn’t work?”

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So is Chan saying bilingual education works? The answer isn’t as simple as yes or no--which, alas, is all the choice voters may have next June.

Chan is worth listening to. Considering the honors Vaughn has received under her leadership, she might be the closest thing Los Angeles has to Jaime Escalante, the calculus teacher of “Stand and Deliver” fame who now serves as honorary chairman of the anti-bilingual education campaign launched by software entrepreneur Ron Unz.

Like Escalante, Chan is an immigrant who has achieved the status of folk hero educating students in a poor Latino community. Like Escalante, she has a dynamic, outspoken manner that has helped make her a media darling. And as with Escalante, her accolades have spawned resentment among some of her fellow educators.

Some, no doubt, were glad to see her halo knocked askew when a recent review of standardized tests at Vaughn found what appeared to be an unusually high number of erasures on some tests. (A preliminary investigation exonerated the school of any cheating on the English version of the tests. A review of the Spanish-language tests continues.) But if you saw “Stand and Deliver”--and if not, rent it tonight--you’ll recall that Escalante weathered a test-score controversy of his own.

Other test results, meanwhile, have shown Vaughn generally outperforming neighboring schools and climbing closer to national norms despite the community’s poverty and low education level. This shouldn’t be surprising. Vaughn, which under the charter program manages its own budget, has added 20 days of instruction to the school year and has dozens of parents pitching in as volunteers.

Chan, like Escalante, emphasizes the importance of teaching English. And she doesn’t agree with critics who are quick to label the initiative as racist or xenophobic. Reform in bilingual education, she says, is long overdue.

While Escalante has lent considerable prestige to the anti-bilingual campaign, it’s worth remembering that he is a high school math teacher. Unz’s academic specialty was theoretical physics. Chan, who came to the United States from Hong Kong as a young woman, brings to the debate broader experience and greater expertise.

She speaks four languages. She has observed the workings of bilingual education as a classroom teacher, a district administrator, an assistant principal and a principal. She’s administered bilingual programs as dictated by the Los Angeles Unified School District and by the different policies adopted under Vaughn’s charter.

“I’m not an expert in bilingual education,” she says, “but I’m an expert in dealing with the struggles of bilingual education.”

L.A. Unified, she says, has generally done a poor job of bilingual education, for various reasons. A child’s progress, she believes, is too often slowed by a shortage of qualified teachers and the resulting inconsistency. A funding formula that provides extra money to schools for its LEP students, she says, should be revamped to create a funding incentive for mainstreaming LEP students.

Vaughn is now revising its charter so that teachers would earn bonuses for advancing students out of the LEP classification. And while the LAUSD has a goal of mainstreaming LEP students during the fifth grade, Vaughn’s target is the third grade. This is why, Chan says, Vaughn’s fourth-graders fared poorly in recent tests. Many are Spanish speakers making the transition to classes taught exclusively in English.

The anti-bilingual initiative, meanwhile, envisions “English immersion during a temporary transition period not normally intended to exceed one year.”

Chan doesn’t see much wiggle room in that sentence.

“One year,” she asserts flatly, “isn’t enough.”

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Exactly how Vaughn would be affected if the anti-bilingual initiative becomes law isn’t clear. Charter schools have limited autonomy; some state laws apply, some don’t. A press secretary for the initiative campaign says charter schools would “probably” be exempted. A spokesman for the state Department of Education says the initiative language still needs to be studied.

Amid all the confusion and worry, Chan finds herself wondering why state legislators concerned about bilingual education haven’t stepped forward with an alternative plan to guide a program that nobody knows how to define.

“Is it too late? I don’t think so,” she says. “Something needs to be done.”

Scott Harris’ column appears Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. Readers may write to him at The Times’ Valley Edition, 20000 Prairie St., Chatsworth 91311, or via e-mail at scott.harris@latimes.com Please include a phone number.