ED 084 058

DOCUMENT RESUME

32 RC 007 440

TITLE Title I ESEA Case Study: The Bilingual Program,Tucumcari, New Mexico.

INSTITUTION Bureau of Elementary and Secondary Education(DHEW /OE) , Washington, D.C. Div. of CompensatoryEducation.

REPORT NO DHEW-OE-72-92PUB DATE 72NOTEAVAILABLE FROM

23p.Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government PrintingOffice, Washington, D.C. 20402 (HE 5.237:37C92,$0.30)

EDRS PRICE MF-$0.65 HC-$3.29DESCRIPTORS *Bilingual Education; Community Involvement;

Curriculum Development; English (Second Language);Information Dissemination; Parent Participation;*Program Descriptions; *Program Development; *ProgramPlanning; *Spanish Speaking; Student Needs

IDENTIFIERS New Mexico; *Tucumcari

ABSTRACTMore than three-fourths of the Nation's school

districts receive funds for improving opportunities for educationallydeprived children in low-income areas under Title I of the Elementaryand Secondary Act. The Division of Compensatory Education, whichadministers Title I in the U.S. Office of Education, has examined anumber of successful projects. These projects can be used as examplesfor other school districts implementing similar programs. The casestudies of these examinations comprise a series which describes whatis being done in specific locales and where and in what ways theTitle I mission is being accomplished. In this report, the BilingualProgram at Tucumcari, New Mexico, which has been in effect sinceSeptember 1969, is ermined. The program attempts to improve theeducational opp)rtunity and the overall school experience for 162educationally deprived children by developing both Spanish andEnglish literaci skills, providing bilingual instruction in socialstudies and cuPural enrichment, and developing positive self -imaceand cultural id. ntity. The nrogram is examined for planning,management, and implementation. The detailed budget for fiscal year1972 and variow; components of the testing program completed by fall1970 and their results are also given. (NQ)

The BilingualProgramTucumcari, New Mrxico

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, EDUCATION, AND WELFARE /Office= of Education

FIL:\.TED FRO:\.1 BEST AV;Ji.,.,BLE COPY

DISCRIMINATION PROHIBITEDTitle VI of the Civil RightsAct of 1964 states: "No persons in the United States shall, onthe ground of race, color, or national origin, be excluded fromparticipation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected todiscrimination under any program or activity receiving Federalfinancial assistance." Therefore, title I of the Elementary andSecondary Education Act of 1965, like every program oractivity receiving financial assistance from ilhe Department ofHealth, Education, and Welfare, must be operated incompliance with this law.

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DHEW Publication No. (OE) 72.92

A Title I ESEA Case Study:The Bilingual ProgramTucumcari, New Mexico

1972U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, EDUCATION, AND WELFAREElliot L. Richardson, SecretaryOffice of EducationS. P. Marland, Jr., Commissioner

Superintendent of Documents Catalog No. HE 5.237:37092

U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICEWASHINGTON: 1972

For salt, by the Superintendent of Documents, C.S. Borer nment Printing OilierWashington, D.C. '20402 - Price 30 cents

PREFACE

Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act provides funds tomore than three-fourths of the Nation's school districts to improve oppor-tunities for educationally deprived children in low-income areas.

But what constitutes a good title I project? What are the common denomi-nators of success?

To answer these questions, the Division of Compensatory Education,which administers title I in the U.S. Office of Education, has examined anumber of successful projects. As might be expected, different assets werefound in different projects; each project represented a local school district'sresponse to local problems. Nonetheless, many elements of such projects canbe used as examples for other school districts implementing similar pro-grams.

Each case study included in this series can, either as a whole or in part, bereplicated. The reports concentrate on educational services and administra-tive design but also include illustrations of good practices in providing sup-portive services and involving parents and other community members.

In brief, the case studies in this series describe what is being done inspecific locales and where and in what ways the title I mission is beingaccomplished.

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CONTENTS

Page

Preface iii

General Information 1

Identification Data 1

Description of School District 1

Capsule Description of Program 1

Planning the Program 3

Determining Pupil Needs 3

Involving Parents and Community 4

Establishing Specific Objectives 4

Identifying and Using Resources 5

Managing the Program 6

Selecting Staff 6

Selecting and Preparing Facilities 6

Organizing and Scheduling Participants 7

Developing Curriculum 8

Implementing the Program 10

Training the Staff 10

Staff Duties 10

Conducting Instruction 10

Involving Parents and Community 11

Disseminating Information 12

Budget 13

Evaluation 14

/v

GENERAL INFORMATION

Identification Data

State and district New Mexico, Tu-cumcari Public SchoolsType of program Bilingual educationGrade levels Pre -1st, 1st, 2d

Fl Number of schools served OneCost per pupil S377Date when program began 1969-70

Description of School District

Tucumcari is the county seat of QuayCounty, N. Mex. The economy of Tucumcariis based principally on ranching, agriculture,railroading, and tourism. Two major railroadsconnect the city with principal markets in themidwest and on the Pacific coast. In addition,two national and two State highways providevaluable transportation links for trucking andtourism.

The population of Tucumcari is about9,000 people, mostly shopkeepers, small busi-nessmen, and farmers and their families. Ap-proximately 46 percent of the population areof Spanish origin, and black families comprise1 percent.

The public school system includes four ele-mentary schools, one junior high, and onehigh school for some 2,350 children. Zia Ele-mentary School was chosen as the project sitebecause it had the highest percentage of edu-cationally deprived children in the school dis-trict. There is also a branch of Eastern NewMexico University located in Tucumcari.There are no parochial schools in the city.The students are predominantly English-speaking whites, with approximately 43 per-cent Mexican-American and less than 2 per-cent black. Table 1 shows the ethnic distribu-tion of children in Tucumcari schools. Theaverage pupil/teacher ratio in the schools is22.6. Average teacher salaries are: elementary

$6,154; secondary $6,354. The Superin-tendent of Schools, Mr. David York, is ap-pointed by the elected members of the Boardof Education.

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Capsule Description of Program

The bilingual program in the Zia Elemen-tary School is an attempt to improve the edu-cational opportunity and the overall schoolexperience of approximately 162 education-ally deprived children. The program seeks to:

Develop literacy skills in both themother tongue and the second languageProvide bilingual instruction in socialstudies and cultural enrichmentAssist the development of positive self-image and cultural identity.

A bilingual staff, currently consisting ofthree teachers and four aides, provides in-structional activities during daily visits to allregular classrooms in grades 1 through 3.Children are grouped according to ability forhalf-hour sessions in reading, in both Spanishand English, during the morning hours. In theafternoon, the bilingual teachers return to theregular classroom to provide a 1-hour instruc-tion period, in Spanish, in social studies andcultural enrichment. Parents of the childrensponsor additional special activities and pre-sentations to reinforce the cultural identityand self-image of the Spanish-speakingchildren.

Tucumcari, like several other school dis-tricts in the Southwest, had organized specialpre -1st -grade classes for all children enteringschool. Under this arrangement, a child couldprogress directly from pre-1st to 2d grade ifhis English-speaking ability and academicachievement warranted the jump. If, however,he was having difficulties with English, thenhe progressed to 1st grade.

The bilingual program began in one pre-1st-grade classroom in September 1969 andhas since expanded to include all classroomsthrough grade 2 arid one 3d-grade class. Thepre-1st-grade concept has now been elimi-nated districtwide. Plans for the program in-clude eventual expansion up to grade 6 andhorizontal expansion into other title I schoolsin Tucumcari.

Table 1. Number and percent of students in Tucumcari Public Schools,by ethnic background, 1969

Schools

BlackEnglish-speaking

white Mexican-American Total students

No. % No. % No. % No. %

Elementary

Zia 26 6 64 16 315 78 405 100Buena Vista 2 1 145 92 11 7 158 100Mountain View - 259 86 43 14 302 100Granger - 182 51 173 49 355 100

Total elem. 28 2 650 53 542 45 1,220 100

Junior high 2 303 56 240 44 545 100High school 4 1 289 63 166 36 459 100

Total Tucumcarischool system 34 1 1,242 56 948 43 2,224 100

Primary emphasis of the 1st year of opera-tion was on the evaluation, translation, andacquisition of suitable instructional materialsin Spanish and English. In the 2d year, thiseffort continued with added emphasis on thedevelopment of audiovisual aids and lesson

2

plans for teaching language arts and otherparts of the curriculum in two languages.

The program is funded by title I ESEA as asupplement to the regular school program inTucumcari.

PLANNING THE PROGRAM

Determining Pupii Needs

The main emphasis of the title 1 pros; am inTucumcari in the first 2 years of its operationwas on remedial reading. In school year1967-68, Mr. Don Herron was hired as theelementary school counselor for the title I

program. Results of the testing program con-ducted by Mr. Herron that year had some dis-turbing implications. Despite the title I pro-gram, evaluations in the spring of 1968showed that participants made no appreciablescholastic gains. Also, the testing indicatedthat t he children from Spanish-speakinghomes in the title I schools were being labeledslow learners without the native intelligencenecessary to achieve on a normal level.

Largely at the instigation of Mr. Herronand other concerned community and schoolpeople, the Title I Advisory Committee begana study in 1968-69 to ascertain in greater de-tail the educational needs of the title I chil-dren and to find 3 mere effective approach tomeet those needs.

The study began with an extensive evalua-tion of the remedial reading program. Thecommittee, through its various sources andcontacts, decided that the resources and ef-forts of the title I program could be betterutilized in another area. This decision wasbased on several factors:

Kr] A persistent high dropout rate amongthe Spanish-speaking children in the dis-trict;

'3 Poor schoolteachers;

attitudes as observed by

® A retention rate of 34 percent in all1st-grade classes in the 1968-69 schoolyear;

la The results of the testing program forparticipants in the reading activity; and

Additional testing of Spanish-speakingchildren to determine their level ofachievement in English-language skills.

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The decision of the advisory committee ledto the establishment of a planning group com-posed of the superintendent of schools, theassistant superintendent, the principal of ZiaElementary School, a junior high schoolSpanish teacher, a high school Spanish teacher,and Mr. Herron.

The group held its first meeting in March1969 to consider an alternative approach tothe education of linguistically and culturallydiverse children. Hans were discussed withmembers of the school faculties in Tucumcari,and the group decided that a bilingual/bi-cultural program should be started at thelower elementary level.

As planned, the program would begin inonly one pre -1st -grade classroom the 1st year.If the program evidenced success, it would beexpanded both horizontally and verticallyduring successive years. This decision wasbased on the experimental nature of the pro-gram, the amount of funds available to thestaff, and a cautious attitude on the part ofthe community as to the probable success ofthe program.

The emphasis and the approach would, itwas felt, obviate the need for remedial worklater in the child's school experience. Thepupils who were to participate in the 1styear's operation were located in the Zia Ele-mentary School. The attendance area haa thehighest concentration of low-income childrenfrom Spanish-speaking homes. Participants inthe 1st year were title I eligible childrenwhose parents, after consultation, had volun-tarily enrolled them in the class.

The new program was advertised over theradio and in the newspaper. Parents wereasked to bring their children to enroll in thespecial class. None came during the openingdays of school. Therefore, Mr. Herron andMiss Rose Gonzales (a bilingual Spanishteacher hired as a consultant) started at thetop of the preenrollment list and visited the

homes of the first 25 Spanish-surnamed chil-dren to explain the basic concepts of the pro-gram to the parents. All the parents volun-tarily enrolled their children in the class. Theprimary reasons for the earlier lack of re-sponse were a general mistrust and fear of theschool a nd misunderstanding about theserious intent to carry out the new program.After the home visits, the parents becamevery enthusiastic about the program andoffered to help in any way.

Involving Parents ?nd Community

There was no input from the parents of thechildren in the needs assessment process be-fore the program began. This situationchanged, however, during the 1st year ofoperation, and all parents were consulted atthe start concerning the needs of their chil-dren. Proposed changes in the program arenow discussed not only with the parent ad-visory council but also with individual parentsof children in the program.

In September 1969, parents of the childrenin the first bilingual class were asked to forma parent council to help guide the programand to assist in its operation. In school year1970-71, a nominating committee suggestednew members for the parent council. Thecouncil included seven parents, each with atleast one child in the program, plus the princi-pal and members of the bilingual programstaff. The council met about once a month.

Establishing Specific Objectives

The planning group established the objec-tives for the 1st year of the program. immedi-ate objectives were to:

1. Begin a program of bilingual/biculturaleducation in a pre-1st grade at the ZiaElementary School.

2. Involve parents, teachers, administra-tors, and others from the State Depart-ment of Education in the planning ofthe project.

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3. Give major emphasis during the 1st yearto developing and locating materials forthe program.

4. Lay the groundwork for effective com-munity involvement.

During the process of establishing specificinstructional objectives, the group was greatlyinfluenced by a speech delivered by Dr. HenryPascual, a specialist in communicative arts forthe New Mexico State Department of Educa-tion. This was disseminated to school person-nel through the State. The speech emphasizedthree basic areas of concern to educatorspotentially bilingual children: developing theself-image of the child, supportirg culturalidentity, and preventing educ,,ional retarda-tion.

Performanc'r Jbjectives which evolved fromthese and other ideas were as follows:

1. The 1st-graders will learn about theMexican and American cultures throughgames, art, stories, songs, food, and par-ticipation in other special activities.

2. The class will demonstrate a better com-mand of both Spar:sh and English lan-guages upon entrance into the 2d grade.

3. The 1st-graders will have a positive atti-tude toward school as measured by theirparticipation in activities recorded andobserved by the teachers involved.

4. The class will display a more positive self-image than a comparable control groupas measured by recorded teacher obser-vations.

Objectives for the 2d year of operation wereessentially the same as for the 1st year. Dur-ing the 1st year the staff concentrated onproblems related to scheduling, vertical ex-pansion, and the continuing need to evaluateand adapt high-quality materials for the pro-gram. However, they soon reai;zed thattighter performance objectives were neededand sought advice from the Education Depart-ment of Eastern New Mexico Universitywhich has a branch at Tucumcari.

Identifyins and Using Resources

ihe planning group rec.:.,gnized from thebeginning that they had little knowledge ofthe steps involved in beginning a bilingual pro-gram. They were aware that the 1st yearwould necessarily be developmental and thatthe structure of the program would have to beflexible in order to allow for change as experi-ence and expertise were acquired.

The first planning task undertaken was areview of existing resources in the school dis-trict and the State of New Mexico. Dr.Pascual provided excellent assistance andcounsel in this review. Another source ofState leadership was the title I staff under the

5

direction of Mr. Donald Harvey. Members ofthe planning group attended seminars at theCultural Awareness Center, University of NewMexico. In addition, existing bilingual educa-tion programs in Dexter, Artesia, Las Vegas.and Silver City, N. Mex., were visited by Mr.Herron and Miss Gonzales to gain insight intoprogram design, administration, materials, andspecial problems in implementing such a pro-gram.

The program staff maintained close coordi-nation with Dr. Pascual in the 2d. year ofoperation in order to obtain current informa-tion regarding new developments in research,materials, and techniques related to bilirgual/bicultural education.

MANAGING THE PROGRAM

Selecting Staff

The scope of the 1st-year pro Jam in1969-70 and the amount of funds availablelimited the size of the staff. The planninggroup decided that one bilingual consultantand one school aide were essential. The pro-gram staff would work in close cooperationwit} regular school personnel and withparents of the children to maximize resourcesfor the program.

The selection of the bilingual consultantwas a key decision for the sr, perintendent andthe Title I Advisory Committee. They feltthat in a small program with limited staff, theresponsibilities placed on each person wouldbe demanding and require an unusually highdegree of dedication, tact, enthusiasm, andunderstanding as well as the expected techni-cal expertise for conducting such an activity.Other requirements for the position were aB.A. degree, fluency in English and Spanish,and teaching experience.

Miss Rose Gonzales was hired in August1969 as the bilingual consultant. She waschosen because she was a long-time resid'ntof Tucumcari and, therefore, familiar with Lireneeds of local children. She also had indicatedan early interest in and dedication to the pro-gram.

The selection of the bilingual school aidewas a joint decision of the title I coordinator,the bilingual consultant, and the superinten-dent. All applicants were interviewed by theseindividuals following submission of a standardapplication form. The availability of the aideposition was advertised in the local news-paper, over the radio, and through variouscontacts in the schools. Requirements for theposition were:

High school diploma or equivalentAge 18 or overU.S. citizenship or evidence that it is

being soughtFluency in English and SpanishHigh moral characterTeaching ability.

6

A total of 25 persons applied for the posi-tion. Mrs. Mary Alarcon was selected inAugust 1969.

It shortly became evident that additionalassistance: was needed in the bilingual class. Atitle I instructional aide, Miss Betty Dabau,had expressed interest in the new programand readily agreed to be transferred into thebilingual class. In August 1970, an additionalaide, Miss Barbara Domingos, was hired fromapproximately 10 to 12 applicants from thecommunity.

By midterm of the 2d year of operation,the program had been expanded to includetwo pre-1st-, one 1st-, and one 2d-gradeclasses. This increased the number of studentsto 100, and an additional bilingual teacherwas hired to assist Miss Gonzales. Three appli-cants for the position were interviewed; Mr.Philip Sandoval was selected. Mr. Sandovalhad completed practice teaching in Tucumcariand had previously expressed tremendous in-terest in the program and the concept of bilin-gual education.

During the summer of 1971 reallocation oftitle I funds in New Mexico provided the op-portunity to hire a third teacher for the pro-gram. Five persons, all Spanish-surnamed,applied for the position. Mrs. Rose Anaya,who had had teaching experience in anotherbilingual project in the State, was hired. Oneof the ma:or problems faced by the programwas the thfficulty in attracting additional ap-plicants fur positions, perhaps due to the sizeand location of the city. To handle this situ-ation Tucumcari began to rely more heavilyon local resources, focusing primarily on im-proving the capabilities of local people. Cur-rent plans for a degree program for schoolaides at Eastern New Mexico University are anexample of this.

Selecting and Preparing Facilities

Initially, a 30-minute time block in the re-gular school day was designated for instruc-tion in Spanish. The bilingual teacher and

teacher aides went into the regular classroomto present the program to the children. Thispattern proved ineffective for several reasons:

n Entire class instructio' I not allowenough time for aitendi ie individualneeds of each child.

Instruction had to be planned so that allchildren were able to participate regard-less of their differing abilities in Spanish.

The bilingual teacher and the teacheraides were often in different rooms andwere not able to observe and criticizeeach others' techniques.

a The regular classroom teacher was notutilized effectively during this time.

in order to remedy this situation and toprovide for linguistic ability grouping, theprogram staff decided to experiment with adifferent logistical arrangement in the 2dyear. A large room in the school was selectedfor the bilingual learning center. Here, smallgroups of children could come for short in-structional periods. A Spanish learning envi-ronment was created in the room with manyvisuals and teaching devices, such as illustra-tions of story lines and songs, pocket charts,sentence strips, and reading charts. The roomwas divided into two s'ecjons for small-groupinstruction.

In the beginning of the 3d year of opera-tion the bilingual program moved back intothe regular classroom. While there were manylogistical advantages to having a separateroom for the program, the staff felt that otherconsiderations outweighed these advantages.Specfic disadvantages of the special room ar-rangement were:

Coordination between the activities inthe regular classroom and the specialroom was hampei-ed because daily inter-action between the teachers was lacking.

An artificial separation between theSpanish and English activities developed,especially in the area of cultural enrich-ment.

I With additional classes, the space in thespecial room was inadequate.

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Excessive displacement of children oc-curred, resulting in loss of instructiontime.

Organizing and Scheduling Participants

During 1970-71 children were placed ingroups of 10 to 15, based upon individualneeds as determined by the regular classroomteacher and the particular level and subjectmatter being presented in the special room ata given time. if a child exhibited need foradditional help in more than one area, hecould be scheduled for more than one groupsession per day.

Within each group, the bilingual stafffurther divided the students according toneeds and the amount of individual attentionrequired. The schedules for teachers and aideswere sufficiently flexible so that they couldwork with the entire group, subgroups, or in-dividual children. Activities in the regularclassroom were scheduled so that the childrendid not miss any of the regular instructionalprogram.

At the end of the year, the bilingual staffagreed that they needed more coordinationwith the regular classroom teacher and lessseparation of Spanish and English activities.To accomplish this they decided to offer thebilingual program in the regular classrooms,making it an integral part of the instructiongiven all children, not just the children fromSpanish-speaking homes.

Under the present arrangement the threebilingual teachers and four aides go into eachregular classroom for approximately 1 hour inthe morning and 1 hour in the afternoon. Inthe morning, the bilingual teacher works withapproximately half of the class readingSpanish, and the regular teacher works withthe remaining children reading English. Chil-dren are subgrouped according to specialproblem areas and ability in each language.The aides conduct special activities with smallgroups or individual children. Each readingsession last 30 minutes. Then the bilingualteacher and the regular teacher exchangegroups for reading in the other language.Reading activities occur in the two 1st gradesand one 2d grade.

In the afternoon, the bilingual teachers pro-vide 1 full hour of instruction in social studiesand cultural enrichment to all 1st-grade and2d-grade classes and to one 3d-grade class-room. This instruction is delivered totally inSpanish. The regular teacher is in the class-room to provide reinforcement and to demon-strate an interest in the language and cultureof the children from Spanish-speaking homeswhile also serving as a model for the otherchildren in the room. Aides work with indi-vidual children whose command of Spanishdoes not allow them to participate fully in themain activities in the room. Also, in the after-noon, two of the bilingual teachers go to twoother title I schools and teach Spanish lan-guage arts and culture to two 1st-grade classesfor approximately 45 minutes. An aide is as-signed to each teacher for these activities.

Developing Curriculum

In the beginning months of the program,considerable staff effort was directed towardsadapting, translating, and evaluating variouspublished curriculum materials, poetry, folktales, and existing curriculum guides. After 2years of operation, a basic set of materials andlesson plans has been established. The twobilingual teachers continually evaluate newmaterials for possible use. Bibliographies, con-structed from visits to other bilingual educa-tion projects, are periodically reviewed and acopy of selected materials is obtained. Thetext is reviewed in detail, and experimentallesson plans are constructed and used in theclassroom.

Considering the limits of time, space, andfunds, the program staff realized that forbilingual education to become a significantfactor in the educational development of thechildren in Tucumcari, the most relevant as-pects of the curriculum should be chosen forbilingual presentation or solely through thedominant language of each child. This realiza-tion was based on the concept that the func-tion of any school is to provide conceptualgrowth for each child. Such growth shouldtake place through the language which is mostfamiliar to the child and which can be usedmost effectively as a learning vehicle. Coordi-nation with instruction in the regular class-room is required so that concepts learned in

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one language are reinforced in the other. Con-sequently, literacy skills and social studiesconcepts were chosen as the core of thebilingual activity.

The decision to teach literacy skills in theprogram was based on the premise that it onecan read and write his native language, theway is paved for further intellectual develop-ment. In addition, if was felt that once theskills of reading were learned, there would bea positive transfer into English reading skills.

Although the program emphasized theacquisition of literacy skills in both Englishand Spanish, staff members were also con-cerned with the content of the materials usedto teach such skills. They agreed that thetime-tested content of international folk taleswould be an excellent starting point forreading in Spanish. However, the teachersfound the vocabulary of the folk tales alreadypublished in Spanish too complicated andthus translated their own versions of suchfavorites as Little Red Riding Hood, TheThree Bears, and Snow White.

In addition to improving reading skills,staff members hoped the children would ex-pand their total language experiences. Thiswas accomplished through listening as thestaff read culturally based stories, preparingpersonal experience charts similar to those inthe Learning Experi°nces in Reading programby Van Allen, and participating in culturallyrelevant games, learning poems, and singingsongs suited to the age levei of the children.

While the children were developing lan-guage skills in Spanish, they were reinforcingthose skills in English in the regular classroom.Regular teachers used Miami LinguisticReaders, and the children learned songs andgames in English.

In presenting the soda) studies activities,the staff worked with children not onlythrough their language but also through theirworld. A child interprets reality from apersonal point of view and thinks that every-one eke sees the world as he does. Therefore,the immediate environment of the school andhome comprises the initial social studies con-tent so that the child can begin to relate

through himself to others. The social studiesconcepts incorporated in the curriculum weredesigned to stimulate the child's awareness of:

Himself in time and spaceHis name and its importance in his cul-ture in contrast with other culturesHis schoolmatesHis family in contrast with other familiesHis living habits (foods, health, church,and community life).

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Basic elements of mathematics and asso-ciated terminology were also presented inSpanish to reinforce the math instruction inthe regular classroom. Teachers used manipu-lative devices, including clocks, coins, and likeand unlike objects, to explain the concepts ofaddition, subtraction, counting, and applica-tion of numbers as they relate to time andhandling money. Followup activities usingabstract numbers were then employed.

IMPLEMENTING THE PROGRAM

Training the Staff

Inservice training of the staff occurred inboth formal and informal ways. Prior to the1st year of operation, the title I director and

the bilingual consultant held a preschoolworkshop. The participants included seventeachers and 11 aides. Training was given in

methods of teaching the bilingual child, theuse of audiovisual equipment, orientation toschool law, and the duties of teacher aides..

During the school year, the bilingual pro-gram staff met weekly with the regular class-room teachers to discuss problems of indi-vidual children and to obtain the teachers'opinions of the special program.

Aides in the program received considerableon-the-job training. The bilingual consultantobserved their activities each week and re-viewed techniques, offered suggestions, andrequested changes at a weekly staff meeting.

Tentative plans for the inservice program in

1971-72 were developed by the bilingual con-sultant. These included workshops for sixclassroom teachers, three aides, two bilingualteachers, and the Zia School principal. Thefollowing subjects were covered:

1. Community Involvement To be con-ducted by the bilingual consultant;covering the concepts of the importanceof parental interest in school for bothteacher and students and methods used

to attract parents to become involved in

the bilingual program.

2. Cultural Differences To be conductedby program staff members; based on amodel workshop from the CultureAwareness Center, Albuquerque, N.

Mex., to stimulate teachers to become

aware of and sensitive to cultural differ-ences in children and to use culturaldifferences to enhance teaching mate-

rials.

3. Miami Linguistic Series To be con-ducted by a representative of thepublishing company; to instructteachers in the use of the method and to

10

stimulate bilingual aides to use some of

the methodology in teaching the chil-dren to read Spanish.

4. Man and His Social Actions Con-

ducted by bilingual teachers; to train re-gular teachers and aides in elements ofconceptual development and contents

of the social studies curriculum for the

program.

Staff Duties

Each staff member was assigned specific

tasks during the teaching periods. These tasks

included:

Teachers

Reading instruction in SpanishConducting writing practice based onstory line of the reading activityIndividual tutoring for:Language development of non-

-Spanish speakersMuscular development through

writingPhonetic discrimination drills in

English for Spanish speakersOther English-as-a-second-language

needs

Aides

Reading reinforcement activities using

cards and sentence stripsES Reading of stories to small groups

Leading group singing.

Conducting Instruction

In working with the children, the teachers

and aides prepared colorful visuals to illus-trate story lines and then presented segmentsof the story orally with selected vocabularywords. An attempt was made to match pre-reading instructional activities developed inregular reading readiness with the Spanish

reading program. Reading skills, such as com-prehension, analysis, synthesis, and evilua-tion, ,rmally taught as part of English lan-guage arts, were now presented in the nativetongue as well.

Miss Gonzales prepared regular weeklylesson plans which the entire staff reviewedon Friday mornings. On Friday afternoons,the aides developed supplementary materialsand visuals and their own individual lessonplans for the coming week.

A partial list of materials in use thus farincludes:

Kenworthy's Laguna Language Series

Filmstrips:Caperucita Roja (Little Red Riding

Hood)Los Tres Osos (The Three Bears)Los Cautro Cantantes de Guadalajara

(The Four Singers of Guadalajara)El Flautista de Jam lin (The Pied

Piper)If You Were Born in MexicoMen in Blue, Policemen in ActionI Beg Your Pardon

Records:Ninos Dejad que os Cuente un Cuento

(Children, Let Me Tell You a Story)Canciones de Navidad (Songs of

Christmas)(Cantos de los Posadas (Yuletide

Chants)Paso a Paso (Poesia y prosa para niFios)

(Step by Step, Poetry and prose forchildren)

Rancheras de Nuevo Mexico (Balladsof New Mexico)

Vamos a Canter (Let's Sing)

Books:Nuestros Amigos (Our Friends)A Bilingual Oral Language and Con-

ceptual Development Program forSpanish-Speaking Pre-School Chil-dren

Learning English as a Second Lan-guage (Flash cards included)

Visual Aids:Cubical counting blocksFlannel board with magnetic back

11

Velour board sheetsFelt sheetsFelt cutoutsMagnetic enlarged coinsMagnetic numbersBeaded clockCalendars

Translated Stories:The Ugly Duckling (El Patito Feito)Tel Itime Goes A'Counting (Telltime

Va Contando)The Brave Little Indian (El Indito

Valiente)If You Were Born in Mexico (Si

Habieses Nacido en Mexico)I Beg Your Pardon (Con Permiso)Jack and Jill (Joaquin y Juanita)Baa Baa Black Sheep (Ba Ba Borrega

Negra)

Involving Parents and Community

Parents of children participating in theprogram volunteered their time and servicesfor special activities. Some parents madepersonal presentations on various aspects ofMexican-American culture through story-telling, games, art, and demonstrations.Among the parental sessions were demonstra-tions on how to make flour tortillas, abodes,sopapillas, and toys out of boxes; the presen-tation of various Mexican songs; and tellingSpanish stories. Parents also made costumesfor class plays and food and piliatas forparties.

I n addition to these special activities,teacher-parent meetings are held each monthto help develop new ideas for the programand to discuss its progress.

When the bilingual class first started,parents were asked not to come and observefor a few days to allow time for the childrento adjust to the new activity. Thereafter, aschedule was arranged to insure that duringeach school day two parents would be in theclassroom observing the program. This acti-vity maintained the interest of the parentsand strengthened home/school relationshipsfor all involved.

There were other special events whichserved to stimulate interest in the programand involvement of the larger community:

The children in the bilingual class in1969-70 constructed a float for thepinata festival parade in Tucumcari. Theclass rode on the float in the parade andwon first prize in the competition.

The class celebrated "Las Posadas," aMexican Christmas tradition commem-orating the journey of Mary and Josephto Bethlehem and their nightly searchfor lodging. The celebration, whichlasted several days, involved manyfamilies in the community. Each nightthe children went to a different house,ranging carols and asking lodging. Theowner of the house welcomed the group,and there were singing, refreshments,and the breaking of a pinata.

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Disseminating Information

Each year an evaluation summary of theproject was put into booklet form for all in-terested members in the community. Thebooklet contained test results, informationpieces on the rationale and structure of theprogram, recognization of parents and otherpersons who contributed to the program, acollection of all newspaper items about theprogram, and other pertinent informationabout bilingual/bicultural education.

In addition to the booklet, reports weregiven periodically over the radio and in thenewspapers. The parent council and individualparents met regularly to review the progressof the program.

In 1970-71 a film about the program wasprepared, and it is available to the communityand other interested parties.

BUDGET

The detailed budget for the bilingual activity for fiscal year 1972 was:

Salaries for professional personnel

Position title: Est. no.

Bilingual teacher 2 $12,800Bilingual consultant 1 7,326Guidance counselor/director 1/2 7,891

Subtotal $28,017

Salaries for nonprofessional personnel

Position title: Est. no.

School aides 4 8,370Secretary 1/2 2,133

Subtotal 10,503

Supplementary school aides $10,646

Proposed travel for instruction 250

Guidance and testing 250

Other instructional expenses

Textbooks 1,000Classroom supplies and materials 1,390Audiovisual materials 100

Subtotal $ 2,490

Employee benefits

Social Security 2,858Educational Retirement Act 2,896Health/accident insurance (optional) 190

Subtotal $ 5,944Total $58,000

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EVALUATION

Evaluation of the program in the first 2years of operation relied heavily on teacherand parent observation, questionnaires,checklists, surveys, and locally developedtests. Some standardized testing wasconducted in English and Spanish largely forcomparative purposes to justify the activityand gain maximum community support. Theevaluation, design for the 1971-12 school

year included pretesting and posttesting ofparticipants, using achievement measuressuch as the California Test of Basic Skillsand the Peabody Picture Test in English andSpanish.

The various components of the testing pro-gram completed by fall 1970 and the resultingdata are presented in tables 2 and 3.

Table 2. Comparative test results of the bilingual class, Zia Elementary School,Tucumcari, 1969-70

Student'snumber

Otis-Lennon MentalAbility score (10)

traditional English, 9/69

SRA Short Test of Ed.Ability score (IQ) in

Spanish, 9/69

Peabody Picture Vocabu-lary (Individual Test)score in Spanish, 1/70

1 . 108 130 1102 83 67 91

3 75 93 moved4 75 92 895 66 absent 1036 89 111 1057 82 88 808 86 85 999 90 105 100

10 93 113 10911 63 76 7712 61 89 77

13 68 84 moved14 73 114 11015 87 85 12016 86 95 127

17 72 98 91

18 78 101 103

19 57 100 10020 81 106 91

21 72 98 9622 87 97 9023 90 99 13724 69 92 9525 67 86 82

NOTEComparison of test scores: At the beginning of the school year the bilingual class was tested in the traditional testingpattern for all beginning 1st-grade students. The first list of scores shows results of this testing. The list of scores to theright is from the tests given in both Spanish and English.

These are the test results of students who were with the program from the very beginning. Three new students were addedand two dropped.

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Table 3. Reading readiness test results for the bilingual class, Zia Elementary School,Tucumcari, 1969-70

Student'snumber

Metropolitan Reading Readinesspercentile score, 9/69

Peabody Picture Vocabulary(Individual Test) score in

Spanish, 1/70

1 71 1102 -1 903 absent moved4 1 885 4 1036 14 1057 4 808 1 999 20 100

10 55 108

11 13 7712 2 9013 11 moved14 22 11015 11 12016 40 127

17 61 9018 1 10319 2 10020 8 9021 14 9522 23 9023 26 13724 3 9525 4 81

NOTEMetropolijan Reading Readiness Test: This test was administered to all children entering the 1st grade in the Tucumcarischools. The test, among other things, was used to determine a child's readiness for language and resulted in placementand grouping for these beginners. This test was administered to the group in English. Any students who score below the30 percentile are, according to the test manual, likely to have difficulty in 1st-grade work and should be assigned to aslow section and given more individualized help. If the readiness score is used as a guide, 20 of the above students wouldbe considered slow learners. On the other land, the Peabody test indicates three might be classified as slow learners.

The tests used in the program were:

Otis-Lennon Mental Ability (English)

Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test(English for English dominant/Spanishfor Spanish dominant)

The first three tests were administered toSRA Short Test of Educational Ability the students as a group. The Peabody test was(Spanish) given individually.

Metropolitan Reading Readiness Test The objectives of the 1970-71 program(English) were measured by the following means:

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1. An adaptation of the rating scales thataccompany the Bessell-Palornares Mate-rials, Methods in Human Development(Human Development Training Insti-tute, San Diego, Calif., 1967) was usedto measure the development of positiveself-image and cultural identity.

2. To check each child's attitude, parentswere asked to answer a locally devel-oped questionnaire. This same question-naire provided data on the accomplish-ment of the cultural identity objective.

3. Locally developed tests and teacher ob-servations provide the bulk of data formeasuring cultural identity.

4. Greater command of the English andSpanish languages was assessed by post-testing with the Peabody Picture Voca-bulary Test for English and a locallydeveloped test for Spanish.

* U. S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE : 1972 0 - 469-136

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Other positive indicators that the programhas fad significant impact were:

1. The number of children who progressedfrom pre-1st-grade directly into 2dgrade increased markedly. In 1968-69the 1st-grade retention rate for the dis-trict was 36 percent. After 1 year thepercentage dropped to about 16 per-cent.

2. As a result of the decreased retention,all 1st grades were eliminated except forone class of eight children. School offi-cials were optimistic that this classcould also be eliminated.

3. Absenteeism and vandalism te. schoolproperty were reduced sharply.

4. Parental involvement and interest in thetotal school program increasedmarkedly.

For Further Information Contact:

Mr. David L. YorkSuperintendent of SchoolsBox 1046Tucumcari, N. Mex. 88401

Mr. Donald E. HerronTitle I CoordinatorBox 1046Tucumcari, N. Mex. 88401

Mrs. Rose HartBilingual CoordinatorBox 1046Tucumcari, N. Mex. 88401