PSU Magazine Winter 2000

The Beaverton School District saw a 300 percent increase in the past three years. ln the Woodburn School District, fully half the students are Latino, and 30 percent are Russian. The three largest non-English language groups represented statewide are Spanish , Russian, and Vietnamese, but more than 50 languages are present in O regon schools. BTP is part of the Graduate School of Education. Candidates must be employed by a school district that holds a contract with Portland State. Both the referring district and PSU must accept the student, with prefer– ence given to those who are both bilingual and bicultural, meaning they Aleksy Roslyy, who earned a college degree and taught music in Russia, is working toward a teaching certificate through the BTPprogram. 16 PSU MAGAZINE WINTER 2000 grew up in another country, then moved to the United States. Through various "pathways," the program accommodates students from a wide range of educational levels. Some have only high school-level training; one-third already hold bachelor's degrees; and fi ve students were trained as engineers, three of whom are women. BTP students attend either PSU or Portland, C lackamas, Mt. Hood or Chemetketa community colleges. Graduates receive a combination ESL-bilingual endorsement and a teaching license. "We're not preparing ESL teachers, we're preparing teachers," stresses Stevens. "They will teach in regular education classrooms that have core bilingual tudent populations." A map on the wall in the BTP program offi ce shows national flags of every student represented, including most of South and Central America and all of Eastern Europe, with a large contingent from Vietnam and one student from China. B TP students such as Enrique Abad are taking advantage of an opportunity they had only dreamed of. "My goal was to become a teacher," says the Oregonian of nine years. Unlike most of the students, he works with four high schools in the Beaverton School Di trier. Abad learned basic English growing up in his native country, where he obtained a degree in agricultural engi– neering. When he arrived here, he struggled with the language, but took English courses and computer classes at Portland Community College. Abad worked in construction jobs for the first fi ve years, then obtained a position as an educational assistant in math and science for the Beaverton district. He discovered something working in the schools: Hispanic chil– dren who had never received instruc– tion in their native language and had no previous education often fa iled. He is a believer in grounding them in their own language first, after which they can acquire English more easily. School use different approaches in attempting to meet federal mandates to accommodate limited-English- speaking students-from traditional ESL classes that teach only functional English to dual language instruction , such as teaching all students one day in English and the next day in a foreign language. The latter bilingual– type instruction is controversial and uncommon in O regon, but research backs Abad's and other students' observations that it is far easier to teach English to those who first learn their native language, says Stevens. When he heard about the Bilingual Teacher Pathway program, Abad enthusiastically applied. "This program is very good, because I'm learning so many things in order to be a teacher," he exults. Abad and his wife, who teaches Spanish in a private school, are the parents of two daughters. Besides work– ing full time and attending the BTP class on Monday nights, Abad expends a lot of time and energy running a soccer program for ESL students at all four of his high schools, something he does strictly as a volunteer. "I found something really interest– ing," he recounts. "Athletics i a great way for the students to become confi– dent in themselves." The schools' regu– lar soccer teams require student athletes to achieve minimum grade point aver– ages, whereas the ESL teams impose no such requirement and also allow special education students to participate. The teams and the tournaments Abad has set up are wildly popular. At first, Latino students comprised the teams, but "ESL means all the foreign students, not just Hispanic," empha– sizes Abad, who played soccer in high school. "There are excellent players in ESL." When Westview High won the tourney, Abad arranged for a trophy presentation in a school assembly, even though the team was formed by Abad alone. But he does it b~cause it helps the kids gain self-esteem, which carries over into their ESL studies. L ike Abad, BTP student Aleksy Roslyy obtained a college degree in his native country, Russia. Roslyy, 37, majored in music education and taught in a school of music for