Portland, Oregon, Schools Looks To Most Successful ESL Program For Effective Strategies

The Portland (OR) Tribune (11/11, Anderson) reported that at Whitman Elementary School, where "one out of three students [is] learning English as a second language," each student has to take an "intensive two-hour [block] of reading time each day." The school staggers the blocks In order to best utilize "the school's two-and-a-half ESL teaching positions and one bilingual assistant." Accommodations such as this "have helped Whitman become Portland Public Schools' highest-performing elementary school for English as a second language students." The district as a whole "has been out of compliance with state and federal ESL laws for 13 of the past 17 years," but recently came back into compliance. Still, an audit of the district showed that "many problems still exist," and "as the ESL population grows, the situation appears to be getting worse." Portland school officials are looking at Whitman for ESL strategies that can be applied throughout the district.