 Immigrant students a unique challenge
By Nancy Mitchell News Staff Writer
The boy kept missing class at Wheat Ridge Middle School. One day, and then another, until his absences hit the double-digit mark and kept mounting.
Finally, his father came in for a school meeting and teacher Stephanie Leija got her chance.
In American schools, she explained to the immigrant from Mexico, many absences can mean both parent and child wind up in court. It's very important that your son come to school.
Yes, the surprised father said, yes, I agree. But then the boy missed school again, and again, and again.
"I just think family's first and if he (the student) needs to baby-sit, he baby-sits," Leija said later. "And if he needs to help dad, he helps dad."
It's tough enough for new teachers to navigate those important, yet potentially tricky relationships with parents. Now add the obstacles of different languages and cultures to the mix.
That's what Leija, an alternative teacher winding up her first year in the classroom, faces with the parents of her English language learners at Wheat Ridge.
She is bilingual, a Spanish speaker whose paternal grandfather immigrated from Mexico. That makes it easier for her since more than 90 percent of her students and their parents are native Spanish speakers.
But Leija does not speak the native language of at least a handful of her students and their parents. Nor did her middle class childhood in Westminster fully prepare her for the cultural norms of families immigrating largely from poor areas of Mexico or, in the case of some other students, war-torn sections of Bosnia and Somalia.
Still, "You have to have parental involvement," Leija said. "If you don't have parental involvement, it's probably almost impossible to have a successful student."
State lawmakers and educators agreed when, in a 1999 overhaul of teacher preparation programs, they included effective parental involvement in the state's 45 new standards for teachers.
Leija, one of a growing number of teachers who changed careers to join the profession, is learning to teach on the job. She must meet all standards and has one more year to do it.
Her alternative teaching program, consisting mostly of weekly three-hour classes, did not dwell on parental relations in its first year. Certainly, it did not tell Leija how to bridge gaps in culture and language.
That's something Leija is figuring out on her own.
"I think a lot of my parents are intimidated because they don't speak English," she said. "Whenever I call, they will come. But you have to tell them, 'Hey, I want you to come.' You have to make them feel comfortable."
About 80 of the Wheat Ridge's 450 students are learning English.
Differences in schooling between the U.S. and other countries range from simple to complex. Rosa Morales, the bilingual classroom tutor at Wheat Ridge, frequently helps parents learn the difference between America's letter grading system and Mexico's numerical one.
"In Mexico, a 10 is an A," explains Morales, who attended Mexican schools.
Other differences are not so obvious.
Rufina Hernandez, executive director of Denver's Latin American Research and Service Agency, said parents from Hispanic countries tend to defer to teachers as "the expert and the authority in their child's education."
"So the parent will not inquire as to what is happening in the classroom because basically they feel they are not the expert and to question or inquire would be disrespectful," Hernandez said. "The teacher may assume incorrectly that the parent doesn't care."
As for the boy who kept missing school, Hernandez said Leija's guess as to why was probably correct.
"That is a cultural value that says if your family needs you, you have to subordinate your individual needs for the needs of the family," Hernandez said.
"They do believe education is important, but there are other priorities at times that supercede it."
She believes teacher preparation programs and school districts could do a better job of helping teachers like Leija bridge gaps in culture and language with parents.
"She does have to make the first step and even after that they may not totally grasp that they are to do something," Hernandez said. "For these families, it's a very different role they're being asked to take on."
Leija has taken that first step. But she wants to do more.
Last fall, when Wheat Ridge staged its back-to-school night, she gave an impromptu session in Spanish for a couple dozen parents.
She sent home a letter of expectations for her English-as-a-second-language classes. Like everything else she gives to parents, it was in both Spanish and English.
She was available for twice-yearly conferences with parents and stayed late for "Showcase," when students demonstrate for parents what they've learned.
But, with three night classes and two state teacher tests to pass this year, Leija said she had little time to do much more.
Phone calls to parents were rare, she said, except to deliver bad news.
"I don't want to be the teacher who only calls when bad things happen," said Leija.
When she returns to Wheat Ridge this fall, her schedule should be a little lighter. The school is advertising for a second ESL teacher.
"Next year, I'll do more to get parents involved," Leija said.
She likes the idea of a weekly newsletter for parents, perhaps written by students. She also wants to start an extracurricular activity for her students that might pull parents in as well.
"I think they want to come," Leija said. "I think they would play a bigger part if there were more avenues for them to do that."
She worries because her parents, always respectful, seldom initiate contact and rarely complain.
"I never have parents arguing with me about their kids," she said, wondering "If they believe their kids are not getting a fair shake, are they going to say something?"
Leija cannot know what it's like to be an immigrant student or parent. But she tries to make connections.
Last month, she asked Monica Vargas, 19, to speak to her classes. Now enrolled in college, Vargas knew little English when she moved to the U.S. from Brazil as a seventh-grader.
"I know what you guys are going through," Vargas encouraged Leija's students. "I was terrified when I came here. At first, it's tough. But everyone can do it."
Vargas, who now speaks three languages and who is studying to become a dentist, is part of Leija's effort to teach her students more than English.
"If they can leave my classroom valuing education, that's huge," Leija said. "I want them to know education is their ticket to success."
Contact Nancy Mitchell at (303) 892-5245 or at mitchelln@RockyMountainNews.com
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Age: 28 
