Transcript
Rita: Eight-year-old Marlon Escobar-Lopez has an important appointment today. He’s checking in to his new school system in Arlington, Virginia.
Dad: Marlon Escobar.
Rita: He’s at the Arlington Intake Center, where staff will figure out exactly what he needs from his new teachers.
Silvia Koch: The Intake Center is the place where children who speak another language, or have another language background enter school.
Rita: The Intake Center stays very busy. Arlington’s English language learners speak 104 languages and come from 122 different countries. Most of the children speak Spanish, but those kids are very diverse, too — both culturally and economically.
Dr. Calderon: Children from the middle-class have had certain experiences that other students may not have had. They’ve been to museums. They have been read to in their own language.
Rita: Marlon is from Honduras. He looks like he’s ready for school, but will the school be ready for him? The process starts with his dad.
Ms. Koch: Parents are just that part of the learning equation that we cannot do without, and that’s the child, the parent, the teacher. They’re the three, most basic components.
Rita: The interview gives Arlington some important information about Marlon — like the fact that he’s been to school in the United States for a year already.
Staff: Is Spanish the primary language in your home? [in Spanish]
Ms. Koch: We look not only at the academic background, we also look at the whole child. We look at the health situation. We look at family history.
Rita: When his dad’s finished with his questions, it’s Marlon’s turn. His teachers need to know how well Marlon can understand spoken and written English.
Staff: Put the girl behind the man.
Dr. Goldenberg: If you’re assessing a child, you not only want to assess their knowledge of letters and sounds, and so forth in English, but you want to tap into it in Spanish, too.
Marlon: Gatitos, los gatos son animals.
Dr. Goldenberg: Cause whatever they know in Spanish, you can be quite certain you can use to help them acquire the skills in English.
Rita: Marlon can read a little bit in English already, and his comprehension skills in both languages are strong. So the Intake Center places him in a second grade class for English language learners.
Teacher: Short sound of “I” everybody.
Kids: /i/ /i/ /i/ /i/
Rita: His teachers at Abingdon Elementary have received all the information gathered at the Intake Center — both social and academic — so they know exactly where to start with Marlon.
Ms. Koch: Using time for instruction right away at the correct and appropriate level is important to us. We want all our students to achieve at a high level, to be challenged — regardless of where they started.
Marlon: Indigo!
Watch as the Arlington Public Schools Intake Center in Arlington, Virginia helps place kids like eight-year-old Marlon, a new student from Honduras, in the right classroom.