Immigration Means New Education Techniques

Due to an influx of students from Middle Eastern countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan, Thomas Edison School in Morton Grove has adjusted services to cater to its diverse population, which includes nearly 50 languages. This school year, the school added two English Language Learner (ELL) aides who speak Assyrian and Arabic to their staff, bringing the Edison ELL staff total to four.

Located at 8200 Gross Point Rd., Edison serves third, fourth and fifth graders as one of three schools in School District 69. District officials point to the ELL program as something that sets them apart. And during a year of painful budget cuts, they're particularly proud of what they've been able to accomplish with Edison's ELL program.

“We have had a huge influx of Assyrian and Arab families, which is now our biggest language group,” ELL teacher Karen Weiss said. “Nearly every day students get to hear a different language."

Weiss, who has been a teacher at Edison for nearly 20 years, was originally a fifth grade teacher, but in the last 10 she has served as an ELL teacher and has seen the program and student body change over time.

“It’s a different neighborhood a different school. It’s evolved,” she said.

Diverse Community

Each day on the morning announcements this past school year, faculty and students were greeted in the native tongue of a student volunteer.

Fourth grader, Aditi Patel, 9, has been enrolled at Edison and a part of the ELL program for nearly four years.

Patel, who speaks Gujarati, receives ELL instruction up to five times a week at school. A significant improvement from the one to two times a week she received instruction while attending a school in Chicago, her mother, Sheetal Patel, said.

“When she does [graduate from the program], I think it will give her more confidence and make her very happy,” Sheetal Patel said.

Census Data Shows Change

According to data in the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey 2005-2009, nearly 50 percent of the population of Morton Grove speaks a language other than English at home.

Sheetal Patel said she has noticed the demographic changes around town at place like the Morton Grove Public Library. The same goes for Edison Principal Joseph Hailpern.

“I don’t know what the census data reads, but I know what our school data is and I have never been in a place as diverse as this,” Hailpern said.

Hailpern, who grew up in Skokie, is in his third year at the helm of Edison. He previously taught in Evanston, Winnetka and Los Angeles before becoming an assistant principal in Melrose Park.

A Breakdown of Language Numbers

According to the school's most recent home language report, of the almost 80 students enrolled in the ELL program more than 18 speak Assyrian at home; followed by 16 Spanish, 13 Urdu and 12 Arabic speakers.

On top of that number, Hailpern said there are another 100 to 150 students who do not receive ELL service, but speak one of 43 languages other than English.

A high percentage of students at Edison are second-language learners. Many of these students do not receive service because they are too old, have graduated out of ELL, or have strong enough English skills that they don’t qualify for the service even though they are still learning the nuances of the language.

"If you were to ask who my ELL staff is, I would say everyone on staff because half of the kids in the classroom are ELL students whether they get ELL services or not,” Hailpern said.

One goal in becoming a better teacher is to meet the needs of the most number of children as possible without diluting the instruction, Hailpern said.

“If you live in this environment and study in this environment and you’re always around people speaking other languages, that’s normal for you,” he said. “It’s normal here. That’s just how we operate.”

Handling New Environments

“[Coming] from places where people have had to flee for one reason or another, those are probably the most unique circumstances for families where they have a true adjustment period,” Hailpern said.

They have to get to know what an American school, neighborhood and food is like, he added.

“I think they address [the changes] very quickly,” Weiss said. “They make gains so fast. I love seeing kids who can not say ‘My name is…’ who by the end of the year you can’t stop them from talking.”