Focused On Learning, ELL Students Soar In Desert Sands

Abigail Armenta sat silently in front of a computer at Colonel Mitchell Paige Middle School. Her bangs slightly hung over the top of her eyelids, seemingly giving her a veil of privacy in the busy La Quinta classroom.

The soft-spoken, 13-year-old girl, who lives with her brother and parents in Palm Desert, practiced her English and mathematics skills on a software program intended to help students who speak English as a second language.

“I just ignore all the kids that are around me,’’ Abby said. “They talk about rumors and stuff, but it’s important to listen.’’

Abby, who was born in Anaheim, was classified as an English Language Learner (ELL) last year in the Desert Sands Unified School District. Her parents – now U.S. citizens -- were born in Mexico and moved to the United States when they were in their late teens or early 20s, she said.

Abby’s good study habits and focus at school paid off. She was “reclassified” in December -- meaning she had high enough test scores and grades to no longer be identified as an English learner.

Desert Sands has the second highest reclassification rate of ELL students in the state, according to Lynda Christian, the district’s director of state and federal programs.

The district had a 14.4 percent reclassification rate compared to 11.6 percent statewide in 2009-10. That’s up from the district’s 12.2 percent reclassification rate in 2008-09.

Michael Duran, president of the Desert Sands Unified School District, believes that indicates the program is successful.

“We’re proud of the advances and progress they’ve made,’’ Duran said, adding that all of the district’s schools have an Academic Performance Index (API) scores above 700, with several above 800. The state has mandated an 800-point target for every school (out of 1,000 points).

Students who are reclassified at Paige are eligible for some state funding for an additional two years, allowing the school to keep tabs on their progress, according to Principal Derrick Lawson.

“If they are moved too soon … they don’t continue to progress,’’ Lawson said. “They plateau.”

But before her reclassification, Abby was among more than 7,000 ELL students in the Desert Sands Unified School District during the 2009-10 school year working to become proficient in English.

A majority of those students -- about 97 percent -- speak Spanish as their first language, according to data from the California Department of Education.

Abby will continue to receive some support while at the middle school in order to make sure she is ready to take on high school. She plans on going to college and becoming a nurse.'