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Hispanohablantes  
Institution name: Egg Harbor Township School District
Address: 24 High School Drive
Egg Harbor Township, NJ 08234
Telephone: (609) 653-0100
Extension: 1696
Fax: (609) 927-8844
Web address: http://eht.oncoursesystems.com/websites/11190692
 
Name: Michele Schreiner
Title: Supervisor of World Languages
Address: 24 High School Drive
Egg Harbor Township,  NJ  08234
Email: schreinm@eht.k12.nj.us
Telephone: (609) 653-0100
Extension: 1696
Fax: (609) 927-8844
Purposes and goals of the program:
The goal of our program is to produce students who are at the Advanced level of proficiency in Spanish by the time they graduate from high school.  Our expectation is that students will begin the Hispanohablantes program in grade 7 and will continue studying and improving their Spanish until their senior year, when they will take the AP Spanish Literature course.
Program origin:
In September 1998, we began by offering Hispanohablantes 1 at the high school.  There were two sections with approximately 15 students in each.  The second year, 1999-2000, there were again two sections, but one was Hispanohablantes 1 and the other was Hispanohablantes 2.  We continued this way for several years.  By the 2008-2009 school year our population had grown, and we were offering 4 sections, two of Hispanohablantes 1 and two of Hispanohablantes 2.  Each class had an average size of 20.  That year we started a 3rd level of the course, Hispanohablantes 3.  The following year 2009-2010, we had our very first section of AP Spanish Literature.  Since that year we have offered Hispanohablantes classes in all 4 years of high school.  In 2010-2011, we started an Hispanohablantes program at our middle schools.  Since 2010, we have offered Hispanohablantes classes in grades 7-12.
Program funding:
Included within each principal’s budget  (per school)
 
Languages/dialects taught:
  • Spanish
    •
    Program type:  School-Based
      Elementary
         Grades taught: 7 and 8
      Secondary
         Grades taught: 9, 10, 11, 12
      Adult
    Average enrollment: 200
    Total contact hours per week:
    Times per week classes meet:
    When meetings take place:
    Classes take place during the school day. Grades 7 and 8 meet 2-3 times a week for about 52 minutes per session. Grades 9-12 meet 4 times a week for about 55 minutes per session.
    Where meetings take place:
    In a classroom
    Parents' or guardians' expectations of the program:
    Parents' or guardians' involvement in the program:
    Instructors' expectations of the program:
    The teachers’ goals are to improve the students’ proficiency, no matter where that student may be. Some of our students are at the Intermediate Low level of proficiency, whereas others are at the Intermediate High level. Our goal is to improve their written and spoken proficiency, so that the students will continue in the program for all four years in high school and will ultimately be successful in the AP Spanish Literature course.
    Number of instructors in the program
    Full-time instructors: 3
    Part-time instructors:
    Volunteer instructors:
    Languages in which instructors are proficient:
    Spanish, English
    Educational backgrounds and credentials of instructors
    (e.g., diploma, bachelor's, master's, doctorate, certificate):
    Bachelor's, Master's
    Professional development opportunities instructors have:
    Teachers attend yearly in-service training on developing their students’ proficiency.
    Professional development opportunities instructors need:
    Students' expectations of the program:
    Students expect to improve their ability to read, write, and speak in Spanish; to improve their knowledge of the use of accent marks; and to hopefully get a better job in the future.
    Student background
    First-generation immigrants: 43%
    Second-generation immigrants: 57%
    Third-generation immigrants: 0%
    Children of interethnic marriages: 3%
    Children of interethnic adoption: 0%
    Indigenous students: 0%
    Others:
    Students' countries of origin:
    Puerto Rico, Mexico, Colombia, Honduras, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Uruguay, Nicaragua, Peru, Panama, Cuba, Argentina, United States
    How the program identifies heritage language speakers:
    All 6th grade students take a traditional Spanish class. The 6th grade Spanish teacher is the one who identifies those students who would do well in the Hispanohablantes class in 7th grade.
    Average enrollment: 200
    Approximate percentage of students who complete the program: 16%
    Approximate percentage of students who continue to study the heritage language after completing the program:
    Possible reasons that students continue to study the heritage language after completing the program:
    Major in the language in college,  double major or minor in the language
    Total contact hours per week:
    Times per week:
    Student grouping (e.g., proficiency level, grade, age):
    Grade in middle school / level in high school
    Language skills taught in the program (e.g., reading, writing, speaking, and listening):
    Primarily reading and writing; listening and speaking to a lesser extent
    Aspects of culture included in the program (e.g., history, literature, traditions):
    History, Legends, Literature, Traditions
    Other content taught in the program:
    Financial literacy
    Instructional methodologies used in the program:
    Pair work, Group work, Differentiated instruction, Whole-group instruction
    Levels of language proficiency reached by the end of the program (e.g., ACTFL proficiency levels, language tasks able to perform):
    Advanced low and beyond by the completion of the AP Spanish Literature class. Students are able to analyze and synthesize poetry and literature from a variety of genres. They can evaluate the historical context of a piece of literature and can infer meaning from context in most literary texts.
    Textbooks:
    El Español para Nosotros and various novels, legends, and short stories
    Manuals and workbooks:
    AP Spanish Literature
    Self-designed materials:
    Too many to list
    Films, videos, and DVDs:
    Too many to list.  Most accompany novels/stories that we read.
    Music:
    Music is incorporated when it follows our units.
    Technology:
    SMART board/projector, Document camera, Voice recorders
    Standardized tests used:
    None
    Other assessments used:
    Interpretive and presentational performance assessments
    Connections with local schools or other organizations:
    Richard Stockton College and Rowan University
    Credit received from formal education system:
    5 credits per high school course
    Types of support received (e.g., financial, time from parents or volunteers):
    Additional support desired:
    We would love to find out about organizations that would fund field trips. It would be very beneficial to our curriculum to be able to take field trips with our students to plays and museums, but financial constraints have prevented our district from being able to fund such trips.
    Challenges faced by the program:
     
    Comments:
    This profile was updated by Mahida Bachu on April 8, 2013.