Secondary Newcomer Programs in the U.S.

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Cheney Middle School Newcomer Program
Program Address:
825 17th Ave E
West Fargo, ND 58078
Phone: (701) 499-1027
Fax: (701) 356-2009
nmanson@west-fargo.k12.nd.us
Contact Person:
Nicole Manson
ELL Program Coordinator
207 Main Ave W., West Fargo, ND 58078

  • Program Information
    • Information provided for school year: 2008-2009
      Year Program Started: 2008
      School/Grade Levels: Middle school site(s)
      Program Description:
      The Cheney Middle School Newcomer Program is a progam-within-a school and set up with a 4x4 block system for classes. Newcomers are in a self-contained setting for 3 of the 4 blocks during the day. The newcomer classroom uses the Boys Town Social Skills model. Beginning literacy and English language development skills are the focus, but school norms are also taught explicitly. The program goal is to teach thematically throughout the content areas of language arts, science, social studies, and math, increasing the number of authentic exposures to new vocabulary. Much time is spent on developing phonics, phonemic awareness, and reading sight words. During the last block of the day, students participate in mainstream electives. Often, they are grouped according to language development so that they can assist each other in understanding the concepts. Two bilingual paraprofessionals support students’ instruction on a rotation in their mainstream elective courses. Some students leave the newcomer setting during the day for a higher level math course. Students may leave the newcomer classroom and make the transition into our other ELL courses within the school on a quarterly basis. New refugee and immigrant families arrive constantly throughout the school year and are received into the program. Since most new arrivals qualify for the newcomer room upon entry, only one class is disrupted with new students rather than multiple classes. Newcomers quickly become experts at navigating the school setting and are eager to help newer arrivals acclimate. Students may remain in the program for two to three semesters. A 3-week summer program is also available to newcomers.
      Newcomer Student Definition:
      A newcomer student is one who has been in the United States for less than 1 year and who scores a Level 1 on the W-APT or ACCESS for ELLs test. Often these students have had limited or interrupted formal schooling.
      Aspects of Program Working Well:
      The focus on learning the language and the school norms has created an opportunity for students who have been in the U.S. a very short time to become the peer tutors for new arrivals and are able to share their knowledge of how school works with their new classmates, often in their native language. We also use the Boys Town Social Skills to explictly teach the skills necessary to have success in the regular U.S. school setting. The social skills posters have pictoral representations of each step of the skill and provide reminders to students who are not yet literate in English. Our community agencies have also had much better communication between each other in the past three years, assuring that services to New Americans are not being duplicated and that families are referred to the proper agency for service.
      Type of Language Program: ESL
      Type of Community: Rural
      How Families Learn of Program: The ELL coordinator explains the ELL programming at the time of registration.
      Students Assigned From:
      • One school
      Name(s) of the Home School(s): Cheney Middle School
      Funding Sources:
      • Federal: RCIS, Title III
      • District
       Other District Language Support Programs:
  • Program Design Features
    • Program Location:
      • Program-within-a-school
       Length of Day:
      • Other: 3 of 4 instructional periods for most students
       Length of Program:
      • Summer program: 3 week(s)
      • 1-year program
       Average Length of stay: 2 semester(s)
      Maximum Length of stay: 3 semester(s)
      Average Class Size: 12 student(s)
      Entry Criteria: Limited English proficiency (Level 1 on W-APT or ACCESS), less than 1 year in U.S. schools
  • Newcomer Student Demographics
    • Number of Newcomer Students in Program: 30
      Age Range of Students: 11-14
      Number of Countries Represented: 6
      Most Common Countries:
      • Iraq
      • Burundi
      • Bhutan
      • Dem. Rep. of Congo
      • Somalia/Liberia (tie)
       Number of Non-English Languages Represented: 8
      Most Common Student Languages:
      • Kirundi
      • Arabic
      • Nepali
      • Kurdish
      • Kiswahili
       Percentage of Students with Interrupted Formal Schooling: 83%
      Percentage of Students with Free or Reduced Lunch: 100%
  • Instruction
    • Languages Used for Instruction: English
      Courses Provided by the Newcomer Program:
      • Sheltered content in English
        • math
        • science
        • social studies
        • language arts
      • ESL or English language development
      • School/study skills
      Typical Newcomer Student Schedule: One block period each of Newcomer English/Language Arts, Newcomer Math, and Newcomer Social Studies/Science. Grade level appropriate elective courses with mainstream students for the fourth block period.
      Literacy Development Practices: We use a balanced language and literacy approach with time for the teacher to model reading and writing, time for students to have guided practice in reading and writing, and time for independent literacy work.
      Literacy Materials Used: Hampton-Brown Inside and teacher created materials
      Credit Recovery or Online Learning Courses: N/A
      Additional Learning Opportunities: Summer School is available to all students in our district who are below grade level. Buses are available for all refugee students. We also offer homework rooms, often staffed by ELL teachers, 4 days per week for all refugee students.
      Ancillary Services Offered Students:
      • Special Education
      • Health (physical)
      • Tutoring
       5- or 6- Year Program Available for High School Newcomer Students: N/A
  • Assessment and Evaluation
    • Placement Measures
      Reading:
      DIBELS
      English language proficiency:
      W-APT
      Content:
      Teacher created math assessment
      Progress Measures
      Reading:
      DIBELS probes, MAP (Measure of Academic Progress) Primary Reading, MAP Reading, MAP Language Usage
      English language proficiency:
      Content:
      MAP Primary Math or MAP Math
      Achievement Measures
      State standards tests:
      Yes, they are required to take the ND State Assessment in Math and Science, but they can use their ELP test (ACCESS) in place of the NDSA Reading if they have been in U.S. schools for less than 1 year. Most all students take the MAP assessments unless the ELL teacher determines that the student does not have enough English proficiency to follow the oral instructions on the assessment.
      Other assessments:
      The ELL staff at Cheney Middle School have common planning time. The five ELL teachers there meet twice a week to discuss students. When they feel students are ready for the next level, they make schedule changes at quarter breaks. We also have a half-day elementary newcomer program in the district, and the two teachers from that program communicate with the newcomer teachers at Cheney Middle School.
      Program Evaluation: We are working on collecting data now so that we can analyze it after the students have been in our district for a period of time long enough to develop a trend.
  • Student Transition and Monitoring
    • Type of Program Students Exit Into:
      • ESL
       Exit Criteria: Students must have some phonemic awareness and beginning phonics skills. Students must be able to write a sentence and read sight words. Students must be able to navigate within the school and express their needs to the teacher in English.
      Measures to Facilitate Student Transition Out of the Newcomer Program:
      The ELL staff and ELL student peers
  • Program Staffing and Professional Development
    • Total Number of Program Administrators: 1
      Full Time in Newcomer Program: 0
      Total Number of Teachers: 2
      Full Time in Newcomer Program: 2
      Criteria to Teach in Newcomer Program: Teachers have two years to complete the ELL Endorsement once they begin teaching in the program. Most teachers begin courses immediately.
      Total Number of Paraprofessionals: 2
      Total Number of Resource Teachers: 0
      Total Number of Guidance Counselors for School: 3
      Social Worker/Family Liaison: No
      Guidance Counselors for Program: No
      Total Number of Staff Who Speak in One of the Student Native Languages: 2
      Languages that Staff Speak in Addition to English: Arabic, Nepali
      Professional Development Topics for Teachers and Staff: Making connections with community agencies, SIOP Model strategies, refugee students' backgrounds (culturalorientation.net)
  • Connecting Families and Social Capital Networks
    • School Services Offered to Parents and Families:
      • Orientation to USA
      • Native language literacy courses
      • Information sharing with community organizations
      Newcomer Program Partnerships:
      Our ELL program as a whole is a key player in the refugee service committee meetings in the community. The district ELL coordinator attends meetings, provides parent outreach, serves as a connection to adult education services, and reports back to all ELL staff on a monthly or as needed basis.
      Social Services for Families:
      All of these services are offered to refugee families upon arrival by agencies other than the school.
      Methods to Inform Families of Services Available:
      New arrival orientation at the refugee resettlement office.
      Methods to Inform Service Agencies of Newcomer Program:
      Quarterly updates at refugee services committee meetings, quarterly updates at Interagency Network for New Americans meetings