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Although the students were selected by the ESL teacher, the names had
to be approved by the bilingual teachers who also interacted with the
students in English. Through this process, one name was eliminated
because the bilingual teachers felt the student was progressing
satisfactorily.
The low group
Of the five students who were agreed upon by all three teachers
as making the least progress in English, one was male and four other
females. Two had a brother or sister achieving at the same level or
lower on written measures. The average age of the low-achieving group
was 13.3. On the physical education ratings, the male received a 3.0
while the females all received 1.0.
Arturo, the only male in this group, often sought me out to
practice a new sentence or bit of slang. He was always friendly and
frequently asked to be taken out of class so we could "talk some more."
While his English was indeed limited, he appeared to be willing to take
risks in English. He used what English he knew. A boy of slight build
who appeared young for his age, in class Arturo was restless. He rocked
back and forth on his chair, strummed his fingers on the desk, and
closed books with a bang. He was not aggressive or openly rude. He
appeared self-reliant and eager for attention. Frequently, he also
appeared not to be aware of what was going on around him. On written
measures he ranked at the bottom of the group in both English and
Spanish.
The four female low English achievers presented a very different
picture from Arturo. All were extremely shy in English. I never heard