I recently opened up a copy of Newsweek and found an article titled “How Dumb Are We?”. Apparently Newsweek gave the US citizenship test to 1,000 randomly chosen American citizens—and 38 percent failed. Considering that all new citizens pass this test (as well as an English language test), that’s a pretty shocking statistic.
How do you think you’d do? Are you pretty confident you’d pass? Here’s your chance to prove it:
In November 2010, several Utah government, business, religious, and civic leaders met and drafted a document meant to guide Utah’s discussion on immigration reform. This document, the Utah Compact, is a declaration of five principles that reflect the shared values of those who signed it as well as the people and organizations they represent.
At a time when immigration is such a contentious issue in this country, the Utah Compact has been heralded by many for its moderate and cooperative tone. The New York Times said, “A clearer expression of good sense and sanity than Utah’s would be hard to find.”
So what does this have to do with education?
As part of our One Year Later series, we’re sharing the stories of four students who have made remarkable progress with Imagine Learning English in just one year. This is the third post in a four-part series; read part one here and part two here.
Seleny
Seleny, a third grader, was introduced to Imagine Learning English through an after-school program at her school in the fall of 2009. Her parents spoke only Spanish and her little brother – who had just started kindergarten – had very limited English skills.
Susan Rudolph is the Newcomer teacher at Place Bridge Academy in Denver, Colorado, and works with students from all over the world. She often turns to Imagine Learning English to help supplement her curriculum, but she recently discovered this program does more than help her English learners with a new language — it has helped one young Yemenite in her classroom cope with some of life’s most difficult challenges.
