English to Speakers of Other Languages Coordinator Melissa Bratton shared the Hot Springs School District's efforts to be welcoming for English Learners with teachers and administrators from around the state on Tuesday.
The presentation was part of the Arkansas Department of Education Summit, which is being held through Friday at the Hot Springs Convention Center and Embassy Suites.
The ADE summit combines many smaller conferences from the past into one event, expanding the reach of those previously separate events, according to the summit's website, offering participants the opportunity to "attend sessions they may have never considered before. All educators can benefit from the wide range of topics that will be offered."
Conferences encompassed in the summit include those covering special education, school improvement, school healthy, ESOL, dyslexia, reading, data and reporting, computer science educators and more, according to the event's website.
Bratton's presentation was titled "Data-driven, Dedicated, and Diverse: HSSD's Effort to Build a Program With a Place for Everyone."
It was described in the conference program as: "This session will provide you with an overview of how the Hot Springs School District continuously evaluates their ESOL program in an effort to examine its effectiveness. Participants will view data, tools, and processes used to plan based on ever-changing needs of the district's population."
Bratton was the only HSSD official to present at the summit.
She shared statistics and data about the school with her audience, including the school's diversity. Of the 3,532 students enrolled, 36 percent of students are African-American, 35.1 percent are white, 19.7 percent are Hispanic, and 9.2 percent are of other ethnicities, she said.
Bratton said 11 different languages are spoken across the district and outlined the approaches that have been taken to make students and their families comfortable and improve English skills, including offering six-week English courses for parents, as well as ESOL Technology Nights to teach tech skills.
"I've been working with Melissa, and saw that she had something really great going on. So when they asked us for suggestions for presenters, I suggested her," Dawson Education Service Cooperative English Learner Specialist Jana Catlett said.
"I think anytime we get a chance to share where we're at in the community, along with what's going on in other places and what they're passionate about, that we really have an inkling of what's going on. It's great to be able to share growth and be a part of it," Bratton said following the presentation.
Bratton said ESOL is not an aspect of education that is new to anyone.
"I definitely think it's stuff that people do know. Maybe during the presentation they got some things, maybe tools that they didn't have before."
The topic of ESOL students is one of growing importance, Bratton said.
"Our EL population, just like all of our students, are a huge part of our community, especially here in Hot Springs. We are very diverse at Hot Springs School District, and across the state. And that population is continuing to grow, so we want to make sure that we're providing equitable access to standards."
Overall, Bratton said she considered her presentation a success.
"I was really glad to meet everyone that came and just really thankful that they took the time to listen and be a part of it."
Local on 06/20/2019