海角大神

A Jenga tower wobbles as a third grader pulls out a wooden block, eagerly turning it to read a question written on one side.

It is the first day of school at Russellville Elementary. Kathy Alfaro, a new English language teacher, uses the exercise to help her small class to bond 鈥� and to help them learn English. More than a third, or about 200, of the school鈥檚 students grew up in homes that didn鈥檛 regularly speak English, and Ms. Alfaro works with small groups of them throughout the day.

鈥淲here,鈥� the boy reads, then slowly sounds out the other words: 鈥淲here would you like to visit?鈥�

鈥淒isneyland,鈥� one student says. 鈥淪pace,鈥� another classmate chimes in. 鈥淕uatemala,鈥� says a girl with a bright blue bow.聽

Ms. Alfaro exchanges a few words with the girl in Spanish and then turns to the group.聽

鈥淒o y鈥檃ll know what she said?鈥� Ms. Alfaro asks the class. 鈥淪he said she has a lot of family in Guatemala because she was born there. And I told her that I was born here, but I also have a lot of family in Guatemala.鈥�

Franklin County, in north Alabama, is home to one of the state鈥檚 largest populations of Mexican and Central American immigrants. Many of them migrated in the early 1990s and now make up about a fifth of Russellville鈥檚 population.聽

More than half of the 2,500 students in the small Russellville city school district now identify as Hispanic or Latino, and about a quarter are English language learners, or EL students.

But the district at times has struggled to find the people and funding necessary to help EL students achieve. It typically takes five years of intensive, small-group instruction, on top of regular classes, to help a student learn English and perform well in a regular classroom.

Russellville leaders now are using a historic amount of COVID-19 relief money to fund a bold experiment. They鈥檙e using the temporary funds to hire and certify more local, Spanish-speaking staff, like Ms. Alfaro. She was previously a Spanish teacher, but took a new role as an EL teacher.聽

In addition to helping more local students succeed, Russellville aims to be a model for the rest of the state. As Alabama grapples with teacher shortages, especially in support-staff areas, local leaders are hopeful that their results can convince the legislature to support broader efforts to fund and certify more EL staff.

鈥淲e were trying to teach an increasing number of EL students with predominantly white teachers that speak English,鈥� says Superintendent Heath Grimes. 鈥淎nd I鈥檓 like, 鈥榃hy are we not using resources that we have in our community?鈥欌��

Increases in language proficiency

As a group, English language learners performed lower on language proficiency tests during the pandemic. Experts say that may be because many students lacked access to virtual resources at home, or because schools struggled to transfer in-person EL help to remote environments.

But Russellville appears to be bucking that trend.聽

Districtwide, the percentage of students who met their language proficiency goals increased from 46% in 2019 to 61% in 2022. At the two elementary schools, proficiency jumped by nearly 30 percentage points.

鈥淲e鈥檝e never seen a number like that before,鈥� says Superintendent Grimes, who credits new EL teachers in the district, as well as seven new EL aides at West Elementary, for the boost.

COVID-19 relief money allows Russellville Elementary School to support Ms. Alfaro鈥檚 position. She is now one of three EL staffers. Previously, state funding would only have supported one English language teacher, says Russellville Elementary鈥檚 Principal Tiffany Warhurst.

Together, they join about 20 other EL educators, aides, and translators in the district 鈥� nearly half of whom are funded with COVID-19 money.聽

At West Elementary across the street, Elizabeth Alonzo is settling into her second year as an EL aide. It鈥檚 a role that she says she didn鈥檛 expect to be in 鈥� mostly because there were few bilingual teachers in her school growing up, but also because she didn鈥檛 think she had the qualifications to help teach.

Like a few other staff members, Ms. Alonzo is currently finishing coursework through a teacher training program offered by聽Reach University, which is contracting with an increasing number of Alabama districts to help certify more local staff.聽

The school now assigns aides to just a couple of teachers throughout the school year, so that they have time to build relationships with students. Ms. Alonzo typically spends that time working with small groups of students or translating assignments.

鈥淲henever I started kindergarten, I didn鈥檛 know a word of English, so I struggled a lot,鈥� she says, noting that an older cousin would often have to come to her class to translate what her teacher was saying.聽鈥淭hat was one of the reasons why I wanted to do this, because I want to help those students.鈥�

A statewide need, and response

State funding for English language programs is limited, but growing. The state legislature approved an initial $2.9 million for schools with large EL populations in 2018, and that amount grew to $16 million last year.聽

Leaders at the Alabama State Department of Education say they鈥檙e supportive of the increase, and now are asking for more room in this year鈥檚 budget for EL specialists and regional coordinators, who can help connect schools with more resources.聽

鈥淲e want to make sure that if students come to this country, if they鈥檙e not able to read, that they learn to read quickly and in English,鈥� says State Superintendent Eric Mackey. 鈥淲e鈥檙e going to continue to invest in that, because it鈥檚 our belief that every child deserves a high quality education.鈥�

While the state funding formula attempts to account for the money needed to adequately educate EL students, advocates say funding still often falls short, especially in rural districts that struggle to fund schools.聽

鈥淚t takes a lot more money to educate a child that does not speak your language,鈥� says Alabama state Rep. Jamie Kiel, a Republican who represents Russellville and聽who has been working with district leaders to put more money toward EL students in the state budget.聽

Some of the nation鈥檚 largest districts, according to the Education Trust, used pandemic relief money to hire bilingual staff. But as schools prepare for post-pandemic budget cuts, experts and advocates warn against reducing support for EL programs and other interventions.

鈥淥ur overreliance on federal funds and temporary funds potentially demonstrates that we鈥檙e not doing enough as a state already,鈥� says Carlos Alem谩n, chief executive officer of the Hispanic Interest Coalition of Alabama. 鈥淎s we see those dollars wind down, then the state should really reflect and review what it can do to make sure that these programs can remain in place.鈥�

Next steps

State leaders have cautioned school districts against using federal COVID-19 money for long-term expenses, like salaries. But Russellville leaders are holding out, hopeful that their effort to invest in EL staff will lead to statewide change.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 think it was a risk. I think it was a test,鈥� Representative Kiel says. 鈥淭here is an appetite in the legislature to put more bodies in the classroom. If we鈥檙e going to fund something, I think we鈥檝e proven that it鈥檚 not just about people that can鈥檛 speak the language. It鈥檚 about all students perform better if there are warm bodies in the classroom.鈥�

Dr. Grimes, the superintendent, is working on ways to sustain those roles. But in the meantime, he鈥檚 preparing for lots of change.

The district will only be able to keep three or four aides, he says 鈥� maybe two each at the elementary schools. And he would lose them in the middle and high school. They鈥檇 keep the EL coach, even though she may have to go into another role. And they would also lose one or two EL teachers.

鈥淲hen that goes away after two years, that鈥檚 what our fear is,鈥� says Ms. Warhurst, the elementary principal. 鈥淭hat all that will be lost.鈥�

AL.com writer Trisha Powell Crain contributed to this story.

This story was produced by AL.com as part of a national collaboration between Education Labs and journalists at The Associated Press, 海角大神, The Dallas Morning News in Texas, The Fresno Bee in California, The Hechinger Report, The Seattle Times, and The Post and Courier in Charleston, South Carolina. Find more stories in the series here.

The Alabama Education Lab team at AL.com is supported through a partnership with Report for America, a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.