BETWEEN THE LINES -- Byron de Arakal

Bryon de Arakal

It’s clearly modish these days to be among the pack of Costa Mesa

parents and homeowners nipping at the backside of Newport-Mesa Unified

School District leaders for what is quite clearly the second-rate

performance of Westside schools on standardized tests. That there is a

problem -- and that these residents are plainly peeved that it persists

-- is not in question. But I would argue that most of the criticism --

while not without its due -- is poorly targeted. We’ll chat about that in

a moment.

Meantime, we know by the state’s yardstick for academic performance --

known to education wonks as the Academic Performance Index -- that Costa

Mesa’s elementary, middle and high schools continue to ride near the back

of the bus. A simple top line comparison of the average 2001 API score of

Costa Mesa schools (671) and Newport Beach campuses (852) is unadorned

evidence that kids west of the bay aren’t making the grade nearly as well

as their counterparts on the east side of the bay.

The education picture grows even darker the deeper you trowel through

the numbers. Of Costa Mesa’s 13 elementary schools, only California

Elementary (818) met what the state’s Department of Education calls its

standard performance target of 800. None of its middle schools or high

schools came close. TeWinkle Middle School posted a 640 score, while

Estancia and Costa Mesa high schools turned in API numbers of 584 and

648, respectively.

Now across the pond, every Newport Beach elementary school surpassed

the 800 benchmark. The town’s middle and high schools didn’t fair as

well. Ensign Intermediate (739) missed the bar, as did Newport Harbor

High School (753). Only Corona del Mar High School (841) surpassed the minimum standard. Nevertheless, for our purposes here, these schools are

clearly running circles around Costa Mesa’s secondary campuses.

The one sliver of light in all of this statistical stew is that, for

the most part, API scores have been trending upward over the last few

years. But this reminds, too, of how deep in the cave we’ve been.

Noodling on the reasons for all of this scholastic disparity has in

previous years seen the production of some pretty tired excuses, most of

them having to do with money or the lack of it. I’ve never believed the

wealth gap between Newport Beach and Costa Mesa, by itself, explains the

academic gap that separates our kids.

Rather, the problem is an issue of language and some measure of

parental indifference. First, it’s simply fender-headed to expect

children -- or anyone for that matter -- to excel academically when they

can’t speak or understand the words flying around the classroom, or that

sit there staring them in the face on a test. I’m not likely to do well,

for instance, in organic chemistry at the University of Moscow. I don’t

know a lick of Russian.

Knowing that, the bare facts are these. According to the freshest

statistics available from the California Department of Education,

Westside schools are teeming with kids held under by a limited ability to

speak and understand the English language. Of the nearly 22,000 children

attending Newport-Mesa schools, more than 6,000 are what educrats call

English learners. That is, they “lack the clearly defined English

language skills of listening comprehension, speaking, reading and writing

necessary to succeed in the schools’ regular instructional programs.”

Now the cold slap here is that more than 5,200 of the 6,000 English

learners are enrolled in Costa Mesa schools. Most of them are seated at

desks in Westside classrooms. And it’s clear that their lack of English

language skills, according to most district officials, is predominantly

behind the substandard API scores these schools continue to post.

It’s not a solution to simply ignore the needs of these children, as

some would have it, by playing the immigration card or advancing

municipal policies that would chase their families out of town. That tact

has no governing capital as of this writing. Nor should it.

The only meaningful and immediate answers occupy two fronts. First,

drench these kids in the English language. The district seems to be

busting its tail in this regard. Through intense English language

development, specially designed academic instruction in English and other

instructional services, most of the Westside’s poorest performing schools

are making marked improvements in year-over-year API scores.

But that won’t be enough. That’s because children -- particularly

those with limited English skills -- have to want to learn, first the

language and then the academics. The problem is the district doesn’t have

the authority to mandate that desire. They can’t beat it into them. They

can’t instill it through terror.

Which gets me back to my earlier musing about misplaced criticism. The

district isn’t at fault here. Rather, it’s the parents that need to step

to the plate by instilling in their children the value of learning. And

here’s why I say that.

Though only anecdotal, my son’s high school literature class is

occupied predominantly by students to whom English is a second language.

He routinely recounts to me how many will simply stand up and walk out of

class. They’ll swap notes and generally goof around during silent reading

time. They’ll talk over the teacher in their native language as she

lectures. And homework assignments are most often ignored and never

turned in. In short, they don’t seem to care about learning or about

school.

That’s an attitude whose origins trace directly to the head of the

fish (read: parents). And one that needs to change.

* Byron de Arakal is a writer and communications consultant. He

resides in Costa Mesa. His column appears on Wednesdays. Readers can

reach him with news tips and comments via e-mail at o7

byronwriter@msn.comf7 .