12420: Miami Edison High looks for ways to remove stigma of two Fs (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

Miami Edison High looks for ways to remove stigma of two Fs

By Madeline Baró Diaz
Miami Bureau
Posted June 27 2002

MIAMI · When Miami Edison Senior High recently received its second F from
the state in four years, the failing grade served as a wake-up call for the
Haitian community.

The school's students are predominantly Haitian, many not native English
speakers. Haitian community leaders say education officials need to look at
the whole picture, so they are hoping to work with the school on solutions.

"That F just hurt me so deeply," said Gepsie Metellus, a former foreign
language teacher at Edison who now heads up Sant La, the Haitian
Neighborhood Center. "Those kids don't deserve that."

The state grades schools on how well students perform on the Florida
Comprehensive Assessment Test. By getting its second F in four years, Edison
became one of 10 Florida schools this year whose students are eligible for
vouchers that will allow them to go to private schools or transfer to other
public schools.

Principal Santiago Corrada says Edison has been improving over the past four
years, but changes in the grading criteria dropped Edison's grade. Corrada
said the school traditionally has had few students scoring at level 3 and
above in reading and writing, but the state employed a formula that awarded
points for the number of students with those scores.

"I don't want the wrong perception to be out there that all of a sudden the
school is an F because we haven't done our job," Corrada said.

This week, school officials and Haitian leaders met. A committee made up of
Haitian groups is planning a town hall meeting next month where the
community can learn about the grading process and offer suggestions on a
plan of action.

Among the ideas being considered is a mentoring program, Metellus said.
Community leaders also want to turn up the pressure on county and state
education authorities to provide necessary support.

"We want to raise some hell around this issue," Metellus said. "They are
measuring all of these things based on the same standards but they haven't
given these kids the same preparation."

Many of Edison's students come from low-income Miami neighborhoods such as
Little Haiti and Liberty City. A large number are either enrolled in ESOL
(English for Speakers of Other Languages) classes or were previously ESOL
students, Corrada said.

Metellus said some of the students arrive at school tired because they have
to work to help out their families or hungry because there isn't enough to
eat at home.

Community leaders want to stress parental involvement. Some parents do not
know how their children are doing in school because their children don't
tell them, Metellus said. Many parents also cannot afford private tutors or
don't know the system well enough to ask school officials for programs at
their schools, she said.

Sant La is hoping to launch an outreach program for parents through
churches, radio and Sant La's public television program.

As of Wednesday, 16 of the about 2,350 students at Edison had requested
vouchers, Corrada said. Although vouchers are part of the parent outreach,
Metellus said they don't want to focus on vouchers as the answer.

Metellus said if students are failing because they came to the country
without much schooling or their parents aren't helping them out, then
vouchers will not fix the problem.

"There's no guarantee they will do well at another school," she said.

Corrada said he was counting on his staff and community support to improve
the school.

"We've always enjoyed community support here. That has not been the issue,"
he said. "Indications [from students and staff] are we do a good job. I've
not had teachers transferring. They're committed to stay and do a good job.
I think we just need to focus on the changing standard."

Madeline Baró Diaz can be reached at mbaro@sun-sentinel.com or 305-810-5007.



Copyright © 2002, South Florida Sun-Sentinel





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