2004 Teacher of the Year Stresses the Importance of Native Language and Culture

By Ines Alicea, ELL Outlook™ Contributing Writer

It is important that an English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher was chosen as the 2004 Council of Chief State School Officers' National Teacher of the Year because "it shows the value of second-language learners and their programs," said Kathleen Mellor, a Rhode Island ESL teacher who was honored with the award earlier this year.

Mellor, the 54th National Teacher of the Year, the first to represent Rhode Island, and the first ESL teacher, began a year as a full-time national and international spokesperson for education on June 1, 2004. She will serve in that capacity until May 31, 2005.

President George W. Bush bestowed the honor on her at a White House ceremony with Mrs. Bush on April 21, 2004. She received a crystal apple from the president and will continue to receive her school salary as she serves as an official spokesperson for the nation's three million teachers and as an unofficial advocate for second-language learners.

"I like to brag about this population," Mellor said. "They are very special to me. We cannot settle for anything less for these children than we would for our own daughters, sons, nieces, and nephews."

The National Teacher of the Year program is sponsored by Scholastic Inc. and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO). Scholastic is the world's largest publisher and distributor of children's books. CCSSO, a nonprofit organization of public officials who head departments of elementary and secondary education across the country, provides leadership, advocacy, and technical assistance on major educational issues. The program focuses public attention on teaching excellence and is the oldest and most prestigious award program for teachers.

Mellor teaches at Davisville Middle and Hamilton Elementary Schools in North Kingstown, Rhode Island. She originally contemplated becoming a French teacher but decided to combine her facility with language with a desire to work with younger children. After receiving undergraduate and graduate degrees in elementary education from Rhode Island College, she pursued a career as an ESL teacher and in 1989 earned a master's degree in ESL and Cross-Cultural Studies from Brown University.

Becoming an ESL teacher is a decision she is proud of. "It is extremely rewarding," she said of watching children who speak little or no English become proficient. "Even after 24 years, you still say 'wow.'"

One of her ESL colleagues in North Kingstown, Patricia Kirwan, said Mellor's deep ties to the ESL community are evidenced by the many invitations she receives to attend special cultural events in her students' homes. "These families yearn to give whatever they can back to the woman who has deeply cared for, respected, and loved their children," said Kirwan.

Kamer Kosereisoglu, a parent of one of her former students, says her daughter's English improved "unbelievably" in just one year with Mellor because of her high but realistic expectations for students. "She knows how difficult it is to adjust to a new culture, learn another language, and be successful in school," Kosereisoglu said. "She always encourages students and their families to speak their first languages at home and not to forget their culture."

The more children's first languages are developed, the more children will be able to transfer to English, so "they don't have to learn the skill of reading [again], just how to break the English code," Mellor said. If teachers ask parents who have limited English skills to speak in English, the child will hear mostly incorrect and basic English, which is likely to hamper their progress, she added. "Their native language is seen as a plus, not a detraction," Mellor said of her school district's attitude toward English language learners. "It shows the families' value for what they have and validates them."

Mellor describes the ESL program she designed and implemented in her district as one that combines language and literacy instruction with support in content-area subjects. The program teaches students the English language, its communicative features, and the literacy skills necessary to learn in English and achieve academically. Applicable Rhode Island English language arts standards are used in goal setting and grading, and the scope and sequence of the program parallels natural language development, taking the students through all five proficiency levels.

"Because the program deals with the many variables students present, allows ESL children to stay in their home schools, and allows teachers to do a great deal of cross-content collaboration, the program is cognitively demanding and students aren't isolated from their American peers, so a great deal of natural language acquisition occurs," she said. "It is a developmental language program which provides each student with one to three periods of instruction per day, according to the child's proficiency level in listening, speaking, reading, and writing. The amount of service decreases as the level of English and amount of mainstreaming increases."

In addition to working with ESL students, Mellor recognized that some of her students' parents could benefit from learning English. She and two other teachers formed a group called the Ladybugs that offered weekly English classes to their students' mothers and grandmothers. The women wanted to learn English so they could become more involved with their children's education and become a more integral part of the community. "It made them feel welcome and safe," Mellor said. "They found us more approachable. They would come to us to resolve concerns. It was extremely effective."

She also has students work on their English skills in a book journal in which they prepare reports on books they have read, identifying the title, author, and main characters and giving a five- to ten-sentence summary of the book and an equally long opinion about the work. Book journals develop students' ability to analyze and synthesize information, skills they will carry throughout their lives. All students must read 25 books each year. As they complete a book, Mellor gives them sticky notes showing the title and author of the book. The sticky notes are lined up on a classroom wall under the students' names as a quiet reminder of how much work they have done and how much remains to be done.

"There are many factors in second-language development that will determine how quickly or slowly a student will acquire English," Mellor said. "You can't set a time limit on them. I've had students do it in one year and some in seven years. You need to have flexibility."

The road to the National Teacher of the Year title is long. It begins with the selection of Teachers of the Year for every state plus the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Northern Mariana Islands, U.S. Virgin Islands, and Department of Defense Education Activity. Mellor was named Rhode Island Teacher of the Year in October, 2003. The applications of the State Teachers of the Year are submitted to CCSSO, and the national selection committee reviews the data on each candidate and selects the finalists. The selection committee then personally interviews each finalist before naming the National Teacher of the Year.