


Connecticut's Students Learning English Perform Poorly Compared To Nation

When Brian Gonzalez, an eighth-grader at Windham Middle School, arrived last year from Puerto Rico, he knew very little English. He was pulled out of the classroom for one period a day, he says, to work with a teacher who helped him learn English and to understand his assignments, but it wasn't enough. When the fall arrived, Brian's English language skills were weak enough that he was placed in a class for "new arrivals" with a bilingual teacher who provided more assistance with his developing English and with understanding his work. "It was great," Brian said through a translator. But a few months into the semester, Gonzalez's English was rated good...