Third grader Gaby Martinez might be on vacation in this remote Mexican hamlet, 2,000 miles from her California home, but that doesn鈥檛 mean a teacher can鈥檛 find her. 鈥�Ya hiciste la tarea?鈥� calls a firm voice from a car that slows to a stop alongside a bumpy, stone road near Gaby鈥檚 grandmother鈥檚 home. 鈥淒id you finish your homework?鈥�
The voice is that of Pedro Pahuamba, better known to Gaby and a dozen other children here on Christmas break as el maestro鈥攖he teacher.
Mr. Pahuamba is one of four Mexican teachers hired by a California migrant education office to keep students focused on their U.S. schoolwork while their families spend extended holiday stays in Mexico. From Nov. 15 to Feb. 15, Mr. Pahuamba covers a 300-square-mile area, searching out children from a handful of participating districts in Northern California.
Once he finds them, it鈥檚 class time鈥攏o matter that it鈥檚 New Year鈥檚 Eve day or that schools are out on the entire continent. Mr. Pahuamba鈥檚 goal is to help students finish the independent-study packets they were given by teachers in California鈥攊n hopes of easing their transition back to class at the end of their lengthy vacations.
Dubbed the Binational Support Teacher Project, the apparently unique arrangement is one of the more creative solutions to an issue schools across the United States face鈥攖hat of immigrant students, particularly those from Mexico, missing weeks of school around the Christmas holidays.
鈥淲e tell families, 鈥楾he best place for your child is in class, in school. But if you can鈥檛 be here, we鈥檙e there to support you,鈥� 鈥� said Maria Arvizu-Espinoza, who coordinates the project stateside for the Region 2 migrant education office in California. 鈥淓ventually, these kids are going to come back to California and graduate from California schools. We want to make the transition back as smooth as possible.鈥�
Money is also at stake: Districts can claim average-daily-attendance dollars from the state if the students successfully complete the homework they鈥檙e given, essentially counting them as 鈥減resent鈥� even though they鈥檙e thousands of miles away.
In Mexico, December and January are packed with fiestas: from the feast of the Virgin of Guadalupe, to nine days of posadas鈥攖he celebrations leading up toChristmas鈥攖o town fiestas scheduled to accommodate returning migrants. Families plan weddings and baptisms for that time, knowing they鈥檒l be joined by relatives from el norte.
In the area surrounding La Nopalera, U.S. license plates can outnumber those from the state of Michoac谩n, where the town is located, during the holidays. Mexican officials were expecting the return of 1.2 million expatriates this winter.
Mr. Pahuama鈥檚 first student showed up toward the end of November. In late January, he was still tutoring three. In all, he assisted 72 students this year, his third in the project.
Two days before the new year, surrounded by flowering plants and seated at a metal table on Gaby鈥檚 grandmother鈥檚 patio, Gaby鈥檚 5th grade sister works on determining fact from opinion. 鈥淚 need help,鈥� she tells Mr. Pahuamba in English.
Numerous migrant students from districts in California鈥檚 Region 2 travel south over the winter holidays to Mexico. When they return after as much as a three-month absence, the children often have fallen behind in their schoolwork. Easing the transition is the Binational Support Teacher Project, run in several cities and villages in the state of Michoac谩n.
*Click image to enlarge
SOURCE: Education Week
The binational-support teachers must be bilingual, have experience working in U.S. schools, and be familiar with the migrant lifestyle.
鈥淭here was nothing like this here two years ago when we came to Mexico, and my daughter fell behind after we returned,鈥� Angelica Martinez, Gaby鈥檚 mother, said in Spanish. 鈥淚f the teacher wasn鈥檛 here, it would be up to my three daughters to understand all this on their own.鈥�
Under Mr. Pahuamba鈥檚 watch, Gaby鈥檚 8th grade cousin pages through a textbook on U.S. government and fills in worksheets. A 3rd grade neighbor works subtraction problems. The neighbor鈥檚 sister, Ana Rosa, is reading about Newton鈥檚 law of universal gravitation, and has also brought along Advanced Placement literature and precalculus homework.
Ana Rosa鈥檚 homework is so complex that Mr. Pahuamba asks the senior to lend him her math textbook鈥攕o he can study it before helping her. On occasion, Mr. Pahuamba brings his brother, an electrical engineer, to help students in advanced math and science.
Supporters of the project say that having the binational-support teacher in Mexico underscores the importance of schoolwork and, paradoxically, of attending school. In addition to providing academic help, Mr. Pahuamba considers it part of his job to offer frequent admonitions to parents.
鈥淩emember, the maximum number of days you want to miss is three,鈥� he tells one mother whose son is out of school for a month.
鈥淚f you would have sent him to the homework session yesterday, he would be done with the packet now,鈥� he tells another mother at nearly 8 o鈥檆lock one evening, after spending two hours on fractions and decimals with her son.
Stapled to the top of most students鈥� homework packets is an independent-study contract, signed by the student, a parent, and school officials.
鈥淭his is an alternative educational option in which no student shall be forced to participate,鈥� the contract states in Spanish.
When students return home, teachers award either full credit for the number of days agreed to in the contract, partial credit, or none, depending on the work completed.
The opportunity to earn credit is especially critical at the secondary school level, when, Ms. Arvizu-Espinoza says, students were dropping out because they saw no chance of passing the marking period in which they鈥檇 been gone because of attendance requirements.
The project, now in its sixth year, also keeps schools鈥� attendance rates from plummeting鈥攁 factor scrutinized under the federal No Child Left Behind Act. And Ms. Arvizu-Espinoza calculates that for each day a student is given independent-study credit, a participating school district can claim about $30 in average-daily-attendance money.
California鈥檚 Region 2 migrant education office, based in Yuba City, signs an annual contract with the state education department in Michoac谩n, where a majority of the region鈥檚 35,000 migrant students have roots, according to Ms. Arvizu-Espinoza.
鈥� The project is in its sixth year.
鈥� 69传媒 often travel with their families from their California homes in November or December for economic reasons or to spend time with relatives.
鈥� The U.S. government finances a migrant education program in all 50 states. California鈥檚 is the largest; one out of every three migrant students in the United States lives in California.
鈥� Michoac谩n education officials interview and hire teachers, who receive a $2,700 stipend and a $1,000 mileage allowance paid by Callifornia鈥檚 Region 2 migrant education office.
鈥� Pedro Pahuamba is one of four Mexican teachers hired by Region 2 this year. From November to February, he assisted 72 students in a 300-square-mile area.
鈥� When students return home, teachers award credit based on the amount of work completed in the children鈥檚 independent-study packets.
鈥擫inda Lutton
Michoac谩n education officials interview and hire teachers. Region 2, which covers most of Northern California, pays a $2,700 stipend and a $1,000 mileage allowance for each teacher. This winter, the region paid for three teacher positions (filled by four teachers), at a cost of $11,100. The teachers helped 195 students.
Before the program begins, Region 2 flies the binational-support teachers to California to meet parents, students, and teachers.
Districts pay nothing, but must have in place or be willing to start an independent-study program. They must also have a critical mass of migrant students, said Ms. Arvizu-Espinoza.
The independent-study packets can be a lot of extra work for teachers, testifies Chad Hill, who teaches a combined 2nd and 3rd grade class at Kelseyville Elementary School, about 120 miles north of San Francisco. This year, six of his 20 students were gone for extended stays, ranging from one to four weeks.
The strategy is not a substitute for being in class. 鈥淭here鈥檚 definitely a delay in trying to catch back up to speed again on what we鈥檝e been covering,鈥� said Mr. Hill, even among those students who meet with a binational teacher. Still, he considers the project 鈥渢he best strategy we鈥檝e come up with to fill in the gap until they return.鈥�
Districts have tried other tactics. In the Napa Valley Unified School District, school officials piloted a three-week Christmas break this year, instead of the typical two, and publicized the change well ahead of time. In prior years, the district took part in the binational-support-teacher project.
鈥淲e believe the most important place for a student to be is in school,鈥� said Charlotte Ford-Gray, Napa Valley鈥檚 coordinator of English-learner services. Officials there are still calculating the new calendar鈥檚 effect on absences.
Most districts simply drop students after a certain number of consecutive absences. The Yuba City Unified School District鈥檚 enrollment dropped by nearly 1 percent鈥攎ore than 110 students鈥攂etween November and January this year, primarily as a result of extended family visits to Mexico and India. School officials say the decline was an improvement over previous years and credit parent education.
In a dusty town adjacent to La Nopalera, Elvira and Aurelio Ramirez praise the binational-support project. They brought with them two grandchildren and a nephew, ages 6, 11, and 13鈥攁ll visiting Mexico for the first time.
鈥淣ow, we don鈥檛 have to wait until school is out. We know you are here to help the children,鈥� Ms. Ramirez tells Mr. Pahuamba.
Comments like that highlight a question that has been debated among educators: whether the policy encourages students to miss school.
To Mr. Pahuamba, the December return to Mexico is impossible to stop. Many other educators concur.
Frank Contreras, the director of the Center for Migrant Education at Texas State University-San Marcos, considers the holiday treks 鈥渁 reality.鈥� He applauds Region 2鈥檚 outside-the-box approach.
鈥淭o be able to help these students, we have to go beyond the traditional way that things are handled,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e can鈥檛 just wait till they come here and then try to deal with the problems.鈥�
Some migrant families may stay for extended periods in Mexico for economic reasons, because the cost of living is less, noted Kevin Eisenberg, the principal of Calistoga Junior/Senior High School.
Located some 75 miles north of San Francisco, his district, Calistoga Joint Unified, awards students a maximum of five days of credit on the independent-study program. It completed an analysis several years ago that concluded that students who were assisted by the binational-support teachers missed fewer days than students who weren鈥檛.
Considering that, Mr. Eisenberg said he would like to see the project expanded to the Mexican state of Jalisco, where many of his students hail from. Thirty-seven students from the secondary school requested independent-study packets this winter (roughly 10 percent of his school population); eight were helped by teachers in Michoac谩n.
Mr. Eisenberg isn鈥檛 the only one with expansion in mind.
Since Region 2 is financed by federal migrant education dollars, only migrant students鈥攄efined as those who have moved across school district lines within the past three years as a result of a parent鈥檚 itinerant agricultural work鈥攁re served by the binational teachers.
In the future, Ms. Arvizu-Espinoza would like to see districts kick in some money so that students who aren鈥檛 classified as 鈥渕igrant鈥� could also be served.
Additional partnerships with other U.S. states or districts would be welcome, according to Laura Bibiana Mor谩n Garc铆a, who coordinates the Binational Support Teacher Project in Michoac谩n.
鈥淲e consider this a groundbreaking program,鈥� said Ms. Garc铆a, noting that the states of Guanajuato and Jalisco are now analyzing the project. 鈥淲ith more resources, we could consolidate this into something much larger, with more teachers and a more permanent presence to reach even more children.鈥�
