English bill aims to boost class time

English language-learning students and their parents could get a boost under legislation in the works for the 2007 session of the Utah Legislature.

Sen. Howard Stephenson, R-Draper, is looking at increasing English instruction time for students with little or no English proficiency. Along with that, he wants to give parents more of a stake in their children's education by aligning their English courses with their children's schoolwork.

"We're interested in a community-based program to assist parents and students who are English language learners to work together to obtain English competency," Stephenson said.

Stephenson said the program also will bring technology funding to English language instruction. He's working with Granite School District and the state Office of Education to decide which approach to use.

Stephenson said the bill is independent of his plans to sponsor another program to keep education in the hands of parents with an early childhood education program that would provide specialists to help families prepare children for kindergarten.

"They are related in the sense we want to get families more involved and ensure that we are family-focused when it comes to education and children," Stephenson said. "When the families are committed and involved and are part of the child's education, success is always easier to achieve."

Superintendent of Public Instruction Patti Harrington said a draft of the English learning bill would extend class time students spend learning English to three hours a day for those with no English proficiency.

Even if some of the extra class time is spent on computers, the bill would mean extra staff. Harrington estimates the bill would cost about $19 million, which could be spread out over three years.

"It's an ambitious project," she said. "It's the economic ticket for the state of Utah to ensure all students are literate in English."

Paul McCarty, administrator of Granite's Department of Educational Equity, said he envisions "family literacy centers" at elementary schools to "enable Utah's (English learning) parents to participate more fully in their children's schooling."

While adult English instruction and high school education are already available, the centers would also provide parent coaching, McCarty said.

The coaching would be on subjects children are learning, so parents can better understand how to help them, he said. Another component would be parents' direct involvement in a child's classroom, he said.

"The beauty of the program is it is very flexible," he said. "It can reach out to all parents with varying degrees of literacy."

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E-mail: dbulkeley@desnews.com