MIDTESOL Matters
Summer 2001
A Publication of Mid-America Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages

Postcard from…Nebraska 

By Joan Hamilton, Nebraska Representative 

We continue to see an increase in students receiving ESL services. This population is not only Hispanic, but also African (Nuer students from the South Sudan as well as students from other parts of the Sudan). Lincoln and Omaha are receiving some of the "lost boys" population—boys orphaned in the war in Sudan who have spent years in refugee camps in Ethiopia. Many of these students are not literate in their primary languages. Granted, Nuer has been a written language for a relatively short period of time, but these students also speak Arabic; they do not read or write it. The Lincoln Public Schools have obtained a grant to provide training for teachers with students in grade 4 and above who have limited former schooling. The Omaha Public Schools have established literacy centers for these students.

This is the first year for Assessment and Reporting for State Standards in Nebraska. The first state writing assessment occurred in February this year for students in grades 4, 8, and 11. ESL students in their first year in Nebraska school districts may receive an alternate assessment and/or accommodations. Students with three years or less may receive accommodations as they participate in the state writing assessment. Students in their fourth years may receive no accommodations when taking the assessment unless they have a Special Education IEP.

Omaha's Spring ESL conference will host teacher/writer Jaime Escalante April 27-28, 2001. Mr. Escalante will work with a group of students from the Omaha Public Schools during the afternoon of April 27 and will speak at a community-wide event that same evening. For more information about the conference, visit the Omaha Public Schools web site at http://www.ops.org.