There is a long history of school-university collaboration between the Amherst Regional Public Schools and the UMass School of Education. ACCELA builds on this relationship with a focus on the needs of linguistically and culturally diverse students. This focus is timely given changing local demographics. Once considered a predominantly white, academic community, over the last thirty years, classrooms have become increasingly diverse in
regard to language, race, culture,
and class. While the Amherst Schools are still majority “white,” in 2005-2006 nearly half of the students identified as coming from diverse communities (e.g., 14% “Hispanic,” 11.5% “Asian,” 8% “African American,” and 10% “Multirace”). In addition, 21% of students reported English was not their first language. These students come from homes where 25 different language groups are used. These languages include Cape Verdean Creole, Chinese, Khmer, Korean, Spanish, and Vietnamese.
As in partnership schools in Holyoke and Springfield, the combination of changing demographics and high-stakes school reform has caught teachers and administrators off guard. For example, on the 2005 MCAS for Grade 4 English Language Arts, 67% of Limited English Proficient (LEP) students scored in the “Needs Improvement” category, and 25% scored in the “Failing” category. The 2005 MCAS scores for Grade 3 Reading also revealed a notable achievement gap between students of different races. Specifically, only 48% of Latino students scored in the “Passing” category as compared to 81% of Whites.
PARTICIPATING SCHOOLS: Amherst Regional Middle School
Crocker Farm Elementary School
Fort River Elementary School
Mark's Meadow Elementary School
Wildwood Elementary School
Copyright 2006. School
of Education, Furcolo Hall, 813 North Pleasant Street,
University of Massachusetts Amherst, Massachusetts, 01003.
Produced and maintained by the School of Education with federal
funding provided by No Child Left Behind.
