What If? What If We Could Erase the Achievement Gap for English Learners? By John A. Sobrato The achievement gap for low-income Latino students yawns wide in Silicon Valley. Latino English learners make up almost a quarter of the region’s school population. Unfortunately, these students are eight times as likely to drop out of high school compared with non-Latino students. Many will struggle academically year after year because they don’t fully master academic English in their early years. So when our family looked at how the Sobrato Family Foundation could make a difference in Silicon Valley, we knew that it started with closing the achievement gap for low-income Latino students — particularly those who enter school not speaking English. In 2008, we hired expert Laurie Olsen, Ph.D., who told us that early intervention and continual support were the keys to accomplishing our goal. With a $6 million initial investment and the support of a national advisory group, Olsen developed the Sobrato Early Academic Language Model, which starts in preschool and goes through third grade. By 2009, we were piloting the model in three Silicon Valley schools, two in Redwood City and one in San José, with 1,600 students. Teachers model rich, expressive language in all subjects, in all grades. A model classroom is alive with language all the time, because to learn academic English, students must be speaking it. The model provides teachers professional development and resources they need to make English academic vocabulary come to life for their students. It also allows teachers to meet the demands of 16 spr i ng 20 1 5 s i l icon v alle ycf . or g the new Common Core standards while simultaneously addressing the needs of English learners. Parents also play a to 20,000 students in 36 schools critical part. They get a in districts in Santa Clara, San sack of books when their Mateo, Alameda, Marin and children join a model Los Angeles counties will be classroom, and we ask The model educated in model classrooms. them to read to their provides After covering 100 percent of children every night. teachers the costs of implementation Many hold two if not professional and teacher training during three jobs just to make development the pilot, the Sobrato Family ends meet, but they still and resources Foundation is now paying find the time to do this. for only 25 percent of these In fact, we’ve found that they need to expenses. The school districts parents of scholars in make English fund the rest. these classrooms — 85 academic The difficulty now is scaling percent of whom have a vocabulary the model. We need more high school education or teacher trainers, the best of less — are just as likely as come to life. whom come from model college-educated parents classrooms. With another to engage in literacy investment of $5 million, by 2019 activities at home with we hope to train about 2,000 teachers, their children. We offer them bilingual increase the number of Sobrato Early literacy workshops and ask them to Academic Language schools to 50 and volunteer in their children’s classrooms. educate 40,000 students. Already we know the model is Where does the Sobrato Early working. Kathryn Lindholm-Leary, Academic Language Model go from a professor of child and adolescent there? We’ll see. development at San José State Closing the achievement gap is a University, started evaluations at the matter of dignity, empowerment and beginning of the initial three-school justice. It’s important to our family. pilot. She found that by the end of Our vision is that Silicon Valley will second grade, two-thirds of students be a place of opportunity for all its in Sobrato Early Academic Language residents. Model schools had caught up to their English-only peers — they closed the John A. Sobrato is the board chairman achievement gap. and trustee of the Sobrato Family This success has spurred growth. Foundation and the founder of The By 2014, 31 schools in five districts in Silicon Valley had model classrooms. By Sobrato Organization, a Silicon Valley real estate development firm. the end of the 2014–15 school year, up n n Spencer Brown/San FranciSco BuSineSS TimeS