Back to school: Cross Keys' mission

Stuck in the Emory bubble, we are ignorant of the fact that Dekalb is one of the most ethnically diverse counties in the entire state. The articles in the AJC drove home the fact that the issues of immigration and diversity in regards to education brought up in Banks’ article can be found right in our back yard. I found the case study of Cross Keys’ high school to be particularly interesting. One issue that Pickel brings up is that often students understand concepts but can’t express the answers to questions about them in proper English. Although the teacher, Mr. Bragg says that he gives them credit anyway, it’s inevitable that their inferior English speaking skills are going to hinder their progress in the future. It is extremely important that these students learn to speak proper English if they want to be successful in the United States. It is ironic that although we do not have an official language in our country, if someone does not know English they will have an extremely hard time getting a job. I thought that Bragg’s tactic of pairing students with poor English skills with those who have a better command of the language was an effective one. It is good to see that teachers are serious about helping their students overcome language barriers. I thought this was a very eye-opening article and appreciated the specific examples it presented.