Background
Kayenta Unified School District (KUSD) is a public school deep in the center of the Navajo Reservation in Arizona. The school serves almost 2000 students, and the student population is approximately 99% Native Americans, mostly Navajos. However, most of the Navajo students are not Native Speakers of the Dine Language. Those who are Native Dine Speakers are identified as English Language Learners, and have to be serviced in English Language Development (ELD) classes after they have failed their English Proficiency Assessment. Of the 2,000 students in the Kayenta School District, only 100 are officially identified as learners of English. Most of these students are considered ELL and assessed for proficiency in English using the AZELLA (Arizona English Language Learner Assessment), based on what the family wrote on the Primary Home Language Other Than English (PHLOTE) Form. The PHLOTE Form is what families fill out to determine what language is spoken in the home, and whether or not a student will be assessed on English Language Proficiency. The goal of ELD classrooms is to help students become fluent speakers, readers, and writers of the English Language.
The school district serves students from 7 communities within a 50 mile radius of the town of Kayenta, Arizona. Some students have to catch the bus as early as 6 am to make it to school on time. Approximately 30 buses run out to these communities and haul students to the school every day.
Comments: