LEWISTON — A teachers’ coach at Longley and Farwell elementary schools has been named the new director of the English Language Learner program in Lewiston.

Hilary Barber will oversee instruction of the city’s 1,197 students who are learning English. That number comprises about 20 percent of Lewiston students, who speak a total of 20 languages; the largest group is Somali.

Barber will replace Kristie Clark, who will become principal of Longley Elementary on July 1, when Principal Linda St. Andre retires.

Sue Martin, chief academic officer for the Lewiston School Department, recommended Barber to the School Committee, which approved the appointment.

Barber’s a good fit for the post, Martin said.

“She’s been an ELL teacher, an instructional coach for teachers and she’s extremely knowledgeable about data,” she said.

That’s important, Martin said, because as an ELL director, “you constantly have to analyze what’s working and what’s not working and make program adjustments.”

Before working as a teachers’ coach, Barber taught at Montello Elementary and Navy Point Elementary School in Pensacola, Fla. Both schools had high numbers of ELL students.

“I loved it,” Barber said. “I love learning about different cultures, different communities.”

She’s been invited to the homes of some of her students, which she said was a rich experience. “They’re so welcoming, it’s incredible.” In one home, she was shown how to make sambusa, a popular Somali dish.

She’s interested in becoming ELL director “because I’m really passionate about providing all students equal access to a high-quality education,” she said. “It’s really important that ELL students are able to access grade-level standards.”

When they are learning to speak English, getting grade-level standards has to be achieved in different ways, such as asking students to show comprehension by summarizing what happened from picture sequences, as well as working with them on words.

The parents of ELL students she has met in Florida and Maine place a high value on education, Barber said. “They’re willing to work with you. They see education as a path to having a good life.”

As ELL directer, Barber said she would continually examine what’s working and what isn’t. Overall, Lewiston’s ELL program is doing well, Barber said. She’d like to see increases in the number of students proficient at grade level and graduating from high school “and continue to have a positive relationship with the community.”

Lewiston ELL students are graduating at the same rate as non-ELL students, 70.1 percent, Martin said, but ELL students take longer, five or six years, to finish high school.

Since Lewiston began an ELL program in 2001-02, “our ELL teachers have become increasingly skilled,” Martin said. “When we started, there were 10 certified ELL teachers in Maine.” Now Lewiston alone has 33.

One concern of the program is that it takes time for students to master the English language and content, and tests don’t take that into account, Martin said. ELL students don’t have to take tests in their first year, but they do in their second year, regardless of their ability to speak or read English.

Lewiston School Committee member and Somali resident Jama Mohamed said he’s pleased with how the ELL program is going. “Kristy Clark has done a wonderful job,” Mohamed said. “The program’s success depends on a lot of people’s hard work.”

bwashuk@sunjournal.com

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