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Bridging the Gap at the EXCEL Center


Imagine the frustration of having 120 students on your class roll, being required to have all of them improve in standardized achievement tests, and then discovering that 3 kids don’t speak English well enough to answer, “What is your name?” But they aren’t exempt from taking the test.

Now imagine the frustration of being handed a test in another language, having to sit in a quiet room for hours with no idea what you’re looking at, and watching other kids around the room working as if there’s no problem.

This situation is one that our teachers and students are facing every day, across the nation. But in Decatur City Schools, we have a group who are changing that. At the Expanding Children’s Eagerness to Learn (EXCEL) Center, Ressa Chittam and her faculty are changing the game for our school system and changing the educational experience for each individual student they work with.

Secondary students in need of language support spend anywhere from half of their day to almost all of it at the EXCEL Center. After the staff assess the math and language abilities of new students, the students get to spend time at the center learning English instead of struggling to learn a subject in a language they don’t yet understand.

Chittam reports, “We have seen a dramatic difference in the classroom engagement and confidence of our students. They are comfortable in the classroom and feel safe to ask questions and make mistakes. The students are participating in class and asking content-related questions.” 

Earlier this year, State Representative Terri Collins helped Decatur City Schools obtain $3,000 in funding to support the EXCEL Center. She says, “I heard about the EXCEL program on a Statewide Accountability Taskforce for ELL (English Language Learners), and the program in Decatur was being praised statewide and even nationally as making a difference for students entering the system without knowing English.  I came home and asked to tour and see.  I was so impressed with their results, I am proud to be able to help their success with grant funding.”

This year, the center is starting reading and math groups. The funding will be used to help get the technology they need to meet the needs of the students in a small setting and help them overcome the gaps they have in learning.

We believe that providing a strong foundation to students who have recently begun to learn English is crucial for each student, our schools and our community. Students are engaged more, understand more, and are more motivated when they have access to the targeted environment that the EXCEL Center offers.

In the end, the EXCEL Center is helping students be more successful in their new schools and in their new community.

“The students feel as if they are a part of our community because they understand it better.  They are provided opportunities to see our community and meet the people in it. As a result, people in our community are getting a better understanding of our students, and how we can all work together.”

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