Bilingual issues Alliance Executive Vice President Gracie Oviedo has been working on a variety of issues with bilingual teachers who expressed interest in the Alliance Bilingual Task Force. The major issues that have surfaced so far are:  Translation issues (“I Can Statements,” Voyager Math, and ARDs)  Insufficient materials or programs for our bilingual students More details here. Several bilingual issues were discussed at the October Consultation meeting. On the issue of translation of Voyager Math, Betty Burks said none of the teacher kits were ordered in Spanish because they do not exist. Ms. Oviedo contact the Voyager company and learned that indeed there is no edition of the teacher kits in Spanish. In reviewing the written agenda item that was presented to the school board when they approved the program, it was worded in a way that seemed to indicate Spanish teacher kits would be provided. Alliance leaders will be reviewing that situation with school board members. On the issue of translating ARDs, Ms. Burks said that classroom teachers should not be pulled out of class to translate for ARDs. She also said that any bilingual teacher translating for ARD’s should have gone to training prior to doing such translations and that the teacher is not liable for any issues of misinterpretation since the ARD is taped and written copies are given to the parent. The Alliance has tried to impress upon the administration that translation is a specific skill and that just because a person can speak two languages does not mean that person has the skill of translation. The Alliance continues to work on getting the district to translate the “I Can Statements” in order to provide consistency across the district. In the meantime, bilingual teachers may want to consider posting them in English. The Alliance will continue to update you as we progress on this issue. Any bilingual teacher who would like to be involved in the work on this issue should contact Gracie Oviedo at [email protected].