Education System in Puerto Rico

Historical Background

• History of the Education system in PR is long and complex

– Influenced by the political relationships of the Island with Spain and the United States

– “Fernando El Católico” ordered in 1503 that a religious instruction, reading and writing, be offered to the children in each village.

– Instruction, thus, was related to efforts to Christianize natives. No other effort was made by the government.

– Solvent families provided private instruction to their children.

• Public education was not provided to the population during the first centuries of colonization.– The use of the term “public school” is not documented until 1739

– In 1865, the education system in the Island is reorganized and instruction is divided by levels (elementary and secondary)•Attendance was compulsory until age 9 with fines to parents that did not comply with the law.

•Children certified as poor by the priest or the mayor received free education.

• This event legalizes public education in the Island

• By 1897, public instruction was organized in Puerto Rico with over 500 centers of elementary and secondary education established

• Maestro Rafael Cordero

– African teacher who taught either black or white children to write and read for free in his tobacco workshop

American Colonization

• In 1900, Foraker Law established the Department of Public Instruction with a Commissioner

– In 1989 becomes Department of the Education

American Colonization

• With the American occupation the school system went through a series of radical changes

• Teachers were replaced by American teachers and instruction was imparted in English.

• In 1899 the first education law under American government was passed

– It established the Common Public School System by grades• For all children between 6 to 18

• No more that 50 students per teacher and

• Coed

– American calendar (Monday through Friday)

– Island divided in 6 school districts with free tuition and books

– Created Boards of Education and School Principal position

– Authorized the preparation of teachers and established the grounds of the University system

• In 1948 puertorricans elected a governor for the first time– Governor Luis Muñoz Marín designated an education commissioner that by decree instituted Spanish as the official language of instruction

• In 1952 the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico was approved indicting:– A public instruction system, free and no segregated

– Instruction will be free and compulsory

Demographics

• Students enrolled in public schools (public

daytime schools)

– During the 2004-2005 school year the public

education system had an enrollment of 575,993 students

– The enrollment was distributed in 1,523 schools and instructed by 43,054 teachers.

www.de.gobierno.pr

www.tendenciaspr.com

Student Enrollment Department of Education - PR

Organization

• 10 educational regions divided into school districts (each city or town)

• Regional Directors

• Superintendents

• Math and Science Supervisors

Organigrama DE

Instructional Strategies

• Hispanic – it is not a racial category; refers to a group whose identity centers on a common language and a history of Spanish American colonial culture

•Census – Mexican or Mexican American, Puerto Rican, Cuban, or other

•Term is controversial– Some prefer Latino, others by their country of origin

•Language a common bond

Cultural Influences on Learning

• Collective and cooperative

• Interdependence and cooperation

– For some competition may be viewed as self serving and negative

– Strategy

•Cooperative and discovery learning

• Extended family

• Emotions and affections

– Openly expressed or restrained

• Acceptance of life as it exists and a belief that control over the environment lies outside the individual

• Concept of time

• Nonverbal communication

– Eye contact

• Views and beliefs on causation and disability

Cultural factors to consider:

• Family’s level of acculturation

– Time in the United States

• e.g. A family may look Hispanic and not speak Spanish at all

– Number of generations in the United States

– Adherence to native culture, cultural heritage

• Family’s structure– intervention issues

• Behavioral and developmental expectations

– Research

• Disciplinary styles

• Etiology of disabilities

– Interpretations of disability• spiritual vs. physical explanations

Linguistic factors to consider:

• Communication patterns

– Verbal and non verbal communication

• Linguistic differences

– Bilingualism

– English Proficiency

– First Language Proficiency

� Bilingualism – proficiency in at least some aspects of two languages

� Bicultural – participation in two cultures

� LEP – lack of facility, fluency, or linguistic competence in English as a second language relative to a normal speaker-listener of the language

� ELL – English Language Learner

• Language proficiency – degree of control one has over the language in question in the four manifestations of the language: listening, speaking, reading, writing

• Proficiency also involves mastery of not only sounds, grammar rules and vocabulary but also involves mastery of discourse rules and sociolinguistic skills

–Ability to make requests, suggestions and complaints

• Pronunciation – ability to acquire L2 pronunciation perfectly begins to deteriorate at puberty.

Bilingualism

• Balanced – equal level of proficiency in both languages across all four areas of language. Few people acquire this level.

• Non-balanced – more dominant in one language than in the other. High level of proficiency in one language. – It is possible to have mixed dominance in one skill

or language and other skills dominant in the other language.

• Imbalance – typical in bilinguals, dominant language is not always easily identifiable

– Has significant implications for assessment. Individual’s first language may not be dominant language.

� When L2 is learned after acquiring L1:

� Additive vs. Subtractive bilingualism –

� Additive learners who have attained the expected level of proficiency in their first language simply add on a L2 continue to develop l while adding L2.

•Subtractive – proficiency in L2 has a detrimental effect on L1

– Semilingualism – low level of competence is achieved in two languages when early exposure to both has occurred but when no adequate training has been received in either language.

Instructional Strategies

• Cooperative Learning

• Jigsaw Method

• Learning Together

• Peer tutoring

• Integration of Multimedia

Caution!

• Variations exist within groups

• Failure to recognize diversity within groups can result in stereotyping families and developing preconceptions that reduce opportunities for cross-cultural understanding and competence

• http://www.puertadetierra.com/educacion2.asp

• http://www.puertadetierra.com/historia/educacion/educacion1.htm