Restructuring in a Linguistically and Culturally Diverse School:
Putting the Puzzle Pieces Together
Esperanza Alcalá-Collins and Manuel G. Correia (UC Berkeley)

Introduction
This presentation is based on the work that is currently being done on the Roots and Wings Project : A collaboration between UC Berkeley and Webster School . This Bay Area school received Title VII funds for the purpose of restructuring its traditional, early exit bilingual program into an innovative, developmental program with the goal of bilingualism and biliteracy for its students. Currently in its second year, the school has completed a planning year and has begun to implement the restructured program. The data collection component of the Roots and Wings Project has centered around three major goals for Webster Elementary School. They are: 1) All English language learners at the site will demonstrate competency in challenging subject matter across the core curriculum. English language learners and English only students participating in the dual immersion program will develop academic proficiency in Spanish and English.
2) Teachers will acquire knowledge and skills needed to prepare students for the next century.
3) The school site will ensure parent and family involvement in the life of the school.

With these three goals in mind the school staff, teachers and community have been challenged to connect old pardigms, that no longer fit their current realities, with new ways of doing things. In order to understand the school's restructuring process, we hope to provide some of the historical context that frames the emerging themes of this on-going research. Within this frame, we are beginning to see and understand the many puzzle pieces that are part of the whole picture. Context Students: Webster Elementary has approximately 380 students ranging from kindergarten to fifth grade. The ethnicity of the student population is almost evenly divided into three major groups; 36% African American, 32% Latino, and 23% White. The remaining 9% includes the Asian Pacific, Multi-ethnic and "other" ethnicities.

School Site: Following the Loma Prieta Earthquake in 1990, two elementary schools were declared unsafe, therefore the two schools were placed in a third site. One of these schools was Webster Elementary. After seven years, Webster prepared to move into its new building. That year, 1996-97, was the first year of the Title VII grant. Those responsible for the administration of the grant had a vision of collaboration which brought together a diverse group of individuals who developed a plan for a restructured bilingual education program. Webster School relocated to its new site in the second year of the grant, 1997-98.

Preliminary Findings
Year One (1996-97)
During the planning year several challenges emerged which highlighted the need to view this school on multiple levels. One area researched was how Spanish speaking parents participated in the decision making and restructuring process at Webster School. The preliminary findings illustrated that parents were coming to school meetings with a need to talk about their children's needs and with concerns of equity. What was enacted in school meetings often dealt with procedural housekeeping and technical budgeting issues. This cross-cultural miscommunication and clash of perspectives created feelings of alienation, frustration and confusion among Latino parents.

In choosing and designing a restructured model of bilingual services, the staff and community explored various models, keeping in mind district policies of student integration. The process of collaboratively deciding on a new model generated issues of democracy, in which efforts were made to ensure that all voices were heard. Eventually, the committee selected a dual immersion Spanish-English model to be implemented at Webster School. The plan was start with kindergarten and to continue the immersion program by adding a new grade level each year until grade five.

Year Two (1997-98)
The second year presented challenges in implementing a new program, at a new school site, with a new principal. Teachers were faced with starting the new school year while construction was still being completed, making the details of maintaining safety and some order a constant negotiation. In addition a new team-teaching model was established to insure integration of language minority students. The overwhelming adjustments that the staff and community members underwent are still being felt. Some of the emerging themes from the second year point to issues of how various stakeholders get their voices heard, who gets their agenda through and how the collaborative decision making process includes or excludes various groups.

Another area were data are being collected is the process of devoping authentic assessment. This data collection is intended to help inform instructional practices and to provide documentation for evaluation purposes. The staff at Webster School have begun to develop and collaboratively score benchmark anchored assessments to monitor the progress of their language minority students. Preliminary findings remain consistent with the current research that describe this as a complicated and time consuming process.

Observing the Puzzle Take Shape
Currently at the site, there are three graduate student researchers, and one undergraduate assistant assigned to Webster School, under the supervision of two faculty members from UC Berkeley. Phenomena which are arising from the preliminary analysis point toward areas that require further study. In general, however, issues of power, voice and decision-making have become the linking colors within the various puzzle pieces of Webster Elementary School. The current literature suggests that this is not an uncommon phenomenon in schools attempting to adopt a more collaborative style of decision making. This research project is unfinished at this time, but will continue to evolve and change over the next few years as the school continues the restructuring process.