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New York City
August 2002

A Bi-Cultural Program for Children with Special Needs
By Dr. Ronald S. Lenkowsky

In a classroom in Whitestone, Queens, young children celebrated the New Year by performing the Lion Dance Parade for their peers, playing the dragon’s head and tail, reading aloud books in Mandarin and Cantonese, and feasting on traditional delicacies such as wontons, fish soup and candies prepared by their parents.

It was Chinese New Year and the children of the bilingual Chinese classrooms at the Clearview School were celebrating the holiday. The bilingual Chinese classrooms are part of an innovative program created by the New York League for Early Learning (NYL) to fill an important, under-served area in early childhood education.

NYL is a member of the YAI/National Institute for People with Disabilities network, a group of not-for-profit agencies that serve people with developmental and learning disabilities of all ages and their families.

With almost 12 percent of the students enrolled in the New York City Public School system in grades K–12 of Asian or Pacific Islander ethnicity, there is an increased demand for bilingual Chinese programs, especially those serving children with special needs. In order to better serve this growing population, NYL’s Clearview School has three classrooms dedicated to working with Chinese children.

NYL’s Clearview School serves 15 children of Asian descent. The program consists of one half-day, bilingual Chinese classroom and a full-day classroom. The six bilingual staff members who work with the children come from diverse regions of China and, combined, speak five dialects.

The Clearview School recently received the New York City Outstanding Early Childhood Program Award. The lesson plans designed by the teacher of the half-day classrooms, Hsaun-Mei Chien (Mei), were recognized in conjunction with this award and were recommended for use as model lesson plans in bilingual early education.

“What makes NYL’s Clearview program so successful is that it not only helps a unique group of children, but it also benefits parents,” said Hilary Tischenkel, Clearview’s principal.

Because the staff share the same language and culture as the children and their families, huge language and cultural barriers are eliminated, allowing a trusting, respectful connection to be established between the child, family and service providers. This relationship is key to the successful provision of services and support to the child.

Mei sends home a newsletter in Chinese informing the parents of the week’s activities. She encourages the parents to check out the book they will be reading in class so that they can reinforce the concepts and vocabulary at home. By having school staff who speak the family’s home language, the parents can become more involved in their child’s education. They can understand forms and notices the school sends home, and participate in parent-teacher conferences.

Additionally, the parents feel more comfortable knowing that the teachers understand the child’s cultural needs and that their culture will be maintained and respected in the classroom. Through the celebration of Chinese traditions such as the New Year or the Moon Day festival, art projects making lanterns and puppets, or singing folk songs in Mandarin, the children learn about their cultural heritage.

Thanks to this very unique and innovative program, young children with special needs of all races and ethnicities are receiving specialized services that better prepare them to succeed in the future.#

Ronald S. Lenkowsky, Ed.D., is director of the New York League for Early Learning.

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Education Update, Inc., P.O. Box 20005, New York, NY 10001.
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All material is copyrighted and may not be printed without express consent of the publisher. © 2002.


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