CHARLEROI, Pennsylvania - Dana Smith had been teaching first grade at the public school in the small Pennsylvania town of Charleroi for more than 16 years when she found herself confronting a new challenge last year: a sharp rise in students from Haiti who did not speak English.
She started using a phone app to translate lessons, but the constant pauses for translation frustrated her. She wondered if she was hindering the learning of American students who knew some of the basics she was reviewing, a complaint raised by a vocal segment of parents in the district.
“It was very stressful,” she said. “We never know when we’re going to get new ones coming in, where their levels are, how adjusted they are to this culture. The unexpected.”
