End Of An Era

Retired principal Nancy Ichinaga talks to Michael Howard and Chung Han about her 26 successful years at Bennett-Kew Elementary School and the legacy she leaves behind.

For the first time in over a quarter of a century, Bennett-Kew Elementary will open its doors for the new school year with high expectations but without the leadership of Nancy Ichinaga.

As principal of Bennet-Kew, Ichinaga brought the school both respectability and unprecedented success, and a legacy that will not be soon forgotten by parents and pupils in Inglewood, California.

For decades, the educational establishment has pilloried Ichinaga for banning bi-lingual education teaching methods in the school. But, over the years, her students have astounded the critics by producing test scores that set Bennett-Kew apart from other
elementary schools in California. Ichinaga took over the school (situated in a predominantly African-American and Hispanic neighborhood) in 1974__the year the first California reading tests were administered to all third graders in the state. At the time, the students’ reading test scores were ranked in the 3rd percentile. Statistically that meant 90% of her students were defined as retarded.
"It was the fault of the program, because the teachers did what they were supposed to do," says Ichinaga, "I said we’re not going to do that anymore, we’re going to teach these kids."

She believed her students must be taught in English only in order to succeed.

The 70-year-old Hawaiian native says, "I grew up bilingual and biliterate. I think you can have bilingual education under that kind of system, but not under the California system where one replaces the other. In California with bilingual education you’re supposed to teach the kids in Spanish, until they’ve mastered Spanish and then you’re supposed to transition them into English. I don’t think it makes any sense, so I didn’t do
it."

To improve test scores at the school, Ichinaga felt the best way to educate her kids was to do it the way she was taught. "I educated my kids like I was educated from day one. Everything was in English. In kindergarten they picked it up right away," says Ichinaga, "Not that I left them to sink or swim. I had bilingual aides who would help them over the tough areas.

"In kindergarten, the children learn all the good English poetry and nursery rhymes," says Ichinaga. "They learn the sounds of the letters, they learn to put them together to read words. By the end of kindergarten all my kindergartners can read."

This formula for success would soon pay off when, over a period of four years, the scores for third graders jumped from the
3rd percentile to the 68th. However, success at Bennett-Kew did not come without controversy.

In 1982, the Los Angeles Times ran a profile on the school’s continuing successful test results. Ichinaga mentioned to the writer how bilingual education was not part of the school’s curriculum.

That comment got her into hot water with the California Board of Education. An investigator was sent to the school to find out why she did not teach bilingual education. Ichinaga said she had "signed statements from parents saying they want their kids to be taught in English." Ichinaga remembers the investigator saying, "I can’t believe your parents are so supportive of you." She laughs saying, "It didn’t make any
sense to them."

This didn’t mean Ichinaga’s problems were over. The state could still take away her federal funding and Ichinaga says "At that point I thought, I’m going to fight and protest even if it takes me to court."

It was then she found out about Option 1, a waiver allowing the school to continue its method of teaching, which required the school test scores be at least 65% and the student’s transition rate from Spanish to English be 40%. Her application was approved.

Ichinaga says, "I want to make the kids literate, that’s my objective. I also want my kids to learn what the mainstream culture is, so they have to read everything that’s available, to learn about the world and this society."

Opponents of Proposition 227 (see p.32) have claimed lower class sizes have produced recent successful results in certain schools; however, Bennett-Kew is unique in that its class sizes have remained the same for over 26 years.

"I think that kids need to be immersed in English at the earliest age possible and I think that we need to give them help so that they’re not stuck anywhere and not ignored," she says, "We have bilingual aides in every kindergarten and first grade class.

"We always keep the kids accountable for their learning. We let the parents know every five weeks how the kids are doing. Non-promotion is never a surprise."

As a believer of the behaviorist theory used by B.F. Skinner who taught pigeons how to read symbols and signs during WWII, she adopted his methods and transferred them to the classroom.

"When I first came I told my teachers, ‘Skinner taught pigeons how to read, don’t tell me you can’t teach your children how to read. But it took a long time,’" says Ichinaga.

"It makes sense. You have to learn systematically," explains Ichinaga. "Whatever the problem is, you have to break it into small parts and, step by step, master it until you’ve got the whole thing. You have to use the learning principles in the behavioral psychologist system. If you do that, you can accomplish everything, anything..."

According to Ichinaga "You never have 100% satisfaction. But the dissatisfaction here is one percent or less than that. Whereas in the total public education system it’s probably closer to 90%. That’s the difference."

As of June 30, Ichinaga retired from Bennett-Kew, but she still comes back twice a week to ease the transition for new princi-
pal, Lorraine Fong.

In February, Governor Gray Davis appointed her to the State Board of Education because of her background in teaching impoverished minority and, according to Ichinaga, her "notoriety in the education field." She will also make speeches to teacher groups and principal groups
across the country during her spare time.

Ichinaga sums up the crux of the debate by saying, "Language is not that complex. Kids will speak whatever language they hear and whatever they’re taught. It’s all very simple."