Starkville Oktibbeha Consolidated School District

“This program will ease the immersion of ELL students into their schools. There are two main components of this program. The first is the involvement of professors and staff at Mississippi State University who have matriculated from other countries and experienced immersion issues firsthand. They will work with SOCSD teachers to help determine strategies that can be used to aid ELL students and their immersion experiences. The other component is that each ELL student will be assigned a classroom 'buddy' that can assist them with their needs. The ELL students will be equipped with a tablet that will allow them to use a translation app to communicate with their buddy. By creating these pairs, ELL student will feel instantly more at ease socially and then the emotional component will follow. Data collection throughout the program will include interviews and observations of all participants.”