Plaza Comunitaria FAQ

Questions & Answers about the Pl@za Comunitaria Program

What is Plaza Comunitaria?

Plaza Comunitaria is an adult basic education program that allows participants to advance their education in their native language. The program, created by the National Institute for Adult Education (INEA) in Mexico, uses Internet technology to provide basic education modules. The purpose of Plaza is to bridge the knowledge gap for students whose first language is Spanish to prepare them to take the U.S. GED. Having a foundation in their native language also gives students the background/language structure they need to acquire their second language, English. Without a foundation in their native language, English language learners struggle to understand grammar, composition, and phonetics in English.

Why is it free?

It’s free because funds from the Indiana State Department of Education (DOE) and the Office of Community & Rural Affairs (OCRA) are received to provide this program at no charge to adult learners. Therefore we are not allowed to charge for this program. Another example of this kind of programming—that the Extension Service has had for many years—is the Family Nutrition Program. This program is funded by USDA and is free to low-income residents. This educational program focuses on healthy eating and spending food dollars wisely. The Extension Service offers many free programs and charges for others to recover costs. An example of one of our fee-for-service classes, not covered by the grant, are the computer classes taught in Spanish. Students pay $150 for a five-week class—the exact same price that students pay to take computer classes in English.

Who is paying the expenses for this program?

The coordination of this program is paid for entirely by outside sources, including the Indiana State Department of Education (DOE) and the Office of Community & Rural Affairs (OCRA). There are no local, county tax dollars spent for supplies, learning materials, or facilitation of this program.

I heard it is “advertised” on Web sites in Mexico. Wouldn’t that attract more Spanish-speaking people to our community?

There are 300 Plazas Comunitarias in the United States; nine are located in Indiana. Plazas partner with other organizations—like public schools, libraries, community colleges, and boys & girls club all over the country. If you do a Google search using the key words, “Plaza Comunitaria,” more than 450 pages of Web sites pop up. The first Indiana Plaza listed in the search results is located in Bloomington, and it’s linked to their partner organization, Ivy Tech. Immigrants choose to move to or live in a community for a variety of reasons, such as job availability, the presence of family and/or friends already living there, affordable rental housing. Immigrants, like the rest of us, prefer a safe, welcoming community with churches, educational opportunities for children, parks and retail stores in which they can find items they recognize. These are the same reasons that anyone will choose to live in a community.

Why don’t the Spanish-speakers in this community learn English?

In fact, the Spanish-speakers in this community—as well other residents whose first language may be Japanese, Italian, Portuguese or Chinese,—do want to learn English. Currently, more than 100 students attend a weekly combined ESL program sponsored by the Community Schools of Frankfort and Purdue Extension’s Learning Network (and completely paid for by Indiana State Department of Education funds and an ESL/Civics grant). Students register, take a diagnostic test to determine their exact level of English, and are placed in one of four levels. Students attend class two evenings per week, pay for their own books and materials, and are tested after each unit. These adult students come to class after having worked 8-, 10-, and 12-hour days, sacrificing their family time and resting time to study English as a second language. Like many cities across the country, our program has started a waiting list for those interested in enrolling in English as a Second Language because our team teaching staff (of two teachers per level) can handle no more than 25 students per level. Students are given another diagnostic test after 60 hours of classroom time, and their level gains are reported to the Indiana State Department of Education. Each class lasts 1.5 hours, and the first half-hour is dedicated to teaching civics (topics such as how the U.S. political system works, United States national customs/traditions, the Pledge of Allegiance, the national anthem, and U.S. history and geography). The civics portion of the program is supported by a partnership with the local chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution.

Is the Purdue Extension Service focusing on this program at the expense of traditional programs?

Last year the Clinton County Extension Service had over 6,000 people participate in their many program. There are 150 people that participate in the Plaza program. The Extension Service in Clinton County is on the cutting edge offering Dual Credit courses for High School students, the Facilitated Indiana University High School credit recovery program (where students receive credits that transfer to their home school) and workforce development courses. At the same time we continue our traditional Ag programming, Master Gardeners, Parenting, Foods and Nutrition, Extension Homemakers, and 4-H and youth programming. We are very proud that we have been able to bring scholarship dollars to 4-Hers, Indiana High School on line students, Purdue and IU credit courses, as well as, discounted workforce development trainings. We partner with many community organizations such as the local schools, St. Vincent Hospital, Division of Children, WIC, Head Start, Workforce Development, the local Health Department and many others. When we partner with other local organizations we all are able to provide more effective and efficient educational programming.

Who does the Purdue Extension Service serve?

In Clinton County we serve all who want to learn. We have people from all walks of life, all ages and socio-economic groups represented in our programming. We are required to not only serve, but to reach out to underserved people. The official Purdue mandate is as follows: It is the policy of the Purdue University Cooperative Extension Service that all persons have equal opportunity and access to its educational programs, service, activities, and facilities without regard to race, religion, color, sex, age, national origin or ancestry, marital status, parental status, sexual orientation, disability or status as a veteran.  It is the office of Civil Rights, within the Department of Agriculture, that is assigned the responsibility, by the Secretary of Agriculture, for assuring that its Extension partners are meeting the specific obligations of nondiscrimination and equal opportunity associated with the USDA civil rights rules and regulations. These policies do NOT require or allow the Cooperative Extension Service to attempt to determine or verify the legal status of program participants whether immigrant or otherwise. You may also be interested in the USDA department regulation on communicating with underserved communities (Number 4360-001). This regulation is in place to ensure that educational and technical assistance services and communications materials are available to all customers in languages appropriate to the community being served.

Consider this question:

Does our community benefit more from residents who are more educated or residents who are less educated? We believe educating anyone helps everyone. Purdue Extension’s Learning Network is continually striving to be part of the solution to create an educated, vibrant community. Our mission is first and foremost education.