Native language programs running afoul of No Child Left Behind (fwd)

[Matthew Ward]

I wonder how they deal with this issue in Puerto Rico?  Or, perhaps
Puerto Rico doesn't have to operate by the same rules, being a territory.


phil cash cash wrote:

> Dear ILAT,
>
> It seems that the NCLB is in direct conflict with the 'intent' of
> PUBLIC LAW 101-477 NATIVE AMERICAN LANGUAGES ACT of 1990 in that
> federal policies are being implemented with out recognition to the
> "special status" of NA languages.  For example, in section 6 Congress
> found:
>
> "(6) there is convincing evidence that student achievement and
> performance, community and school pride, and educational opportunity is
> clearly and directly tied to respect for, and support of, the first
> language of the child or student;"
>
> Further, in SEC. 104. It is the policy of the United States to--
>
> "7) support the granting of comparable proficiency achieved through
> course work in a Native American language the same academic credit as
> comparable proficiency achieved through course work in a foreign
> language, with recognition of such Native American language proficiency
> by institutions of higher education as fulfilling foreign language
> entrance or degree requirements; and"
>
> What is even more troubling is the statement that Education Secretary
> Paige is making no exemptions to Native American or Alaskan Native
> populations.
>
> This is disturbing news and I hope it will be resolved fairly in favor
> of Indigenous languages.
>
> Phil Cash Cash (cayuse/nez perce)
> UofA, ILAT
>
>
> On Jan 26, 2004, at 8:52 AM, Phil Cash-Cash wrote:
>
>> Fairbanks Daily News-Miner
>> http://www.news-miner.com/Stories/0,1413,113~26794~1915402,00.html#
>>
>> Native language programs running afoul of No Child Left Behind
>> By MIKE CHAMBERS
>> Associated Press Writer
>>
>> Monday, January 26, 2004 -
>>
>> JUNEAU, Alaska
>>
>> Some western Alaska schools that for decades have taught and helped
>> preserve the Native Yupik language are in a quandary over meeting new
>> federal testing requirements under the No Child Left Behind Act.
>>
>> In the Lower Kuskokwim School District, third grade children taught
>> almost exclusively in the Yupik language may be required to pass
>> federal tests written in English.
>>
>> In Alaska, where Natives speak 20 aboriginal languages and dialects,
>> meeting a uniform federal law could ultimately be too expensive,
>> conflict with Native cultural traditions as well as the local control
>> that the rural villages treasure.
>>
>> "Not many states face the issues that we do," said state Education
>> Commissioner Roger Sampson.
>>
>> Under the federal law, students would be tested annually from grades
>> 3-8
>> and again in high school.
>>
>> States could make accommodations for language barriers, but after three
>> years in U.S. public schools the children would be required to take
>> English-only tests.
>>
>> Aside from the Heritage Language programs in more than 30 rural public
>> schools, Alaska's largest city of Anchorage has more than 93 languages
>> spoken by students, Sampson said.
>>
>> Already cash strapped, the state can little afford to translate tests
>> into more than 100 languages, education officials said.
>>
>> And even if it could, the Yupik language, though spoken by thousands of
>> Alaska Natives from Norton Sound to Bristol Bay, does not translate as
>> completely as Spanish or other European languages.
>>
>> For instance, mathematics to American children is based on units of 10,
>> where increments of 20 are used in Yupik math and numerous English
>> words have no Yupik counterparts.
>>
>> The Lower Kuskokwim School District, which oversees schools in Bethel
>> and surrounding villages has had an intensive Yupik language program
>> for about 30 years, said Superintendent Bill Ferguson.
>>
>> A similar program instituted by the Bureau of Indian Affairs in earlier
>> years was seen as a progressive way to assimilate Native children into
>> English fluency.
>>
>> Since then, it's become a way for Yupik-speaking Natives to sustain
>> their language and culture just as other Alaska Native languages
>> dwindle.
>>
>> "I feel strongly that our kids should speak Yupik fluently," said state
>> Rep. Mary Kapsner, of Bethel. "I really feel this isn't just an
>> academic issue about benchmark tests, but about cultural and social
>> well being."
>>
>> Beginning in kindergarten and extending to third grade, students
>> enrolled in the Yupik language program are taught a Western curriculum
>> similar to those found in Lower 48 classrooms.
>>
>> But teachers speak Yupik and students read from Yupik textbooks,
>> produced by the district by permission of their English-language
>> publishers.
>>
>> While most children speak some English, those enrolled in the programs
>> don't begin formal academic training in the language until fourth
>> grade.
>>
>> Sampson wants permission from federal education officials to delay
>> testing these Heritage Language students until sixth grade. At that
>> time, the students would have had three years of English-speaking
>> instruction.
>>
>> Already, schools in the district are failing to meet "adequate yearly
>> progress" set out by the federal law, and much of that is attributed to
>> the language barrier, Ferguson said.
>>
>> Alaska educators hold little hope that Yupik-speaking students will
>> fare
>> well in third-grade testing in the 2005-2006 school year when all
>> schools are expected to have such tests in place.
>>
>> Ultimately, Alaska may seek a waiver under the federal law to
>> accommodate its language barrier, Sampson said. The state Board of
>> Education will to take up the issue Jan. 29.
>>
>> Winning an exemption from some parts of No Child Left Behind from
>> Education Secretary Rod Paige will be difficult.
>>
>> "Secretary Paige has made some very strong statements regarding the
>> fact
>> that he doesn't anticipate the state's being exempted from any
>> requirement under NCLB," said U.S. Department of Education spokesman
>> Zollie Stevenson.
>>
>> States could seek federal funds to pay for translating testing
>> materials, Stevenson said, but he acknowledged enough money may not be
>> available to meet Alaska's varied dialects.
>>
>> ___
>>
>> On the Net:
>>
>> No Child Left Behind: http://www.nochildleftbehind.gov/
>>
>> State Department of Education and Early Development:
>> http://www.eed.state.ak.us/
>>
>> Lower Kuskokwim School District: http://www.lksd.org/
>>
>