[EDLING:641] FW: NCLB and language minority students

Wed Feb 9 01:46:15 UTC 2005

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Date: Tue, 08 Feb 2005 12:00:11 -0500 (EST)
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Subject: rscriticalteach Digest, Vol 23, Issue 13

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Today's Topics:

   1. New Report: NCLB Fails to Meet Needs of Language Minority
      Students (Monty Neill)

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Message: 1
Date: Tue, 8 Feb 2005 11:44:32 -0500
From: "Monty Neill" <monty at fairtest.org>
Subject: [rsct] New Report: NCLB Fails to Meet Needs of Language
 Minority Students
To: "CARE all " <care at egroups.com>, "RScriticalteach"
 <RScriticalteach at lists.execpc.com>
Message-ID: <013a01c50dfd$79c2be60$8201a8c0 at Monty>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

> ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY
> EDUCATION POLICY STUDIES LABORATORY (EPSL)
> Language Policy Research Unit (LPRU)
>
> ****NEWS RELEASE--FOR IMMEDIATE****
>
> NCLB FAILS TO MEET NEEDS OF LANGUAGE MINORITY STUDENTS, STUDY SAYS
>
> Contact: Wayne E. Wright (210) 458-2024 (email) Wayne.Wright at UTSA.edu or
> Alex Molnar (480) 965-1886 (email) epsl at asu.edu
>
>
> Tempe, Ariz. (Tuesday, February 8, 2005)- By way of devaluing bilingual
> education through high-stakes testing and English-only programs, the No
> Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001 fails to address the needs of
language
> minority students, according to a policy brief released by the Language
> Policy Research Unit of Arizona State University's Education Policy
Studies
> Laboratory.
>
> The brief, "Evolution of Federal Policy and Implications of No Child Left
> Behind For Language Minority Students," illustrates how the federal
> government had progressively taken steps toward meeting the needs of
English
> language learners and, in doing so, gave worth to bilingual skills.
>
> In 2001, however, the passing of NCLB into law marked a dramatic shift in
> that path. The word, "bilingual," was absent from the act and English
> language learners were re-categorized as "limited English proficient," or
> LEP.
>
> Dr. Wayne E. Wright, assistant professor at the University of Texas at San
> Antonio and author of the brief, finds that the government's change in
> education policy and its use of high-stakes testing brings on the
following
> issues:
>
> * Schools are expected to make adequate yearly progress in their test
scores
> with regard to all subgroups, including students labeled LEP.  When
testing
> the LEP students, NCLB allows for exceptions and accommodations, but the
> number of students whose scores can be excluded is minimal, and acceptable
> accommodations are neither defined nor spelled out.
>
> * The goals for LEP programs are simply to mainstream the students as soon
> as possible and to teach them the content of the state standardized exam.
> The pressure of raising scores discourages instruction focusing on the
true
> needs of LEP students.
>
> * The majority of LEP students are being forced to take standardized tests
> in a language in which they are not yet proficient.
>
> * Funding for LEP students nearly doubled, however, these federal funds
are
> now spread more thinly, resulting in less dollars per eligible LEP
student.
>
> * NCLB no longer makes a distinction between bilingual programs or special
> alternative instructional programs.  The federal law now only requires
that
> LEP students be placed in "language instruction education programs."  The
> use of teaching the student's native language is "optional."
>
> * While LEP students must be tested, states are finding creative ways to
> exclude their scores, thus helping many schools avoid being held
accountable
> for a LEP subgroup. This may create an illusion of success while the real
> needs of LEP students are being ignored.
>
> * Bilingual education programs are still allowed under NCLB, but only if
> state education leaders deem them as "scientifically based" and are
willing
> to fund them.  Anti-bilingual education measures in some states make it
> extremely difficult for schools in those states to offer quality bilingual
> education programs.
>
> Wright concludes: "Many schools are adopting scripted one-size-fits-all
> curricular programs (often with federal support) which take up large
amounts
> of instructional time. The irony here is that while teachers are giving up
> what they recognize as good instruction for LEP students in the name of
> preparing them for high-stakes tests, many of these students' test scores
> will end up being excluded anyway from school AYP designations, using the
> minimum group size rule and negotiated exclusions with the U.S. Department
> of Education...
>
> "This is a recipe for leaving LEP students behind."
>
>
> Find this document on the web at:
> http://www.asu.edu/educ/epsl/EPRU/documents/EPSL-0501-101-LPRU.pdf
>
> CONTACT:
> Wayne E. Wright
> University of Texas at San Antonio
> (210) 458-2024
> Wayne.Wright at UTSA.edu
>
> Alex Molnar, Professor and Director
> Education Policy Studies Laboratory
> (480) 965-1886
> epsl at asu.edu
> http://edpolicylab.org
>
>
>
> **********
>
>
>
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