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

[phil cash cash]

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/
>