No Child Left Behind

[Sarah Supahan]

This is a timely discussion because right now in our school district we
are dealing with yet another problem with NCLB, namely that 'all
teachers have to be credentialed' in order for the district to receive
funding for the classes. My understanding of the Languages Act was that
no one can require languages teachers to have a credential if they are
qualified to teach the language. At this point we have one such teacher
who is very qualified to teach Yurok, but who is not credentialed.

Any thoughts on how to address this issue? Our district is resorting to
speak to legal council about it, but I doubt that these attorneys know
a lot about the Act.

Sarah Supahan


On Jan 24, 2005, at 11:37 AM, MiaKalish at LFP wrote:

> You know, I spoke with Ken Mayer, who was one, if not the primary,
> author,
> of NCLB, and I asked him specifically whether students could be taught
> in
> their native languages and he said the choice was up to the school
> district.
> I have heard other comments from people, one of which is that students
> have
> 3 years to develop English proficiency.
>
> However, there is no requirement for "English only", and with
> technology,
> there is no reason why people can't have lessons in both the Native
> language
> AND in English. This is hard to do with paper and pencil, and published
> books, but it is a piece of cake with technology.
>
> Of course on the other side, I have been preaching this for years, and
> have
> even developed technology for Athabascan material development with
> dictionary facilities, but there haven't been any takers. All I hear
> is that
> the language should be on CD.. . .
>
> sigh
> Mia
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Richard LaFortune" <anguksuar at YAHOO.COM>
> To: <ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU>
> Sent: Monday, January 24, 2005 12:07 PM
> Subject: [ILAT] No Child Left Behind
>
>
>> --- "MiaKalish at LFP" <MiaKalish at LEARNINGFORPEOPLE.US>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> was there supposed to be an attachment or a link?
>>> mia
>> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>>
>> Native Language Programs Running Afoul Of No
>> Child Left Behind. 22 January 2005 Mike
>> Chambers, The Associated Press. The Associated
>> Press State & Local Wire. Copyright 2004
>> Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
>>
>> [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.]
>>
>>
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>