Massachusetts: Silence on the English learners' gap

[Harold Schiffman]

Silence on the English learners' gap

 By Roger Rice and Jane Lopez
August 4, 2008

GOVERNOR DEVAL Patrick's recent Readiness Project report has received
cautious praise for being rich in new and bold ideas. But for at least
one group of students whose persistent failure all but defines the
achievement gap, the Readiness Project is virtually silent. The
administration has offered no ideas to help English Language Learner
students who need help most urgently. An educational policy of benign
neglect is no policy at all and simply will not do.

That the Commonwealth's current record with English learners is
abysmal is beyond serious doubt. There are more than 140,000 students
in K-12 classes whose first language is not English. More than 50,000
of these are considered to be English Language Learners, or ELL,
students who are not proficient in reading, writing, speaking, or
understanding the English language and who require specialized
services in English and academic content instruction. They go to
school in nearly 300 school districts, vocational schools, regional
schools, and charter schools. About 55 percent are Latinos but many
come from countries in Asia, Africa, and Europe as well.

By nearly any measure, the state is failing miserably to educate this
group of its most vulnerable children.

In 2007, according to the state's data, only 53 percent of ELL
students in Massachusetts graduated from high school; nearly 25
percent dropped out of school. For white students 86 percent graduated
and fewer than 7 percent dropped out. For male ELL students, only 48
percent graduated. Undoubtedly, low-wealth school districts where many
ELL students are enrolled need more resources. Nonetheless, the gap
between white and ELL students persists within such districts as well.
In Springfield white students graduated at a rate twice that of their
ELL counterparts.

MCAS scores tell a similar story. While one may question the utility
of English scores with students who are still learning the language,
consider the gap in math and science. For ELL students in grade 8, an
astounding 73 percent failed mathematics while 78 percent failed
science. Among former ELL students, those who are officially
considered to have reached English proficiency, 50 percent failed math
and 54 percent failed science, rates of failure two to three times
greater than for whites.

Similar gaps were found on the federal government's National
Assessment of Educational Progress examination, which places
Massachusetts at or close to the bottom of all states in the gap
between ELL students and the white majority.

Perhaps these facts are too shameful for the authors of the Readiness
report, but continued silence is, or should be, even more
embarrassing.

Here are some modest and practical steps the administration can and
should take, now, to help ELL students:


Actually teach English to them. Contrary to the false promises held
out in 2002 by the ballot initiative Question 2, thousands of ELL
students (5,000 in Boston alone) do not receive specialized English
language development instruction. The state Department of Education
has specific guidelines about English instruction - it must hold
school districts accountable to follow them.


Ensure that all teachers, in all subjects, of ELL students are trained
to teach them. In 2004 the Department of Education published standards
for teachers of ELL students but then let the standards languish.


Make sure that all state-aid dollars currently generated by ELL
students are actually spent on the specialized services they need.
This would cost nothing extra and need not await an elaborate new
study. Currently, cities and towns receive extra funds generated by
the presence of ELL students but those funds need never be used to
address their needs.

There is an urgent need to focus comprehensive resources on
particularly vulnerable, older ELL students, including those who have
arrived in school with gaps in their formal education.

The futures of tens of thousands of ELL students cannot be allowed to
waste away while the Readiness Project report is debated. The state
must act with the urgency that the crisis demands. Silence and
inaction are no longer an option.

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2008/08/04/silence_on_the_english_learners_gap/

-- 
**************************************
N.b.: Listing on the lgpolicy-list is merely intended as a service to
its members
and implies neither approval, confirmation nor agreement by the owner
or sponsor of
the list as to the veracity of a message's contents. Members who
disagree with a
message are encouraged to post a rebuttal. (H. Schiffman, Moderator)
*******************************************