I work in a historically homogeneous Caucasian state. Approximately 10 years ago a steady stream of immigrants from Somalia began moving into the district. The children enrolled in school and the challenges began to mount. English Language Learner (ELL) classrooms filled up rapidly. We responded by recruiting or training new faculty to meet the needs of these students. Today we have a well established ELL program and well qualified staff to run it.
When the children of immigrants come to school they have all the expected challenges. In addition to limited English, students may or may not have ever attended formal school. Is it fair then to hold ELL students to the same standardized testing and grade level expectations as students whose native language is English? No.
The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) was designed to close the achievement gap between minority and socioeconomically disadvantaged students and middle to upper class students. Sounds good on the surface but, the law expects ELL students to take state assessments after a maximum of 5 years of school. Even 5 years of focused language instruction is not enough time to acclimate to a new culture, learn a new language and meet grade level expectations. Many school, mine included, face failing Annual Yearly Progress (AYP) due to the ELL subgroup.
So, what are we teachers- ELL and mainstream- supposed to do? Donald Orlich and company describe the transition from child orientated elementary schools to content orientated high schools that takes place in middle school. The role of the middle school teacher is to incorporate content through hands-on activities such as experimentation and developing timelines. (Orlich, Harder, Callahan, Trevisan, Brown. p.18) Content teachers work hard to incorporate activities that are less dependent on English proficiency while maintaining the integrity of the subject matter. My curriculum is designed to do just that; take scientific concepts related to new technology, reinforce that with math, and physically engineer a product to solve a problem. Where on the standardized tests do we find hands-on activities? Nowhere. The organization, Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) recommended prior to reauthorization of ESEA that the Department of Education "Allow the use of multiple measures to assess and report on the progress of English language learners for AYP such as curriculum based, rubric, and holistic assessments." TESOL also recommends that individual students be tracked for progress and local bodies be allowed to determine readiness for standardized testing. To my knowledge this is not happening.
It is frustrating to see an immigrant student work hard to achieve their goals only to see disappointment when they are told they "do not meet the standard." It is time to reexamine NCLB and implement changes in the ELL regulations to give ELL students a better chance at realizing the American Dream.
Orlich, D., Harder, R., Callahan, R. Trevisan, M. & Brown, A. (2010). Teaching strategies: A
guide to effective instruction. Boston: Wadsworth CENGAGE Learning.
(October 2007) Statement of principles and Preliminary Recommendations for the
Reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). TESOL
Journal, retrieved 09/01/2009, from:
http://www.tesol.org/s_tesol/seccss.asp?CID=239&DID=1711
Testing Limited English proficiency Students. Retrieved September 1, 2009, from National School Boards Association Web site:
http://www.nsba.org/MainMenu/SchoolLaw/FederalRegulations/TestingLimitedEnglishProficiencyStudents.aspx
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Allyson,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that the NCLB needs to be re-examined because it's not worth the paper it is written on. ELL students are a prime example of that. With the NCLB, the government is setting students up to fail not succeed. They have good intentions but they are still policymakers who are and have never been in the classroom with real life students and their individual challenges.
I commend you Allyson for all hard work you do for your students in order to help them succeed even if they can't be properly assessed to meet their unique differences.
Allyson,
ReplyDeleteWhile teaching in CA as a 5th and 6th grade teacher, 85% of our population was ELL. I QUICKLY learned the hard way how NCLB was NOT affective. Many teachers in our district were constantly frusterated and angry that administrators were telling us to "teach to the test". I only wished that government officials would step in and realize how these kids where affected by 'their' terms and laws. I guess as teachers, we can only hope that the legislators will make the correct changes to the program to meet the needs of ALL students. It's a struggle everyday.
Thanks for your insightful article.
Denise