Rights, Students
Are California's Reading Textbooks Adequate for Teaching English Learners?
Calfee, R. (2006). Are California's Reading Textbooks Adequate for Teaching English Learners? University of California Linguistic Minority Research Institute: Santa Barbara, CA.
In 2002, the California State Board of Education adopted programs that required publishers to meet the language arts needs of ELLs. This article is a review of the ELL supplement, the Teacher's Edition for the supplement, and two of the reading series included with the supplement. It also surveys 57 elementary school teachers on their experiences with the materials and the related professional development.
Descriptive Study of Services to LEP Students and LEP Students with Disabilities
U.S. Department of Education. (2002). To assure the free appropriate public education of all children with disabilities: Twenty-fourth annual report to Congress on the implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Act. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Education.
Zehler, A. M., Fleischman, H. L., Hopstock, P. J., Pendzick, M. L., & Stephenson, T. G. (2003). Descriptive study of services to LEP students and LEP students with disabilities (No. 4 Special topic report: findings on special education LEP students). Development Associates, Inc.: Arlington, VA.
The number of ELL students in U.S. schools continues to rise, but learning a new language may not be their only challenge. How do schools help ELLs with disabilities?
The U.S. Department of Education commissioned a report — A Descriptive Study of Services to LEP [Limited English Proficient] Students and LEP Students with Disabilities — that surveyed schools and districts nationally to identify characteristics of and services provided to ELLs. Part of the study focused on the services offered to ELLs who are also students with disabilities and their participation in standards and assessment systems.
English Language Learners with Disabilities: Identification and Other State Policies and Issues
Keller-Allen, C. (2006). English Language Learners with Disabilities: Identification and Other State Policies and Issues. Project Forum, National Association of State Directors of Special Education: Alexandria, VA.
Most school districts do not have plans in place for identifying and addressing learning disabilities in ELLs. Project Forum selected and studied seven states with large or growing ELL populations. They interviewed both special education and English language learner staff to find out what policies and practices are happening at the state level and what policies they would recommend to improve the quality of education for ELLs with learning disabilities.
- Download full report (64KB PDF)*
How Far Behind in Math and Reading are English Language Learners?
Fry, R. (2007). How Far Behind in Math and Reading are English Language Learners? Pew Hispanic Center: Washington, D.C.
Through the use of NAEP data, this study seeks to examine the achievement gaps between ELL students and White, Black, and Hispanic non-ELL students. This study looks specifically at math and reading scores at the 4th and 8th grade levels both nationally and on a statewide basis in the states with the top 10 ELL populations.
Perceptions of College Financial Aid Among California Latino Youth
Zarate, E.Z., and Pachon, H.P. (2006). Perceptions of College Financial Aid Among California Latino Youth. Tomas Rivera Policy Institute: Los Angeles, CA.
Despite surveys and research showing that Hispanic parents and students alike both consider college to be both important and valuable, many Hispanic students do not pursue higher education. This report makes the assertion that if Hispanic students and their parents were better informed about the concepts involved with and procedure surrounding financial aid that more Hispanic students would pursue college.
Secretary Spellings Announces Final Limited English Proficiency Regulations
Not a report; press release. See below.
In September 2006, the U.S. Department of Education released final regulations on calculating adequate yearly progress (AYP) for ELLs. These regulations had been in draft form for over two years, but most states have been operating as if they were in final form for some time now. The main provisions of the regulations are:
- During their first year in U.S. schools, ELLs can be exempt from taking the state reading/language arts assessment.
- Also during their first year in U.S. schools, ELLs must take the state math assessment, but the scores from the math assessment do not have to be included in the calculation of AYP.
- For the purposes of meeting AYP's 95 percent participation requirement during that first year, ELLs must take the English language proficiency assessment. (ELLs are already required to take this assessment as per other NCLB mandates.)
- Even if ELLs do not take the reading/language arts assessment during their first year in U.S. schools, this first year must count as the first of three years in which a student may take the reading/language arts assessment in their native language.
- States are required to report on the number of first-year ELLs who were exempt from participating in the English reading/language arts assessment.
- Students who exit the ELL subgroup because they've attained English language proficiency can have their scores count in the ELL subgroup for AYP calculations for up to two years.
- If these "exited" ELLs are included in the ELL subgroup, ALL "exited" ELLs must be included, not just those who score proficient.
So Many Schools, So Few Options: How Mayor Bloomberg's Small High School Reforms Deny Full Access to English Language Learners
The New York Immigration Coalition and Advocates for Children of New York. (2006, November). So Many Schools, So Few Options: How Mayor Bloomberg's Small High School Reforms Deny Full Access to English Language Learners. New York, NY: The New York Immigration Coalition and Advocates for Children of New York.
Although ELLs make up about 11.4% of the New York City high school population, in 2005-2006, 93 of 183 schools examined in this report had less than 5% of ELLs in their student body. This means that more than half of the high schools in the city had a very small ELL population. A policy that the NYC Department of Education has in place is to "allow small schools to exclude ELLs in [their] first two years of operation" (p. 7). Failure to follow required accommodation laws is also keeping ELLs out of many NYC high schools. In the borough of Queens, which has the most ELL students, only 7% of new high schools were built. Overall, the new plan toward having smaller schools in New York City is keeping ELLs from getting equal access to quality instruction because resources for ELL instruction are not prevalent.
Why Segregation Matters: Poverty and Educational Inequality
Orfield, G. and Lee, C. (2005, January). Why segregation matters: Poverty and educational inequality. Cambridge, MA: Civil Rights Project Harvard University.
The report is largely about segregation and how schools are increasingly segregated by socio-economic status. With an emphasis on multiracial discrimination, poverty, and segregation, the authors present a variety of ELL demographic data by region related to poverty. Another purpose of the paper is to show how rapidly changing demographic changes challenge more typical notions of segregation.