Proposal For Ell Children As Well As The Policies And Programs Essay

The primary goal of any school district’s English Language Learner policy should be to ensure that all students receive equitable access to the curriculum. The Office of Civil Rights memorandum (May 25, 1970) requires school districts to take affirmative steps to provide equal access to instructional program for students with limited English proficiency. The Illinois Constitution guarantees every child from kindergarten through grade 12, access to a free public education; which means, regardless of a child’s home language, he/she deserves a free and appropriate education (Illinois State Board of Education, 1998).

The fact that ELL student’s are given the exact same educational services provided to native English speaker, seem to be very unfair for the ELL student’s and instead of helping the ELL students to succeed academically we are preventing them from succeeding in their classes. When I was reading this section I couldn’t stop thinking about the video that we saw in class, the student was very smart but the fact that he couldn’t understand the material being taught, this was preventing him from showing how brilliant and smart he is. Just imagine how many brilliant ELL students can’t succeed in class because they don’t understand the language of the instruction.

• Test scores comparing ELL students and native speakers of English as well as number of ELL students identified as requiring special education services

There have been many policies and legal battles when it comes to English Language Learners. For every policy, then will inevitably be a case to challenge it, as it is difficult to define what is truly equitable for every ELL student. Programs for English Language Learners (ELLs) have struggled to get the needed recognition and support from school district offices of our public schools. One piece of legislation that was passed to help end the inequality of education for these students was the Equal Education Opportunity Act or EEOA. The EEOA mandated that all students that are identified as an English Language Learner are to receive individual English only instruction. This is a good start to offering the right kind of instruction that is needed for students who are struggling to learn a second language.

Florida is a state composed of diverse cultures and languages. Prior to 1990 there were not any modifications or accommodations in the classroom for English Language Learners (ELL), which had become an increasing issue. During this decade Florida was the third largest state with residents that were not native-born. Historically, Florida has become the home for many individuals who migrated from Central and Latin America (MacDonald, 2004). According to the Consent Decree (n.d.), the Florida English speakers of other languages (ESOL) Consent Decree was a result of the case, LULAC et. al v. State Board of Education, August 14, 1990. This case addresses the civil rights of English Language Learners (ELLs). The plaintiffs in this case were LULAC and Multicultural Education, Training and Advocacy (META) and the defendant were Florida Board of Education. LULAC and META came together to bring justice to students whose native language was not English. The plaintiffs’ sought to implement policies to protect students whose native language was not English in order to create an equal learning environment. For example, English was the only means of communication in the classrooms and students who did not speak or understand the language would find themselves at a disadvantage. Due to the lack of modifications in place, students would eventually fall through the cracks of the school system. This case brought

“Where inability to speak and understand the English language excludes national origin minority-group children from effective participation in the educational program offered by a school district, the district must take affirmative steps to rectify the language deficiency in order to open its instructional program to these students.” (Smith, 1990)

The authors of the article explained how important it is to meet the needs of the students with limited English ability in the education system. One of the main point expresses about how frustrating it could be for these students, especially if they were never expose to this sort of environment or language before. Another point that was made in the article, explains how the educational system was not prepared for changes in this sort of population. In most cases, some of the curriculum that is being offered in school cannot be changed to accommodate English Limited Learners, also known as ELLs. Budget is also another issue, as schools are limited to hiring more ELL teachers.

In this internship activity, I first researched Chapter 89 the Adaptations for Special Populations, Subchapter BB. I reviewed the policies as required in the Texas Education Code, Chapter 29, Subchapter B that ensures equal educational opportunities for every student in the state who has a home language other than English and who is identified as an English language learner. It is important to know the requirements and competencies for this program. I also became aware of the exceptions and waivers a district must submit a waiver for if it is unable to provide and bilingual education or English as a second language program. Once understanding the criteria and program design, I attended and observed an Language Proficiency Assessment Committee (LPAC) meeting where each student’s level of proficiency as discussed and educational goals were put in place for each student to master English language skills across all content areas.

Over the last decade or so, important legislation has been implemented to positively ensure fair and equal access to a quality education for English Language Learners (ELL). Change did not happen without there being obstacles to overcome. There were many overturned cases that initially sought to strip English Language Learners of their basic rights to an education. Yet, there would eventually be legislation instituted to help alter the course.

In the United States, there has been an increase in in the number of children from Spanish speaking backgrounds. The English Language Learners, commonly known as ELL’s, are being placed in Special Education without being properly tested for a learning disability. However there are a large number of ELL’s with learning disabilities in elementary grades that truly have a learning disability and are over looked. Many school districts have problems placing ELL’s. As a result these students end up in special education whether they have a learning disability or language impairment. Teachers are also indecisive when dealing with ELL’s. Most teachers recommend that ELL’s

This assignment will seek to help you answer this and other questions regarding the rights of LEP students and their families. As the number of LEP students grows and language diversity increases, districts around the country have tried to implement effective academic approaches to meet the needs of students who lack the English language skills necessary to succeed in English-only classrooms. Often, attempts to provide services are surrounded by controversy,prompting us to ask: What services, if any, are school districts required to provide for LEP students?Please provide short answers to the following questions regarding LEP Policies

English language learners and partnerships with families, communities, teacher preparation, and schools is an article within the Handbook of Urban Education written by Ana Christina Dasilva Iddings, Mary Carol Combs and Luis C. Moll which focus on creating partnerships with families, communities, teacher preparation and schools to help English Language Learners become more successful in school.

It has been estimated that by the year 2025, approximately one out of every public school student will be identified as an ESL/ELL student in the United States. ESL stands for English as a Second Language and ELL stands for English Language Learner. An ESL/ELL student can be defined as a student whose predominant language or languages at home, is other than English, and would require additional English language support to develop reading, writing, listening and speaking skills. The difference between an ESL student and ELL student is minor; An ESL student participates in programs that are customarily specialized while an ELL student partakes in a traditional educational classroom. English Language Learners have surpassed other subgroups in becoming the fastest growing of the public school population. Despite the common misjudgement of some people towards the ESL/ELL population, 76% of the ESL/ELL students in elementary schools and 56% of the ESL/ELL students in secondary schools are native-born. The highest percentages of ELL/ESL students in public schools are found in the west of the United States. Taking the average of both bigger and smaller cities, ELL students make an average of 14% of the total public school enrollment and in suburban areas, ELL students make up an average of 8.5% of public school enrollment. The ESL/ELL population has more than doubled over the past 15 years and more than half of those students struggle with their academic performance. An ESL/ELL

Roughly 23% of students in New Jersey originate from a home where a dialect other than English is talked. Roughly 5 out of 6 New Jersey school areas have English language learners (ELLs) in their schools. In 2013, there were 63,739 ELLs in New Jersey schools which were almost 1 out of each 21 state funded school students. Starting 2013, the main 5 dialects talked by ELLs in New Jersey were Spanish, 41,943; Arabic, 2,137; Chinese, 1,368; Haitian/Haitian Creole, 1,262; and Korean, 1,155 understudies. In New Jersey, ELLs are enlisted in a scope of projects including full-time bilingual, double dialect, bilingual instructional exercise, bilingual asset, protected guideline, ESL, and ELS (Bilingual/ESL Education, 2014, p.1).

of ELLs in New York State (Lesli, 2014). However, with the growing number of immigrants in suburban and rural areas, the population of ELLs is on the rise everywhere?. In 2008, 34.3 percent of 9th graders took four more years to graduate than others (Lesli, 2014). This was a significant gap and the weakest result among other groups. Thus the policy for ELL support and instruction was something that was much needed and once it was brought forward it was supported across the board. A major reason for the support was consultation and collaboration of major stakeholders, be it teachers, education experts, or advocacy groups. Susanne Marcus, the president of New York State Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, or NYS TESOL, said that with the adoption of common core there was a fear among ESL and bilingual teachers that ELLs would be neglected in a major way. But the way ESL experts were involved in evolving and preparing the Blueprint made her feel that she and her colleagues contributed with their experience and expertise to have a statewide impact. She also felt that the effort was unique since apart from language proficiency and content, it also focused upon the social and emotional needs of students. Citation needed