Ell Children

3). Some ELL students may start school without any English language skills, while others may have “limited language proficiency or dual language deficiency in both their native language and English” (p. 3). Just as native English speakers, ELL students also have different levels of intellectual abilities; however, their struggle with school in English may be related to background knowledge and not solely on intellectual abilities (Short & Echevarria, 2004). Samson and Collins (2012), purposes if school districts, administrations, and teachers want to see improvements in achievement for ELLs, “greater continuity in how general education teachers are prepared by teacher-education programs, certified by states and evaluated by local education agencies, or LEAs, is essential. By making sure that the special needs of ELLs are addressed at multiple stages of the teacher preparation process, schools may gain higher quality

For the Purpose of this study EAL will be used to describe any child with English as an Additional Language. Information from the January 2012 schools census found that over one million children in the United Kingdom now speak another language in addition to English. It also found that there are over three hundred and sixty languages spoken in primary schools. These children can range from beginner speakers of English, such as refugees or asylum seekers, to those who are advanced speakers of English who have grown up at home with both English and another language being spoken (Webster, 2011)

School principals will find in the following lawsuits the legal framework to provide educational services to ELLs in public schools. Baker (1997) points out that a landmark case in favor of bilingual education in the United States was a lawsuit in 1970. The case was a class-action suit brought by the parents of nearly 3000 Chinese students against the San Francisco School District (Lyons, 1990). This case originated that in 1974 the Unites States Supreme Court handed down its only substantive decision regarding the responsibilities of school districts serving ELLs (Lyons, 1990). The court indicated that under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, the Chinese students were entitled to receive specific support to allow them full participation in the school program (Crawford, 1989). This case was known as Lau v. Nichols and its verdict outlawed English submersion programs for language minority students, and resulted in nationwide ‘Lau Remedies’ (Baker, 1997). Lyons (1990) writes that the ‘Lau Remedies’ specified how to identify and evaluate language minority students, determine appropriate instruction, decide when ELLs were ready for mainstream, and determine the professional standards expected of teachers serving language minority students. Under the Lau Remedies school districts were encouraged to provide

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

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

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.

“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)

“Successful program models for promoting the academic achievement of language minority students are those that enable these students to develop academic skills while learning English. The best program organization is one that is tailored to meet the linguistic, academic, and emotional needs of students; provides language minority students with the instruction necessary to allow them to progress through school at a rate commensurate with their native-English-speaking peers; and makes the best use of district and community resources.” (Colorin Colorado, 2014)

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

Diverse cultures within the United States are rapidly developing and growing and the educational sector is the number one target to ensure that English –learners are receiving adequate education. Within the educational sector there are administrators and teachers who are involved in students lives on a daily basis to ensure that education is equal. In order to achieve the vital objective of equality, socio-cultural influences on ELL students, bilingualism and home language use, parental and community resources, and partnerships between families and schools all have to be considered to provide an opportunity for equal education.

The article, New York Schools Struggle With New Rules to Help Students Learning English, by Elizabeth A. Harris from the New York Times, documents the current struggle of New York state public school ESL programs to fully accommodate the immigrant students’ needs. Overall, the ESL program is not effective in helping second language students catch up in subjects taught in English. In addition, the supply and demand is heavily unbalanced. More immigrant students are enrolling in public schools yet there is a lack of trained ESL teachers available even if the school wanted to hire more or establish more ESL programs. “Take Bengali, for example. It is the fourth most common language among pupils learning English in the city’s public schools. But there are only three bilingual Bengali programs in the schools.”

Before to the ratification of NCLB, the two main policies in effect relating to ESL students were The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) and the Bilingual Education Act (Title VII of the ESEA) (Menken, 2010). The ESEA was put into action in the United States as a way to make sure that those who cannot afford to pay to go to school will have to opportunity to go to school and receive an education. The ESEA is the primary law that funds the pubic school system for kindergarten through twelfth grade. The Bilingual Education Act also provided the much-needed recognition that a student’s limited language can create a barrier to their education. The Bilingual Education Act (BEA) also set standards that required all schools to provide services that provided language support to non-native English speakers. The goal of this act was to provide defined support for all ELLs, as a way to even the playing field between native English speakers and non-native English speakers.

Over the years, many schools have grown increasingly with diversity. As teachers, we must be aware of the many different students we will have in the classroom. This means that all our students will learn at different rates, take in new information differently, and overall have a different perspective on certain topics. With so much diversity in the school system, education policies for students who are English Language Learners (ELL) have greatly emerged. Many individuals move to the United States for better opportunities or to ensure their children obtain an education. With such a growing number of people entering the United States each day, emerging laws and cases must aim to support English Language Learners to ensure a fair and equal education for everyone.