Title IIi Law And Mandates & Accommodations

The law requires that all children should be fairly evaluated in their native language and then classified into the correct disability category (Lozano-Rodriguez & Costellano, 1999). As Lozano-Rodriguez and Costellano (1999) state in

First off, it’s important to understand the difference between learning and education. Learning is the ability of an individual’s brain to acquire and retain information for a lifetime, whereas education is an aide to further strengthen a student’s learning capacity with the use of resources: teachers, libraries, classroom environment, etc. All students are essentially equal when they enter the educational environment, however students who don’t speak English have an unfair disadvantage in the american educational system.

In 2001, NCLB established legislation in a sweeping overhaul of federal effort to support elementary and secondary education. The legislation (Section 11: Title III) holds school districts accountable for English proficiency and is based upon improved student achievement and accountability for results with an emphasis on doing what works based on scientific research (Boward County Public Schools, 2010). With NCLB accountability, districts much describe how they will hold elementary and secondary schools accountable for meeting the goals and objectives for increasing the English proficiency of current ELL’s (Boward County Public Schools, 2010). Districts must also hold elementary and secondary schools accountable for meeting the goals and objectives for increasing academic achievement for all current and former ELL’s (Boward County Public Schools, 2010). Further required is an improvement plan that outlines interventions and procedures implemented if districts fail to meet the Annual Measureable Achievement Objectives (AMAO). Procedures and implementation are monitored by SALA (Bureau of Student Achievement through Language Acquisition) (Florida Department of Education).

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 class I chose to observe was an eighth grade ELA class. There were twenty students in this class, eight of the students were English language learners. The ELL students’ overall WIDA scores ranged from 3.9 to 5.6. A review of the WIDA data indicated that speaking and writing scores for these six students were weaker skill areas in comparison to their overall score, ranging from 3.4 to 4.6.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was the initial drive for bilingual education in the United States. It granted financial assistance to the public. The Act outlawed discrimination based on race, color or national origin in programs or activities that receive federal financial assistance. The Act symbolized a less negative attitude to ethnic groups, and possibilities for increasing tolerance of ethnic languages, at least in the Federal level (Baker, 2011).

In 1943 Congress introduced the very first equal employment bill but it failed to pass both houses. Congress for the next twenty years introduced equal employment bills but they were either kicked by committee or died under the threat of Senate filibusters. The failure of these bills were no surprise given the history of discrimination in this country but what was a surprise was the success of the equal employment provisions of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

The English Language Learner (ELL) assessment process is different in each state. Each state must assess student’s performance in reading or language arts in order to comply with the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). In addition NCLB requires that schools receiving Title III funds annually assess the English Proficiency of all Limited English Proficiency (LEP) students participating in Title III programs. Although the assessments may vary, the goals of the assessments are all the same, to assess where students are as they learn the English language. Is this assessment enough or should alternative assessments be required?

The greatest concern of mandating “English only” schools in California for example is that 80 percent of the population of students is Latino. Miner further explains, “Good bilingual programs are about more than learning a language, it should be about respect for diversity and multiculturalism (Bilingual Education, 1999).”

When we talk about caste system, one must talk about the southern and border states of the United States during the 1877 to mid-1960. These states primarily operated and upheld what is called Jim Crow laws. Under Jim Crow laws it legalized anti-black racism; it was a way of life for black citizens to live under a series of rigid anti-black laws. It was a system which was supported by beliefs that white citizens were superior to black citizens to include intelligence, morality and civilized behavior. Jim Crows laws suggested by mixing of the races would produce mongrel race that would destroy America, treating blacks equal would encourage interracial sexual relations and violence was the means to keep blacks at the bottom of the race hierarchy

When it comes to students that have not officially mastered the English Language, schools should give students the opportunity to learn it. Schools are supposed to arrange services for students who are not familiar with the English Language. All students should be treated with the same respect and all students should receive some type of education no matter what their background comes from. English is a language that is very popular today in this world. When it comes to legal obligations for students that are English language learners, every student is supposed to have equal access to their education. It was mentioned that in the year of 1970 the Federal Office for Civil Rights, distributed a letter to all school’s districts mentioning that

This paper will be focusing on two articles that deal with Ell children as well as the policies and programs available for ell children. The two articles that will be discussed are Starting Early with English Language Leaners by Maggie Severns and Chapter Two from Menken, K. and García O. Book Appropriating Language Policy on the Local Level by David Cassels Johnson and Rebecca Freeman. These two articles provide us two different views on ELL services in two major cities in the United States which are Chicago and Philadelphia. Although these two articles discuss two different cities we are shown some of the similar views and struggles that they have with ell programs and policies. Therefore, this paper will explore the struggles of these ell programs as well as the policies and strategy of each city.

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.

No Child Left Behind (NCLB) has been something that brings out a lot of opinions of many different people living in the United States. As with everything political, people have positive opinions of NCLB, but also very negative ones. This spurs from the fact that NCLB may work better for some students, but perhaps not for others. Parents are frustrated by NCLB if their children struggle because of it and perhaps did not struggle before its existence. A lot of things are difficult pertaining to this Act, but one that may be much more difficult than others is when it comes down to dealing with how to teach ELL students in this country. Many people believe that Title III of NCBL really hurts ELLs in the United States, and there are many articles to prove that to be the case. Title III is very much dated in terms of what is happening in this country right now. When able to compare it to the Bilingual Education Act, it seems to have taken a step backward from what was happening in terms of education in the late 20th century. There seems to be more of a focus on ELLs learning English, and not worrying about their native language, even though many young students may not even be especially proficient in their native language, even more so if they came to the United States at a very young age. This paper will show how NCLB and Title III indeed hurt non native students when it comes to learning, and how not having the Act would help ELLs