Alignment of Academic standards with ELL Proficiency Standards - Essay Example

President Reagan was looking at scrapping education department but the commission rallied on by arguing for its expansion. The state and federal government have provided money to aid in the education of students with disabilities (Arizona Department of Education, 2008). President Bush in 2000 proposed what is famously known as “No Child is Left Behind,” which needed all students to meet or attain set strict standards. The federal policy stated in the no child is left behind that ELL students be included in State assessments and measure or assess the language proficiency of students with reliable, valid assessments in areas reading and writings skills and oral language. In addition, the educators were to consider comprehension, reading, writing, listening and speaking skills of students. These assessments were to help students gain academic achievements as required by States. The main objectives of these assessments were to be designed to assess academic English. Under the no child is left behind act, it was stated that all students had the ability to reach their minimum competency level as long as the teachers were committed to their work. According to Arizona Department of Education (2008), in most cases standards are defined they are applied as a sieve and expectations are lined on the individual. In public education sector there is the notion that intelligence can be taught in that if the student fails to meet the requirements, the teacher or school is blamed for dismal performance of the student. The state and federal government want to attain standards at all cost but in real sense do not. Arizona department of education states that the main objective is to ensure that high school graduates in the country have rough knowledge and skills they require for a career or college. The converse of this objective should be that those students who do not have skills and knowledge for a career or college would not graduate high school. For instance, if there two tests for certain things and the two tests distinctively; both or one tests are ignored. A single test is an ideal indicator high school graduate can reason from. The TESOL lays out the standards and goals to students from K-12, which is the standard for ESL. Through understanding the whereabouts of students, where they should be and should go, teachers effectively cater for the materials that deal with the level of the individual’s proficiency in English. For instance, a student who can afford to range in the third grade may just be an English proficient to the first grade. The teacher can only realize through standards that the learner scoops. Therefore, the teacher can in an artistic manner incorporate a second grade to boost the low performers and review the previous topic in class. The trailing students can be boost through administration of extra homework to sustain the pace the in–class pace. Programs such as the Students Accountability for the Information System developed in Arizona allows the teachers to store information that is relevant to the academic progress of education department in Arizona. Furthermore, teachers can create portfolios for the students to help keep the work sample for future review. The teachers can then create a flow chart due to the clear standards laid progressively (The SIOP Institute). Therefore, the SAIS system and the introduction of portfolios ease Read More