English Language Learners Across the Schools in the USA - Case Study Example

Los Angeles Unified School District English Language Learners P Los Angeles Unified School District E LanguageLearners Policy Introduction Over the first decade of the 21st Century, the United States is seen to have experienced a rather phenomenal growth in the number of individuals enrolling for the English language learners programs. This has necessitated that the program be expanded in most public schools so as to provide special language instruction to these learners. In the period ranging between the 1997-98 school year, through to the 2008-09 school year, the number of English language learners that have been enrolled for the program in the various public schools across the country is seen to have increased from an initial estimate of about 3.5 million to the average of about 5.3 million. This statistics indicate a staggering 51 percent increase in the number of English language learners across the country. Over the same period, the general student population in the country was seen to increase by about 7.2 percent to an estimated 49.5 million students. The rather burgeoning large numbers of English language learners across the schools in the country is seen to have posed a rather unique challenge for educators in the LAUSD who are currently involved in attempting to ensure that English language learners are able to easily obtain access to the core curriculum that is used in schools so as to be able to obtain not only the required academic knowledge but also, the relevant English language skills. Concerns over the spiraling number of English language learners have necessitated that states across the country try to structure and implement policies that will enable the local school districts to be able to effectively offer English language learners programs to students. In line with this objective the United States Department of Education is seen to have required that states comply with the No child Left Behind Act of 2001 that is seen to be attempting to cater to the needs of English-language learners. The provisions set under this law are seen to require that school districts break out and continually report on all the standardized-test scores of not only the English language learners in their districts, but also the test scores of the other specified subgroups of students. The school districts are also now being required by law to ensure that they meet the various ELL adequate yearly progress targets that have been set by their States, failure to which they might face sanctions. History of ELL in the Los Angeles Unified School District Like most other school districts, the LAUSD was affected by the laws passed before the 1960s that served to forbid the use of any other language other than English in schools. The school district was however able to finally start providing ELL assistance after a 1974 Supreme Court ruling in the Lau vs. Nichols case that required all school districts to start providing assistance in learning English. The LAUSD was able to start receiving federal money to support its ELL program in 1974 when the Equal Education Opportunities act was passed. The act required school districts to overcome the existing language barriers that served to inhibit ELL participation in the various school districts. The California ELL state policies have since then developed under this federal framework that have in turn affected the policies used in the LAUSD ELL program. In the latest census conducted by the Los Angeles Unified School District Area in 2009, English learners were seen to constitute of about 33% of the entire district’s K-12 population. The English learner’s total enrollment was reported as having declined by 8.2 from an initial 240,464 in the Spring of 2008 to 22,703 in Spring 2009. There were a total of ninety-two (92 languages reported that were being used by both the English learners and those students that were fluent and proficient in English. The Spanish-speaking English learners in the LAUSD were seen to comprise of 94 (207,346) of ELL that enrolled in K-12, while the Korean Speaking ELL accounted for 1.1% (2,384). The Armenian-speaking English learners were also seen to account for 1.1% (2,382) of the English learners. Between March 2008 and March 2009, 35,642 of the school district’s EL were successfully reclassified as being fluent-English-proficient students, which was a reclassification rate of about 14.8%, this was a small increase as compared to the pervious period’s reclassification rate of about 14.6% (LAUSD Planning and Assessment Division, 2009). LAUSD English Language development programs The LAUSD English Language development program provides five different instructional program options that are seen to include: The Secondary English Learner Newcomer Program: This program is designed to be taught to English learners that happen to be been enrolled in U.S schools for periods fewer than two years and are just beginning to learn English. Accelerated Learning Program for Long Term English Learners: This program is taught to students that happen to be been enrolled in any school within the United States for periods of five years or more but have not yet attained the set reclassification criteria. Dual Language Two-Way Immersion Program: This is an instructional program that is generally taught to both English proficient students and English learners by using both the English Language and the English learner’s own primary language. Mainstream English Program: This instructional program is set to be taught in English and targets English learners with reasonable fluency and the English proficient students. Structured English Immersion Program: This instructional program is taught in the English Language to those students that are just beginning to learn English. The LAUSD uses a number of assessments such as the California English Language Development Test (CELDT), academic performance and teacher’s evaluation so as to successfully place students in these ELL programs. Transition of ELL Students to the Main Classroom ELD 1 - Beginning level: In this level, students generally demonstrate having little or no receptive English skills, written and oral production are quite limited while the student makes frequent errors and experiences a number of communication difficulties. ELD 2 –Early Intermediate: Students at this level are seen to continue to develop their productive and receptive English skills. Their written and oral products are still limited to the use of memorized statements, questions and phrases. Frequent errors may also be seen to generally interfere with their communication. ELD 3 – Intermediate: Students gradually begin to their English language skills so as to be able to meet their various learning and communication demands. Their written and oral communication are also seen to be generally expanded to the use of a number of original statements, questions, paragraphs and sentences. ELD 4 – Early Advanced: Students at this level are able to begin to successfully combine various English language elements in rather complex and cognitively demanding situations. Their written and oral productions are also seen to be characterized by the use of fully developed paragraphs, elaborate discourses and compositions. ELD 5 – Advanced: The students are found to be able to effectively respond in English using expansive vocabularies in both their academic and social discourses (LAUSD Instructional Services, 2008). Los Angeles Unified School District ELL Budget: In its 2013-14 budget, the LAUSD points out that the govern has proposed a Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) that would see the state provide additional grants for the various categories of high need students such as the English learners. In the budget, the Limited English Proficiency program has been allocated a total amount of $22.7 million which is an increase from the $19.5 that was allocated to the program in the 2012-13 budget (LAUSD Budget Services & Financial Planning Division, 2013). The ELL Program at Wilmington Middle School in the Los Angeles United School District: In Los Angeles, Wilmington Middle School, English language learners are commonly identified as being students that happen to speak a language other than English at home and as a result of this are found to generally not be proficient in English. The LAUSD English Language Learner’s Program is designed to try and address the special needs of the various identified non English or limited English speakers in the school district. Regular assessments are given out by the school district at various times of the year so as to effectively identify program participants. All students are ensured of their receiving proper ESL placement with ESL classes ranging from the entry level ESL1A through to ESL Level 4 advanced. With the proper implementation of the ESL curriculum, the English Language Development Standards, High points as well as the use of the LAUSD portfolios and pacing plan, students are seen to be able to successfully attain a reclassification status in a very timely manner (Wilmington, 2014). Los Angeles Unified School District English Learner’s Laws, Policies and their Effects and their Impact Proposition 227: The ELL program in the LAUSD underwent significant change in 1998 when the California state voters passed Proposition 227 that required that ELL students be taught overwhelmingly in English via the use of well structured English immersion programs before they could eventually be transferred to the mainstream English-language classrooms. The implementation of this policy was seen to cause the gap between the English learners and the English-only students to narrow significantly (Jepsen & De Alth 2005). CELDT: Over the years, the Los Angeles Unified School district has implemented a number of policies that have sought to try and improve the ELL program in the school district, in 2001, under the directive of the State education department, Los angles implemented the California English Language Development Test (CELDT) which was an assessment designed to try and measure English proficiency. The CELDT was seen to consist of three main parts which were writing, listening and speaking and reading. The listening and speaking portion of the CELDT is administered individually with the test giver attempting to try and ask each students a set of questions aimed at measuring general and specific skills. On the other hand, the reading and writing portions of the CELDT are seen to be administered as a standardized test having a set of multiple-choice and short answers sections. An overall scale score is then calculated based on the scale scores attained on each individual section. The CELDT is administered to students who are new to the Los Angeles Unified school district within 30 days of entering Los Angeles Schools (Jepsen & De Alth 2005). Transition of Students to the Main Classrooms Reclassification: The reclassification of a ELL program student from their being and EL student to being proficient in English is widely believed to be the best measure of success for both the student and the program. Policies implemented by the California State Board of Education suggested that the school districts use a combination of various English proficiency scores drawn from teacher evaluation, CELDT, academic achievement and parental consultation to review a student’s reclassification. This move saw the average reclassification across the LAUSD attain an average of about 7 percent. The implementation of CEDLT has had mixed results across the school district, According to the Legislative Analyst’s office, 56% of the ELL program students successfully made progress on the CELDT form 2001 to 2002 (Jepsen & De Alth 2005). Conclusion and New Direction for Policy While substantial numbers of ELL students are spread across the various school districts in California, the majority of the ELL students are found to be primarily concentrated in the LAUSD. The provision of both English proficiency and the ability for English Language learners to succeed academically in the mainstream classrooms should be perceived as being the ultimate goal of educating the ELL students. As a result of the fact that an average of only 25% of the English learners in California are able to meet the State Board CELDT reclassification guidelines, the current policies and guidelines used by school districts across the state need to be reexamined (Jepsen & De Alth 2005). The LAUSD should formulate and implement policies that would see it increase the overall ratio of EL students to teachers with EL training as this aspect has been show to generally increase reclassification. To effect this, the ELL programs in schools need to be allocated more resources so as for them to be able to successfully guide students towards the attainment of English proficiency. The academic and accountability testing of the Students in the LAUSD needs to be revised as although it is important to evaluate the EL students on their mastery of varied academic content and their overall potential of being able to join the mainstream classrooms, the testing is largely imbalanced as testing these students with a language they have not fully mastered happens to not reflect their true ability and it has been seen that these EL students consistently perform far below students who are proficient in English. This policy should be reviewed by the State Education Department so as for it to be easily effected in the LAUSD as well as the other school districts in the state. Spanish is considered to be the dominant foreign language both across the LAUSD and the state of California, however, the grades achieved by Spanish speakers are often found to be well below those of other English learners at the upper grades level. This is an aspect that needs to be carefully examined by the LAUSD policy makers so as to provide special attention targeted at EL students at the upper levels of education that happen to have continually struggled to attain English skills. References Jepsen, C., & De Alth, S. (2005). English learners in California schools. Public Policy Institute Of California. LAUSD Budget Services & Financial Planning Division. (2013). Superintendents Final Budget: 2013-2014. Los Angeles, California 90017 LAUSD Instructional Services. (2008). Instructional Programs for English Learners in Secondary Schools. Retrieved from http://home.lausd.net/apps/news/show_news.jsp?REC_ID=316729&id=0 LAUSD Planning and Assessment Division. (2009). Los Angeles Unified School District R30 Language Census Report Spring 2009. Retrieved from http://notebook.lausd.net/portal/page?_pageid=33,142911&_dad=ptl Wilmington. 2014. Wilmington Middle School: English Language Learners. Retrieved from PROGRAMhttp://www.wilmingtonms.org/support_services/ell.jsp Read More