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Education is the key to opportunity, but students must first have the opportunity to learn. Unfortunately, Latinos have not had the same learning opportunities and thus have not been able to improve their general well-being at the same rate as other groups. Schools must have adequate resources and be held accountable for appropriately educating all students.For many years, English language learners (ELLs) were left out of school accountability systems altogether. The lack of attention to ELL students has had a profound effect on Latino students in general, as a significant percentage (39%) of Latino students are ELLs, indelibly linking Latino student outcomes to ELL student achievement.
NCLB made schools responsible for ensuring that ELL student achievement increases. Regrettably, after school districts and even states began defying this part of the law, the Bush administration responded by diluting some of the accountability provisions of the law regarding ELLs.
NCLR’s Position
As Congress and the Obama administration begin work to reauthorize NCLB, it is critical that Latinos and ELLs remain a part of the law’s accountability system. In order to maintain an authentic accountability system for ELL students, NCLR recommends that:
- States and districts continue to assess ELLs and include them in adequate yearly progress (AYP) determinations
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The administration and Congress fine-tune the definition of AYP for ELLs
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The Department of Education and Congress enhance accountability measures for secondary ELLs and late-entrant ELLs in particular
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The Department of Education, states, and school districts improve reporting of assessment data and other AYP indicators to parents of ELLs
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The Department of Education and Congress ensure equitable access to supplemental services for ELLs
Resources and Links
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The ABCs of "AYP": Raising Achievement for All Students (Backgrounder, Education Trust)
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From No Child Left Behind to Every Child a Graduate (Report, Alliance for Excellent Education)
