Thread: English standards stir new debate

English standards stir new debate
By Brandi Grissom / Austin Bureau
Article Launched: 05/22/2008 12:00:00 AM MDT


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AUSTIN -- Texas educators urged state education officials Wednesday to approve new English standards that include input from teachers and Hispanic experts.
"It might not be perfect, and it might not please everybody, but É it appears to be this board's best option," Jennifer Canaday, lobbyist for the Texas Association of Professional Educators, told the State Board of Education.

The board is set to vote today on a controversial new English and reading curriculum that will set guidelines for textbooks and standardized tests for the next 10 years. But some board members indicated they did not agree with recommendations made by educators.

"The process has been hijacked," said board member Geraldine Miller of Dallas.

In March, the board preliminarily approved a curriculum that critics said would leave behind thousands of students whose first language is not English. The board then asked critics, including teachers and Hispanic experts, to work on the standards and recommend improvements before a final vote this week.

Critics said the curriculum focused too much on phonics and failed to ensure that English learners comprehend what they are reading.

About 28 percent of students in El Paso County in 2006 had limited English proficiency, according to the Texas Education Agency.

Elena Izquierdo, University of Texas at El Paso associate professor of linguistics and bilingual education, said the curriculum should help teachers understand how to teach students who must learn
English and the class material simultaneously.
"These students are doing double the work," said Izquierdo, who is also president of the Texas Association for Bilingual Education.

The teachers' recommendations, she said, would improve the curriculum.

But some board members, including chairman Don Mc Leroy of College Station, have expressed dissatisfaction with the educators' work. McLeroy has said the teachers want to spend too much time on comprehension strategies and not enough on grammar.

Miller said she liked some of the recommendations but was disappointed teachers removed some guidelines for phonics. The teachers, she said, substituted their own work for the curriculum the board approved in March.

Rene Nuñez, board member from El Paso, said he would vote for the teachers' recommendations.

"I just hope there's some kind of compromise," he said.


Brandi Grissom may be reached at bgrissom@elpasotimes.com; 512-479-6606.





http://www.elpasotimes.com/news/ci_9338748

Educators oppose English standards OK'd by state
By Erica Molina Johnson and Brandi Grissom / El Paso Times
Article Launched: 05/22/2008 09:16:30 PM MDT


The preliminary approval of new English and reading curriculum that will set guidelines for textbooks and standardized tests for the next 10 years was met with anger and frustration by many Texas teachers on Thursday.
"I think it was wrong to disregard the teacher input," said Elena Izquierdo, a University of Texas at El Paso associate professor of linguistics and bilingual education, and president of the Texas Association of Bilingual Educators.

The State Board of Education tentatively approved standards that were developed by StandardsWork, a company hired to facilitate the revision process, which incorporated input from experts selected by a subcommittee of the board.

If given final approval today, the curriculum will remain in effect for the next decade and set standards for state tests and textbooks.

Teachers and Hispanic experts have criticized the curriculum because they said it would leave behind students whose first language is not English.

About 28 percent of students in El Paso County in 2006 had limited English proficiency, according to the Texas Education Agency.

Izquierdo, who was at Thursday's hearing in Austin, said the main difference between the document that was approved and the document supported by teachers throughout the state was that teachers advocated for integrating grammar skills and phonics within the context of English lessons, while the approved document called for a separation.

"I think the teachers' document has more rigor and
continuity and ... puts a lot of teaching integrated into context," she said. "We know kids need meaning in order to get motivated and to make a better connection, and for the bilingual community learning English, meaning is everything."
Board Chairman Don McLeroy has said the teachers' proposal wasted too much time on comprehension techniques. Students, he has said, should spend more time practicing reading and taking in a variety of literature.

Board Vice Chairman David Bradley indicated he would bring amendments from the teachers' document to be considered today.

In one amendment adopted Thursday, the board approved adding a measure that would encourage certain concessions for English- language learners.

State education officials had been under pressure to adopt an English curriculum by this summer to comply with the state budget and give publishers enough time to develop textbooks for the 2009-10 school year.

Erica Molina Johnson may be reached at emolina@elpasotimes.com; 546-6132.

Brandi Grissom may be reached at bgrissom @elpasotimes.com;512-479-6606.






http://www.elpasotimes.com/news/ci_9351855

No need to waste more money! Don't be concerned, the ILLEGALS and Anchor Babies do not have any desire to learn English! They want to take over the United States for their "home country" or at the very least turn the United States into a Third World Country like their "home country".

The ILLEGALS and Anchor Babies in the Texas School System are so illiterate that the schools have to spend time and resources to teach the ILLEGALS and Anchor Babies "proper" Spanish before they can even consider teaching English! The ILLEGALS and Anchor Babies have their own program starting in pre-kindergarten through the 5th grade, seven years, and most do not nor want to learn English. But the Feds and the State of Texas continue to flood the school system with "our" money.