Thread: TX: New federal rules force immigrants to show English

http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/16809432.htm

Posted on Thu, Mar. 01, 2007

LANGUAGE BARRIER

New federal rules force immigrants to show English proficiency too quickly, critics say

By TERRY WEBSTER
STAR-TELEGRAM STAFF WRITER

Fifteen-year-old Adela Nunez has picked up English quickly and is adjusting well to her new culture since she came to the United States from Honduras 10 months ago.

She has yet to face her biggest test.

Nunez, a native Spanish speaker, will eventually have to take and pass the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills English exam. That's a task that thousands of other Texas students who are new to the country will face next month.

New federal rules require schools nationwide to test recent immigrant students, something the U.S. Department of Education says is necessary to bring them up to grade level. But educators say the plan is setting up students -- and schools -- for failure.

Texas schools will give the TAKS test in April to thousands of recent immigrants who have been enrolled in U.S. schools for more than one year. If these students don't take the TAKS test, they will be counted against the 95 percent participation rate required by the federal accountability system. In their second year of testing, their scores will count.

"It's a really big and difficult test," said Nunez, a student at the Newcomers program in the Birdville school district. "It's very important. I'm scared to take it."

Educators fear the new rules will lead to more schools being labeled as low-performing, triggering placement on a federal watch list.

"They're going to have to meet the same standards as all other students, even if they are non-English speaking, and that's a real challenge," said Genna Edmonds, secondary schools coordinator for English as a Second Language in the Fort Worth district.

"We're not arguing about the standard -- it's the short time to get ready."

The earliest Nunez can expect to take the TAKS test is in spring 2008. Even that is a lofty goal for students with limited exposure to English, said Newcomers teacher Melissa Haygood.

Starting with fundamentals

When high school-age students arrive at the Newcomers center in Birdville, they typically begin working at a second- to third-grade level, Haygood said."We start with the alphabet, if necessary," she said.

During a recent lesson, the word "random" stumped the class.

Yet within two years, these students will be expected to tackle questions on the 11th-grade English TAKS exit exam that compare literature and measure revising and editing skills.

"I don't think it's fair," Nunez said.

Some of her classmates are worse off.

A 16-year-old student from El Salvador had never attended school. Two others have attended school for two years or less.

Schools are expected to bring all immigrants up to grade level, regardless of circumstances.

Teachers say they are seeing an increase in immigrants with no formal schooling.

Others arrive with large gaps in their education because of wars or civil unrest that kept them from attending classes in their home countries.

"How can I make up for 11 years of schooling?" Haygood said.

A barrage of testing

Some students who are still learning English will be hit with a barrage of testing this spring.

Between now and April, a fifth-grader who is still learning English could take up to nine exams, said David Holland, testing director for the Birdville district.

"To take seven days out of 40 days of instruction is mind-boggling," Holland said. "The students who need to be in the classroom the most are going to be taking tests."

Students with limited English skills who take the English TAKS test this year with receive "linguistic accommodations."

For example, teachers can read test questions aloud to students who raise their hand and ask for help during the test.

But a similar approach led to frustration during the TAKS math exam last year. Students used math glossaries to look up words, but they weren't always useful.

"Look at the 10th-grade TAKS test as an example, and try to take it through the eyes of a mind that doesn't quite know English very well, and you're trying to get whatever assistance you can get from what this term means in that language," said Wally Carter, director of testing for the Arlington district. "But you have not been taught it, so knowing it in your own tongue doesn't really help you."

Another problem is the variety of languages. In the Mansfield district students speak a total of 96 different languages. Districts with numbers that high cannot provide translators or glossaries for everyone.

"We've really had to focus on the main things they have to learn," said Yvonne Davault, Mansfield coordinator for foreign language, bilingual education and English as a Second Language.

"There's not a lot of gravy."

Defending the plan

Educators nationwide have questioned whether the new federal rules will open more doors for school vouchers.

The federal school accountability system allows parents of children at low-performing Title 1 schools -- those that have a high number of economically disadvantaged students -- to transfer to other schools. Vouchers would provide public funding that would make it easier for parents to place their children in private schools.

U.S. Department of Education officials say there is no hidden agenda, however.

They defend the plan for testing students with limited English skills by saying some schools take too long to get the students up to grade level.

The federal No Child Left Behind Act requires all students to perform on grade level in reading and math by 2014.

The law is up for reauthorization in Congress this year.

In September, U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings announced final regulations for students with limited English proficiency.

"What's interesting is that states like Virginia have said there is not enough time, but what people don't understand is that 80 percent of limited English proficient students are born in America," said Trey Ditto, U.S. Department of Education deputy press secretary. "It's also easier for the younger students to catch up to their peers, and that is why the secretary is standing firm on the regulations."

If the Virginia Department of Education ignores the rules, the U.S. Department of Education has the option of withholding federal funds.

"We're trying to work with them," Ditto said.

Local schools, meanwhile, are preparing for the first round of testing.

There has been little time to train teachers on how much assistance they can give to students during the test under the new guidelines, educators said.

"We're just trying to work within the law," Davault said.

This report includes material from Star-Telegram archives.

IN THE KNOW

Federal rules for testing immigrants

Under the federal school accountability system, immigrant students who are learning English and have been enrolled in U.S. schools for more than one year, must take the state TAKS reading test this year as follows: Grades three through eight in English. The test may be taken in Spanish in grades three through six; or the English language arts exit exam in 10th grade.

If these immigrants don't take the TAKS test, they will be counted against the 95 percent participation rate required by the federal accountability system. First-year scores will not count, but scores will count in their second year of testing.

Recent immigrants who have not completed their first year of enrollment may be exempt from taking the TAKS test.

The federal rules will not affect ratings under the state accountability system.

During the 2005-06 school year, Texas had 711,237 students with limited English proficiency, representing 15.8 percent of the state's student enrollment.

SOURCE: Texas Education Agency


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Terry Webster, 817- 685-3819 twebster@star-telegram.com

Their parents should have stayed in their homeland where they could get an education in Spanish.

Dixie

Ah yes, yet another lame line of reasoning to justify dumbing down the system so we don't have to expect too much from the poor immigrants. This is like a bunch of go cart racers sneaking into a NASCAR race then demanding that the officials require all the drivers to modify their cars so that they can only achieve a top speed no greater than the slowest go cart on the track. I know, my cold meds are affecting me again.

Originally Posted by JadedBaztard

Ah yes, yet another lame line of reasoning to justify dumbing down the system so we don't have to expect too much from the poor immigrants. This is like a bunch of go cart racers sneaking into a NASCAR race then demanding that the officials require all the drivers to modify their cars so that they can only achieve a top speed no greater than the slowest go cart on the track. I know, my cold meds are affecting me again.

Good one Jaded!

These people have choices. Stay home...I repeat...stay home...