ESL Laws and Legislation Christie Patti Cedar Bluff Elementary School Knoxville, TN

Monumental Cases and Legislation Protecting ELLs Brown v. Board of Education 25 May Memorandum of 1970 Lau v. Nichols Bilingual Education Act Castañeda v. Pickard Plyler v. Doe

Brown v. Board of Education 1954 Brown v. BOE combined five cases from Delaware, Kansas, South Carolina, Virginia and Washington, DC Declared that the discriminatory nature of racial segregation violated all citizens equal protection of the laws (14 th amendment). Students were no longer separated along racial lines, instead schools were desegregated

25 May Memorandum of 1970 Written by DHEW to clarify a school district’s responsibilities in regards to national- origin-miniority students, stating that “where inability to speak and understand the English language excludes national-origin-minority group children from effective participation in the educational program offered by a school district, the district must take affirmative steps to rectify the language deficiency in order to open the instructional program to the students.” Prohibited the denial of access to educational programs because of limited English proficiency. School-parent communication must be provided in the language understood by the parents. Any ability grouping should be continuously adjusted to improve students’ English language skills, not serve as a permanent placement or dead-end track.

Lau v. Nichols 1974, San Francisco, CA Chinese students were not getting assistance entitled to them by the Civil Rights Act of 1964 under Title VI. Chinese students were denied additional language assistance and denied equal access to educational opportunities. The Supreme Court decision was in favor of the students. And therefore schools were to ensure the mastery of English and could not deny opportunities afforded to other students in the same school system.

Bilingual Education Act 1974, Texas Established funds and programs for students with limited English speaking abilities (also known as Title VII), defined “Bilingual Education Program,” Bilingual education goals were established. Created a system of reporting progress and giving feedback.

Castañeda v. Pickard 1978, Texas Bilingual education programs are to be held responsible for meeting the required criteria of the Equal Educational Opportunities Act of 1974, e.g. the program must be “based on sound educational theory” and “implemented effectively with resources for personnel, instructional materials, and space.” Therefore not allowing children to be segregated from others based solely on language.

Plyler v. Doe 1982, Texas The Supreme Court overruled a state’s statute to deny funding for education of illegal immigrants. Therefore no longer allowing schools to refuse to educate illegal immigrants. This move greatly increased the number of students entering school systems.

Tennessee’s Laws English as the official state language “English-Only” Migrant Education Program Race to the Top Tennessee’s Academic Testing: ELDA and ELSA

English as the Official and Legal Language 1984 English is hereby established as the official and legal language of Tennessee. All communications and publications, including ballots, produced by governmental entities in Tennessee shall be in English, and instruction in the public schools and colleges of Tennessee shall be conducted in English unless the nature of the course would require otherwise.

English Only State Though the US government does not specify the official language of the USA, Tennessee, in 1984, established that English is its official language. A push for “English-Only” was defeated in Nashville in 2009, thereby not allowing the government to solely publish and distribute information in English only, allowances must be made to have the information available in different languages.

Migrant Education Federal funds are allocated to support high-quality and comprehensive educational programs for migratory children (NCLB, Act of 2001, Migrant Education, Title I – Part 3). Programs must give priority to migratory children who are failing or most at risk of failing, to meet Tennessee's challenging content standards and whose education has been interrupted during the regular school year.

Race to the Top 2010 Requires districts to base at least 50 percent of their teacher evaluations on student test results and 35 percent on data from TVAAS. Although controversial, this move places much more emphasis on test score results to evaluate teachers, which had previously not been emphasized during job evaluation and teacher retention.

Tennessee’s Academic Testing ELDA: English Language Development Assessment (Title III of NCLB) Assesses proficiency levels of ELL Students Measures annual growth in reading, writing, listening and speaking No accommodations, since it tests proficiency A norm referenced test ELSA: English Linguistically Simplified Assessment An achievement test like TCAP, but with simplified language Based on TN Curriculum Standards Various accommodations made: increased time, dictionaries, and read aloud

Tennessee Adaptations Testing in Tennessee is through the ELDA (yearly proficiency) and ELSA (accommodated version of TCAP) ELL students receive specific accommodations during state testing (ELSA): read aloud, additional time, dictionaries Bilingual education is an option for some schools in Tennessee ESL Teachers must have highly qualified status (NCLB) Mandated Student/Teacher ratios Specific ESL Curriculum Standards Specific criteria for exiting a student from ESL services

Resources Tennessee Title III: TN TESOL ESL Program Guide: Tennessee Migrant Education: Tennessee’s Official State Language: May Memorandum: ELSA and ELDA Testing: Office for Civil Rights: Office of English Language Acquisition:

Sources Carroll, Thomas (2010, February). Who is Winning the Race to the Top? Retrieved on May 18, 2010, from Kubera, Whitney and Phillips, Maggie (2005). Legislation Related to Bilingual Education. Retrieved on May 18, 2010, fromhttp:// Mora, Jill Kerper (2005). Legal History of Bilingual Education. Retrieved on May 18, 2010, from No Author (n.d.).Beyond Brown: Pursuing the Promise. Retrieved on May 18, 2010, from No Author (n.d.).Tennessee Pro English: English as Our Official Language. Retrieved on May 18, 2010, from

MTSU Honor Statement This assignment/assessment was solely written by me. In no way have I plagiarized (represented the work of another as my own) or otherwise violated the copyright laws and academic conventions of fair use. I know that violations of this policy may result in my being dismissed from Middle Tennessee State University and/or appropriate legal action being taken against me. Signed: Christie Patti 5/19/10