Persistent Inequality by Pabon Lopez Maria;Lopez Gerardo R.; & Gerardo R. López

Author:Pabon Lopez, Maria;Lopez, Gerardo R.; & Gerardo R. López
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Education
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Group
Published: 2009-11-19T00:00:00+00:00

While NCLB does allow for testing accommodations that could result in a more accurate assessment of an LEP student’s academic ability (e.g., offering a test in the student’s native language, using alternative tests that cover the same material but are less English language-dependent, allowing LEP students to use bilingual language dictionaries during tests),49 such accommodations vary on a state-by-state basis and are less likely to be found in Midwestern and other non-traditional receiving states where the most recent immigration growth has occurred.50 In other words, states that need these accommodations the most are the least likely to offer them, placing marginalized students in these states at higher risk of not passing the state test.

Another disadvantage for immigrant and LEP students is the NCLB requirement for students to be taught by highly qualified teachers. While NCLB “does not require current teachers to return to school or get a degree in every subject they teach to demonstrate that they are highly qualified,”51 it does require that every core content teacher be highly qualified. Consequently, teachers who work with LEP children do not need to be “certified” bilingual or ESL teachers, nor do they need to demonstrate knowledge of how to work with LEP students in their classrooms on an everyday basis; they only need meet the highly qualified criteria for the subject area in which they teach.

Clearly, this puts LEP students at a disadvantage—for these students might be tracked into ESL classrooms with teachers or paraprofessionals who are not highly qualified52 or they might be taught a core academic subject by someone who is working in a consultative capacity to a regular content teacher. In the latter case, the bilingual teacher or paraprofessional who provides language assistance to LEP students is not recognized as the individual delivering the primary content instruction; therefore, the bilingual assistant does not need to meet the highly qualified criteria as defined by the state.

As such, it is quite possible for LEP students—particularly those who are at the earlier levels of English language proficiency—to receive the majority of their core content instruction in their native language from individuals who are not highly qualified in any particular subject area.53 In short, the LEP student not only has to learn the subject matter from individuals who may not be qualified or trained to address their linguistic and pedagogical needs, but they are also expected to take the content area assessment along with the rest of their peers in a language they may not understand, perhaps without additional accommodations, and still perform to a particular pre-designated standard.54

NCLB does allow a one-year grace period before a “recently arrived” LEP student can be tested in reading/language arts.55 Recently arrived students are those who have attended schools in the U.S. for less than twelve months. The law gives this grace period to schools and districts to avoid testing LEP students in such a language-heavy content area. It is up to the school and the district to determine whether or not they exercise this exemption or test the student in the first year.

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