NCLB Rules Relaxed Slightly for English Language Learners

[Bob Schaeffer <bobschaeffer@earthlink.net>]

RULES RELAXED FOR TESTING KIDS WITH LIMITED ENGLISH
STATES CAN LEAVE OUT SOME SCORE TO MEET NCLB GOALS
    Associated Press -- September 13, 2006
               by Ben Feller

Washington -- The Education Department gave states final permission to 
leave out the test scores of newly enrolled, limited-English kids when 
grading schools.

The goal is to give schools extra time to work with limited-English 
students before being held accountable for their yearly progress. 
Schools welcome the offer because it helps them meet their goals -- and 
avoid penalties -- under the No Child Left Behind law.

The policy applies only to students who have been in a U.S. school for 
less than a year. States may exempt their math and reading scores when 
measuring yearly progress.

Earlier draft: Though freshly repackaged, the flexibility is not new. 
States have been allowed to exempt test scores on a case-by-case basis 
since 2004, when former Education Secretary Rod Paige announced the 
draft policy. Forty of them now do it.

The final version, announced yesterday by Education Secretary Margaret 
Spellings, opens the offer to all states. It also adds language to 
ensure that students learning English aren't ignored.

"We recognize that there are legitimate issues when students move to 
this country not speaking English," Spellings said. "They do need to 
have some sort of adequate time to get up to speed."

Spellings spoke about the policy to reporters before announcing it at a 
conference of the National Association of Latino Elected Officials in 
Washington.

Roughly 5.4 million public school students are learning English as a 
second language.

Math, not reading: Under the plan, newly enrolled students must take 
their state test in math, but not in reading, in the first year. In both 
subjects, their scores may be exempted for that year, and states must 
disclose to the public how many children have been left out of the 
reading test.

The new rule also makes clear that schools should not try to turn it 
into a free pass. They must still help limited-English students master 
English language and content.

Spellings' announcement finalizes one other change that's proved popular 
with states. Schools can consider students as "limited-English students" 
-- and include them in progress reports that way -- up to two years 
after these children have proven they know the language.

Schools campaigned for that. Principals say they could never show yearly 
progress for their group of limited-English kids if they couldn't 
include the ones who had succeeded.

Paige first offered that policy in 2004, too, and 40 states have been 
using it since.

Meanwhile, the Education Department is experimenting with about 20 
states on different ways to test limited-English children, hoping to 
come up with good ideas for the nation.