Standards Based Reform and shifts in Education Policy in NC

STANDARDS-BASED REFORM AND SHIFTS IN
EDUCATION POLICY IN NORTH CAROLINA

What is the “ABCs of Public Education” plan in North Carolina?

How do the requirements of the “ABCs of Public Education” comprehensive plan affect the state-mandated testing program in North Carolina?

What are the initial steps in determining if a student in North Carolina is limited English proficient (LEP)?

What are the criteria used in North Carolina to identify limited English proficient (LEP) children?

To what extent are limited English proficient (LEP) children required to participate in the state-mandated testing program?

What happens after a limited English proficient student has been exempted from the state testing system for two years from the time of initial enrollment in their school system?

What is the North Carolina state policy on providing testing accommodations for limited English proficient students who are not exempted from the testing procedures?

What are the new North Carolina Student Accountability Standards?

How are the policies for the new North Carolina Student Accountability Standards similar to the policies for the North Carolina Statewide Testing System in terms of treatment of LEP students?

Summary of Some Federal Civil Rights Laws and Policies:

Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964:

Memorandum (May 25, 1970) from J. Stanley Pottinger (Director, Office for Civil Rights) to School Districts with More than Five Percent National Origin-Minority Group Children (summary of menorandum):

Lau vs. Nichols:

Castañeda vs. Pickard:

Are there any resources available to help teachers in North Carolina improve instruction for limited English proficient students?

What is the “ABCs of Public Education” plan in North Carolina?
The “Guidelines for Testing Students with Limited English Proficiency: North Carolina Statewide Testing Program Grades 3-12” explains that the ABCs of Public Education resulted from legislation in 1995 and is aimed at providing a comprehensive plan to reorganize public schools in North Carolina. The ABCs are primarily concerned with:

Increasing school accountability

Emphasizing the basics

Promoting high educational standards to maximize local control

The state sets standards for each school’s scores based on the previous year’s performance on the standardized tests. In schools that show exemplary growth on the test scores, certified staff members receive bonuses of $1,500. However, low performing schools do not receive the bonus money, although they do get state aid.
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How do the requirements of the “ABCs of Public Education” comprehensive plan affect the state-mandated testing program in North Carolina?

Students in grades 3 through 8 must take end-of-grade tests in reading and mathematics.

End-of-course are required in: Algebra I; English I; US History; Economic, Legal, and Political Systems (ELP); and Biology.

Mandatory writing tests for students in grades 4, 7, and 10 (English II).

Open-ended tests are required for students in grades 5 and 8.

Computer proficiency test are required (starting with students graduating in 2001).

Competency tests required in reading and mathematics for all students graduating from North Carolina public schools.

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What are the initial steps in determining if a student in North Carolina is limited English proficient (LEP)?
The initial screening process to determine if a student is LEP entails the following. First, all students’ language backgrounds are assessed at the time of enrollment through the use of a Home (Primary) Language Survey. Children are considered English language proficient if the answer to all four questions on the survey is “English”. If the answer to any one of the four questions on the survey is a language other than English, the student “should be considered to be a language minority student and should be referred for further English Language assessment in listening, speaking, reading, and writing to determine if he or she is limited English proficient.
The four questions on the North Carolina Home (Primary) Language Survey are:

What is the first language you learned to speak?

What language do you speak most often?

What language is most often spoken in your home?

Besides language studied in school, do you speak any language other than English?

_____No
_____Yes [If yes, list the language(s)____________________]
(View full survey at: http://www.ncpublicschools.org/accountability/testing/alternate/lep).
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What are the criteria used in North Carolina to identify limited English proficient (LEP) children?
After administering the Home (Primary) Language Survey to students, the state of North Carolina uses the criteria outlined in the Federal Register to further assess and identify LEP students. The Federal Register defines a LEP student as “any student whose primary language is other than English and who is insufficiently proficient in the English language to receive instruction exclusively from regular educational programs and to function on an academic par with his/her peers.”
The state of North Carolina also refers to the definition of LEP students provided in the Bilingual Education Act of 1968 (amended in 1988 in P.L. 100-297). The Bilingual Education Act defines a LEP student as a student who:
a) meets one or more of the following conditions:

the student was born outside of the United States or whose native language is not English;

the student comes from an environment where a language other that English is dominant; or

the student is American Indian or Alaskan Native and comes from an environment where a language other than English has had a significant impact on his/her level of English language proficiency

AND
b) has sufficient difficulty speaking, reading, writing, or understanding the English language to deny him or her the opportunity to learn successfully in English-only classrooms.
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To what extent are limited English proficient (LEP) children required to participate in the state-mandated testing program?
According to various Federal court cases, written guidelines, and Congressional acts, school systems must provide equal educational opportunity for all students, including LEP students, and therefore must address testing requirements for LEP students. (For more information on some of the important Federal Civil rights laws and policies from the past several decades, click on the following links: Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964; Memorandum from J. Stanley Pottinger (Director, Office for Civil Rights); and the Lau vs. Nichols and Castaneda vs. Pickard court cases).
Limited English proficient students may be exempt from the North Carolina Statewide Testing Program for a predetermined time period if they meet certain criteria put forth in the “Guidelines for Testing Students with Limited English Proficiency: North Carolina Statewide Testing Program Grades 3-12” (http://www.ncpublicschools.org/accountability/testing/alternate/lep). The guidelines state that “a student whose documented English language proficiency has been assessed as Novice/Low to Intermediate/Low in listening, reading, and writing may be exempted from statewide standardized testing by the same school system for up to two years from the time of initial enrollment in the school system. Limited English proficient students may be exempted from one subject test and may be tested on the others. For example, a student may be tested in math and exempted from the writing essay test. All completed tests must be scored and included with the other tests at the appropriate grade level.”
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What happens after a limited English proficient student has been exempted from the state testing system for two years from the time of initial enrollment in their school system?
The guidelines continue to explain that “although a student may be exempted because of limited English proficiency, the school system will need to assess the progress of these students using other assessment methods in order to show that the students are progressing in English, as well as in other subject areas. After two years, limited English proficient students must be included in all administrations of required state tests, regardless of their level of English language proficiency.
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What is the North Carolina state policy on providing testing accommodations for limited English proficient students who are not exempted from the testing procedures?
In addition to being instructed the state-mandated curriculum, taught a variety test-taking skills, and informed of the purposes and possible consequences of the tests (e.g., must pass competency test to graduate), LEP students are also allowed special accommodations. The North Carolina Statewide Testing Program allows for the following modifications to the testing procedures for certain LEP students and certain tests:

Testing in a separate room

Scheduled extended time

Multiple test sessions

Test administrator reads test aloud in English

Student marks in test book

English/Native Language dictionary or English/Native Language electronic translator

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What are the new North Carolina Student Accountability Standards?
The accountability standards, also called “gateways”, are designed to ensure that students are working at grade level in reading, writing, and mathematics before being promoted to the next grade. As soon as the 2000-2001 school year, students will be required to meet statewide standards for promotion from grades 3, 5, 8, and 12. Additionally, high school students will need to pass a new exit exam of essential skills to graduate from high school. (http://www.ncpublicschools.org/student_promotion/draft_standards.html)
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How are the policies for the new North Carolina Student Accountability Standards similar to the policies for the North Carolina Statewide Testing System in terms of treatment of LEP students?
According to Federal law, English language proficiency cannot be the factor that determines that a student has not met the performance standards at each “gateway.” Therefore, LEP students who are exempt from the statewide testing (see “Guidelines for Testing Students with Limited English Proficiency”) are also exempt from the test standard for passage through the gateways. Instead, schools maintain instructional portfolios charting LEP students’ English language proficiency and progress in all academic areas to decide when promotion to the next grade is warranted. Once LEP students are no longer eligible for exemption from statewide testing, they may be eligible for a waiver from the gateway requirements for up to two additional years. (http://www.ncpublicschools.org/student_promotion/draft_standards.html)
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Summary of Some Federal Civil Rights Laws and Policies:
Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964:
Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was a congressional act. It mandated that there be no discrimination on the basis of race, color or national origin in the operation of any Federally assisted programs.
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Memorandum (May 25, 1970) from J. Stanley Pottinger (Director, Office for Civil Rights) to School Districts with More than Five Percent National Origin-Minority Group Children (summary of menorandum):
The purpose of the policy guideline memorandum from J. Stanley Pottinger was to explain and clarify Federal policy regarding the responsibilities of these school districts to provide equal educational opportunities to national origin-minority group children deficient in English language skills. In other words, the memorandum spelled out the implications of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The memo did not direct school districts to establish bilingual education programs. Rather, school districts were advised to pay special attention to four major areas of concern related to compliance with Title VI:

School districts were instructed to take “affirmative steps” to open their instructional programs to offer special language instruction to national origin-minority group children who have a limited command of the English language.

School districts were not allowed to: 1) assign these students to classes for the mentally retarded “on the basis of criteria which essentially measure or evaluate English language skills”; or 2) deny these students access to college preparatory courses on the basis of the districts’ failures to teach them English.

All ability grouping or tracking systems used by the districts had to be designed to provide special language instruction to these students and could not operate as dead-end or permanent tracks.

Administrators had to communicate with parents in a language they could understand to inform them of school activities and news.

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Lau vs. Nichols:
This Supreme Court decision, issued January 21, 1974, remains the only ruling by the court on the rights of language-minority students. The case originated in 1970 when a lawyer in San Francisco, Edward Steinman, filed a class action suit on behalf of a client’s child, Kinney Lau, and approximately 1,800 other Chinese students in the San Francisco Unified School District who did not speak English. Steinman alleged that these children were being denied “education on equal terms” because of their inability to speak, read, and write in English. These children, therefore, were failing in school because they didn’t understand the language of instruction.
The Supreme Court’s decision in 1974, which overturned the rulings of Federal district and appeals courts on behalf of the San Francisco Unified School District officials, decreed that the Chinese-speaking children were entitled to special language assistance to allow them to participate more effectively in the schools’ instructional programs. When delivering the opinion of the court, Justice William O. Douglas declared that “There is no equality of treatment merely by providing students with the same facilities, textbooks, teachers, and curriculum; for students who do not understand English are effectively foreclosed from any meaningful education.” The “sink or swim” approach to educating children with limited command of English would no longer be an acceptable method of instruction.
The Lau decision did not mandate the provision of bilingual education. Rather, the school districts were given the authority to use their expertise to determine the best approach for the limited English proficient children. That is, as Justice Douglas added in the court’s opinion, “No specific remedy is urged upon us. Teaching English to students of Chinese ancestry who do not speak the language is one choice. Giving instructions to this group in Chinese is another. There may be others.”
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Castañeda vs. Pickard:
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals made its ruling in this case in 1981. The appellate court relied on Section 1703(f) of the Equal Educational Opportunities Act (EEOA) of 1974, which required school districts to take “appropriate action to overcome language barriers that impede equal participation by its students in its instructional programs.” In its 1981 ruling, the court outlined the following criteria for a program serving limited English proficient (LEP) children:

It must be based on a “sound educational theory.”

It must be “implemented effectively,” with adequate resources and personnel.

After a trial period, it must be evaluated as effective in overcoming language handicaps.
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Are there any resources available to help teachers in North Carolina improve instruction for limited English proficient students?
Yes. For example, one resource is the Guide to the Standard Course of Study for Limited English Proficient Students, Grades K-5 found on the North Carolina Public Schools website (http://www.ncpublicschools.org). This guide is deigned to help both ESL and regular classroom teachers improve instruction for LEP students in mathematics, science, social studies, and English language arts. Similar guides are available that focus on improving instruction for LEP students in middle school (grades 6-8) and high school (grades 9-12). The models of modified instruction for LEP students in the guides help ensure that all instruction is aligned with the guidelines put forth in the North Carolina Standard Course of Study.
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