Abstract
Districts must ensure students are supported in their academic and language acquisition careers. According to the Department of Education, between the 2009-10 and 2014-15 school years, the percentage of students who are identified as multilingual learners (MLs) has increased in more than half of the states. It becomes the responsibility of districts and administration to provide adequate support for students as they progress through their educational careers. With the implementation of the Every Student Succeeds Act, multilingual learners are an important focus that needs attention according to this new legislation. Districts hold the duty to offer programs to support multilingual learners' academic and language development. This chapter will focus on the importance of a leader's role and the tasks needed to assist districts with choosing programs that best support multilingual learners' education. This chapter will also provide comparable information on program specifics when choosing the traditional bilingual and dual language program to support multilingual learners.
TopBackground
Federal Requirements In Education For Multilingual Learners
Following the release of a report that raised concerns about the potential mathematics and reading academic limitations of U.S. students in comparison to their counterparts in Asia and Europe, President George W. Bush...“...proposed significant changes in the federal government’s role in education, specifically the enactment of NCLB'' (Adler-Greene, 2019, p. 12). No Child Left Behind legislation emphasizes districts to evaluate the academic progress of all students in mathematics and reading from the third grade through the twelfth grade.“In order to show adequate yearly progress, schools had to test at least 95 percent of the various subgroups of children within their district, including but not limited to students with disabilities and those with limited English proficiency” (Adler-Greene, 2019). States must annually assess the English language proficiency of ELs, provide reasonable accommodations for them on state assessments, and develop new accountability systems that include long-term goals and measures of progress for ELs” (DOE, 2022). Ensuring there is an assessment system is crucial for leaders to monitor and evaluate student progress within a program. Through evaluation systems leaders can make informed decisions and present data to the Board of Education in order to receive any additional resources or funding to support a program.
Key Terms in this Chapter
RIT Score: A RIT score measures a student's level of achievement in a particular subject used in the NWEA MAP Assessment.
Multilingual Learner (MLs): Multilingual Learner. A student that is learning a language different from the native tongue.
Traditional Bilingual Program: A language program that teaches students in their native language. Students are provided the opportunity to learn to speak, understand, read, and write in English while continuing to learn academic content in their home language.
Limited English Proficient (LEP): Those that do not speak English as a primary language. There is a limited ability to read, speak, write, or understand English.
NWEA MAP Assessment: Measures of Academic Progress. The assessment adapts per student. The difficulty of each question is based on how well a student answers all the previous questions.
Sheltered Instruction Operation Protocol (SIOP): Research-based instructional model to provide support for ELL students. There are eight strategies that cover the lesson design to support students' academic needs.
Dual Language Program: A language program that provides students instruction in two languages. There are typically two teachers that share a cohort of two student classes.
ACCESS Assessment: WIDA's summative English language proficiency assessments for English Language Learners in Grades K012. Students take the assessment once a year.
English Language Learner (ELL): English language learner. A student who is limited-English-proficient.
WIDA MODEL (Measure of Developing English Language): English language proficiency assessments for grades K-12. ACCESS Assessment is through the WIDA Model.