What does the Education Reform Act of 1993 (ERA 1993) say about bilingual education or educational issues affecting language minority students?
In the context of accountability, the Education Reform of Act of 1993 addresses educational issues affecting language minority students several ways. They are as follows:
- Assessment LEP students "shall" have the opportunities "for assessment of their performance in the languages which best allow them to demonstrate educational achievement and mastery", which means taking their assessment tests including the MCAS in their native language or having another alternative assessment instrument.
- This section was established to make sure language minority students in bilingual ed. classes or mainstream classes who are not yet proficient in English are allowed to take their assessment tests in their strongest language, in order to accurately assess their knowledge of academic subjects such as in science, math, and history, etc.
- Professional Development "In school districts with language minority student populations the professional development program, all school improvement plans "shall... specify how the plan will address the need for training and skills in second language acquisition and in working with culturally and linguistically diverse student population"
In schools with large population of language minorities, there is a critical need for teachers to have the training and skills to work with that population. Many teachers simple do not have the training to work effectively with this diverse and growing population. Grandfathered teachers who may have no specialized bilingual or ESL training are one aspect of this problem. Newcomer population who present complex linguistic and educational profiles pose additional challenges even for experienced bilingual teachers. Furthermore, most language minority students are in mainstream classrooms where they often need additional specialized teaching resources.
The Department of Education is mandated to collect data on the current status of bilingual education program, including: number of students; their specific language groups; their language and achievement proficiency, according to assessment tests; dropout and suspension rates; the number of bilingual students going on to higher education; and the amount of money actually spent on bilingual education programs in the districts, etc.
The Education Reform Act mandated the formation of a Study Commission on Bilingual Education. The Commission, appointed by former Governor Weld, issued a report of the status of bilingual education in Massachusetts which included a comprehensive set of recommendation. The executive summary of the Bilingual Study Commission Report was completed in 1994.
A copy of relevant portions of the Bilingual Study Commission's report is available for download in PDF format.
What is the status of the implementation of these sections under ERA 1993?
For the most part, the provisions of ERA 1993 affecting language minority students have not been implemented.
- The only assessment instruction developed for the MCAS so far has been in Spanish. Students are allowed to take it in Spanish only if they were LEP and had less than three years of schooling in the United States.
- There is very little effort to ensure districts with large language minority population establish professional development plans for their teachers, particularly mainstream teachers.
- The Department of Education has not been collecting most of the required data from the districts and has not come out with a system of analyzing the data collected so far.
- The Executive Office of Education which had the Study Commission Report did not distribute the report to the legislature or any other policy makers and its recommendations, therefore, have not been examined or looked at seriously.