Back to Sunday’s NY Times story about English language learners

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In case you missed it, excellent front page story–

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/15/us/15immig.html?pagewanted=5&ref=education

Another thought about this. We now have about 1 in 10 students in US schools classified as English language learners! A huge increase of 60% between 1995-2005. Yet, schools are confused about how to teach these students and prepare them for life…. Policies are all over the place–no consensus nationally about how to tackle this challenge. And, in terms of long-range results, the story is not clear.

I still believe in immersion. See my last blog.

As well, the article mentions the use of accommodations for students on state tests–teachers reading test questions orally and recording student answers (so they don’t have to write them). I wonder: do these accommodations help students? or just lead to good scores on standardized tests. You decide.

About Miriam

Miriam Kurtzig Freedman, JD, MA—an expert in public education, focused on special education law— is a lawyer, author, speaker, consultant, and reformer. For more than 35 years, Miriam worked with educators, parents, policy makers, and citizens to translate complex legalese into plain English and focus on good practices for children. Now, she focuses her passion on reforming special education, with her new book, Special Education 2.0—Breaking Taboos to Build a NEW Education Law. Presentations include those at the AASA Conference, Orange County (CA), Boston College (MA), CADRE (OR), and the Fordham Institute (DC). Her writings have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, Education Week, Education Next, Hoover Digest, The University of Chicago Law Review on line, DianeRavitch.net, and The Atlantic Monthly on line.

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