69ý

Federal

Spellings Issues Final Regulations for Testing of English-Learners

By Mary Ann Zehr — September 15, 2006 3 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print
Email Copy URL

The Department of Education published final rules for testing English-language learners under the No Child Left Behind Act and including those scores in accountability decisions that differ little from proposed regulations published more than two years ago.

The biggest change is that the final regulations define a “recently arrived” English-language learner as a student with limited English proficiency who has attended schools in the United States for 12 months or less, rather than 10 months or less, which was the case with the proposed regulations.

View the Sept. 13 , posted by the .

“We’re going to stand strong on accountability,” Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings said in a conference call with reporters on Sept. 13, the same day the regulations were published in the Federal Register. “We’re not going to provide loopholes.”

The final regulations are largely consistent with rules proposed by then-Secretary Rod Paige in 2004, which the Education Department has informally enforced since then. (“Paige Softens Rules on English-Language Learners,” Feb. 25, 2004.)

Many of those who commented on the proposed regulations had asked to change the definition of a “recently arrived” LEP student to mean a student who has attended schools in the United States for a period of time ranging from 12 months to five years, or to tie the definition to a student’s English-language proficiency.

The department largely rejected those recommendations. Ms. Spellings stressed that through a partnership with the states, which was announced July 27, the Education Department is examining best practices for including English-language learners in large-scale assessments. (“Department Expands NCLB Tutoring Pilot Programs,” Aug. 9, 2006.)

Holding the Line

Scott R. Palmer, a Washington lawyer and a consultant to the Council of Chief State School Officers, in Washington, said state education officials were disappointed with the department’s decision not to provide more flexibility.

“We asked for a reasonable amount of time up to and including three years in which states could pursue a variety of options that might more validly and reliably include LEP students,” he said.

He said the Education Department’s decision that all students who have been in U.S. schools for a year should have their test scores used for accountability purposes is simplistic. He argued that the final regulations don’t take into consideration the difference between a newly arrived English-language learner who is just starting school and one who arrives as a teenager who hasn’t had much schooling in his or her home country.

“To set a one-year, bright-line rule gets at the inclusion issue but not the meaningful inclusion issue, not the valid and reliable and accurate inclusion issue,” he said.

But Melissa Lazarín, the senior policy analyst for education reform for the National Council of La Raza, a Hispanic-advocacy organization in Washington, said her group is happy that the department is holding the line at one year.

She said states don’t have valid assessments for English-language learners, and they won’t continue to develop them unless federal officials are strict about making them include the scores of such students in accountability calculations.

“States should be much further along than they are right now,” she said. “I think this will help further things in the right direction.”

The final rules, which take effect Oct. 13, require that all English-language learners be included in mathematics testing during the first administration of the test after they arrive in the United States, but math scores don’t have to be used for calculating adequate yearly progress until after a student has been in U.S. schools for 12 months.

English-language learners are exempt under the rules from taking the state’s reading test for the first administration of the test after they arrive in U.S. schools, but after that they must take the reading test and their scores must be used for accountability purposes.

The final regulations permit states to put the test scores of former English-language learners in the pool of other English-language learners for calculating adequate yearly progress for two years after those students have been reclassified as fluent in English. But they forbid state and district report cards from including those students in the LEP subgroup for reporting purposes so that parents and the public have a clear picture of the academic achievement of students who currently have limited English proficiency. States and districts also must report annually on the number of recently arrived LEP students who are not given state reading tests.

A version of this article appeared in the September 20, 2006 edition of Education Week as Spellings Issues Final Regulations for Testing Of English-Learners

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Artificial Intelligence Webinar
AI and Educational Leadership: Driving Innovation and Equity
Discover how to leverage AI to transform teaching, leadership, and administration. Network with experts and learn practical strategies.
Content provided by 
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
School Climate & Safety Webinar
Investing in Success: Leading a Culture of Safety and Support
Content provided by 
Assessment K-12 Essentials Forum Making Competency-Based Learning a Reality
Join this free virtual event to hear from educators and experts working to implement competency-based education.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.

Read Next

Federal Opinion What's Really at Stake for Education in This Election?
What a Harris or Trump presidential victory might mean for federal education policy, according to Rick Hess.
5 min read
The United States Capitol building as a bookcase filled with red, white, and blue policy books in a Washington DC landscape.
Luca D'Urbino for Education Week
Federal Trump's K-12 Record in His First Term Offers a Blueprint for What Could Be Next
In his first term, Trump sought to significantly expand school choice, slash K-12 spending, and tear down the U.S. Department of Education.
11 min read
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos listens at left as President Donald Trump speaks during a round table discussion at Saint Andrew Catholic School on March 3, 2017, in Orlando, Fla.
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos listens at left as President Donald Trump speaks during a round table discussion at Saint Andrew Catholic School on March 3, 2017, in Orlando, Fla. The education policies Trump pursued in his first term offer clues for what a second Trump term would look like for K-12 schools.
Alex Brandon/AP
Federal From Our Research Center How Educators Say They'll Vote in the 2024 Election
Educators' feelings on Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump vary by age and the communities where they work.
4 min read
Jacob Lewis, 3, waits at a privacy booth as his grandfather, Robert Schroyer, fills out his ballot while voting at Sabillasville Elementary School, Nov. 8, 2022, in Sabillasville, Md.
Jacob Lewis, 3, waits at a privacy booth as his grandfather, Robert Schroyer, fills out his ballot while voting at Sabillasville Elementary School, Nov. 8, 2022, in Sabillasville, Md.
Julio Cortez/AP
Federal Q&A Oklahoma State Chief Ryan Walters: 'Trump's Won the Argument on Education'
The state schools chief's name comes up as Republicans discuss who could become education secretary in a second Trump administration.
8 min read
Ryan Walters, then-Republican candidate for Oklahoma State Superintendent, speaks at a rally, Nov. 1, 2022, in Oklahoma City.
Ryan Walters speaks at a rally on Nov. 1, 2022, in Oklahoma City as a candidate for state superintendent of public instruction. He won the race and has built a national profile for governing in the MAGA mold.
Sue Ogrocki/AP