Keegan: Arizona's bilingual ed programs needs reform
Arthur H. Rotstein
TUCSON, Ariz. - A state Department of Education report says
almost 95 percent of Arizona students in bilingual education programs
still struggle to learn English.
The report to state lawmakers cited such causal factors as 3,400
bilingual education teachers lacking proper certification, funding
decreases and a dramatic jump in the number of students enrolled in the
programs.
Only 7,312 students - less than 6 percent of all those previously
classified as limited English proficient - were reassessed as
sufficiently versed in English to move into the mainstream, the report
released Wednesday said.
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Lisa Graham Keegan told
lawmakers her department believes that program reform is essential.
"If we believe in providing an extraordinary education for all
students and that raising student achievement levels is important, we
must put some action behind these words," she said.
Arizona's Department of Education is required to report to lawmakers
annually on the state's programs for limited English proficient (LEP)
students, known as bilingual education and English as a Second Language.
The report came less than a week after the Senate Education Committee
rejected a bill that would have quadrupled the state's current $18
million funding of bilingual education.
It also would have helped move the state toward settling a partially
successful lawsuit in which a federal judge found Arizona violating
federal laws on civil rights and equal opportunities in education by
underfunding bilingual education.
The report said 4,753 teachers running programs for the LEP students
hold an English as a Second Language or bilingual endorsement. An
additional 3,634 teachers in the programs lack such requirements, it
said.
It also said the public school districts and charter schools reported
a $169 million drop in funding for running LEP programs, from $370
million in 1997-98 to $211 million during 1998-99, including local
grants, desegregation money and $39 million in federal funds.
Patricia Likens, a spokeswoman for Keegan, said some of the reported
decline may reflect districts doing a better job now of reporting how
bilingual funds are being spent.
Rep. Dan Schottel, R-Tucson, chairman of the House Education
Committee, expressed concern that only 5.5 percent of LEP students were
classified as English proficient. He also was disturbed by the lack of
certified teachers for LEP programs.
State Sen. Joe Eddie Lopez, D-Phoenix, who sponsored the unsuccessful
legislation, said there was a 20,000-student jump in the number of LEP
students last year.
"The other thing that is very evident is that we do not have the
funding to take care of this issue," Lopez said. He said he believes the
court will act if the legislature doesn't.
Students classified as LEP and enrolled in various bilingual programs
scored between the 18th and 26th percentiles on Stanford 9 total reading
scores - well below the state's mean percentile of 49 percent. The
testing is required of all public and charter schools.
Nearly half of more than 100,000 LEP students in second through 11th
grades took Stanford 9 testing, though such students are exempt for up
to three years, starting in second grade, and can take a
Spanish-language or other alternative achievement exam.
More than one-fourth of 729,244 students enrolled in the state's
public school districts and charter schools came from homes in which the
primary language is something other than English.
Of them, nearly 163,000, or almost 81 percent, primarily speak
Spanish. More than 18,500 (9.3 percent) speak Navajo - up by 6,858, the
greatest increase reported - and an additional 19,700 (9.8 percent)
speak another language, the report said.
Districts and charter schools reported students speaking as many as
60 languages other than English.
In all, 132,806 students classified as LEP were in language programs,
and more than two-thirds were enrolled in an English as a Second
Language program. |