English learners show gains as state releases more figures
Jennifer Kerr
SACRAMENTO---Two years after voters ended most bilingual education in
California, statewide test scores for non-English speakers jumped about as
much as scores for their fluent fellow students.
New test scores released being Tuesday by the state Department of Education
provide more details of how well California's public school students did on
their third taking of the Standardized Testing and Reporting exam.
The state one month ago released scores for all students and followed that
Tuesday with scores that include breakdowns for limited-English students.
Opponents of bilingual education say the improved scores prove the success
of Proposition 227, which required teaching to be "overwhelmingly" in
English for immigrant children. But education experts say the statewide test
is not a good measure of whether immigrant children are learning English.
The STAR test is taken by public school students in second-through-11th
grades. It is the basis for Gov. Gray Davis' high-stakes school improvement
program that includes monetary rewards for schools and teachers when scores
go up and eligibility for a three-year improvement program when they do not.
"These scores indicate that our focus on improved academic achievement is
taking hold for all groups of students," Davis said Monday. "We still have a
long way to go."
The overall results for 4.7 million students showed increases of several
percentage points in nearly every grade and subject, with the largest
improvements in the lowest grades, particularly second and third.
However, scores remained below the national average for reading for all
grades.
Without counting the scores for nearly 1 million students who aren't
proficient in English, the remaining English-fluent students were above the
national average in reading for all grades except high school, and in math
for all grades.
State school Superintendent Delaine Eastin said Tuesday's figures provide a
better comparison to other states, since the national sample only has 1.8
percent of students who are English learners while California has about 25
percent.
"Not surprisingly, the STAR results show that it is difficult for students
to do well in academic content areas until they are proficient in English,"
she said.
As expected, the students who aren't proficient in English scored well below
the national average in all areas, but their scores improved over the 1999
and 1998 levels.
In reading, for example, 25 percent of the second-graders scored at or above
the national average, compared to 19 percent in 1999 and 15 percent in 1998.
In math, 37 percent of third-graders were at or above the national average,
compared with 28 percent in 1999 and 21 percent in 1998.
"I'm certainly encouraged," said Ron Unz, the software millionaire who put
Proposition 227 on the ballot. It was approved by 61 percent of the voters
in June 1998.
Parents and students can obtain waivers allowing them to remain in bilingual
classes and learn English and other subjects in their native language.
Limited-English students also can get a waiver from the required STAR test.
State education officials say they don't know how many parents obtained such
waivers.
However, Kenji Hakuta, an education professor at Stanford University, says
the STAR test, being a standardized test written for native English
speakers, is not a good measurement of whether immigrant children are
learning English. The state is in the process of developing a new test aimed
at doing just that.
"I don't think they (the scores) tell us anything, nor will they ever,"
Hakuta said.
Opponents of Proposition 227 claimed that forcing students to be taught in
English instead of their native languages would hurt them academically in
other subjects.
Unz said the latest scores show the opposite occurred
"Test scores for immigrant students in math have risen even more
dramatically than other test scores," he said.
Districts that have followed Proposition 227 exactly, such as Oceanside
Unified in San Diego County, have the strongest increases in test scores for
their immigrant children, Unz said.
Oceanside teaches its 5,253 limited-English students in "structured
immersion" classes, where almost all instruction in all subjects is in
English.
In reading, 18 percent of its second-graders were at or above the national
average in 1999. That rose to 28 percent this year.
Oceanside Superintendent Ken Noonan calls Proposition 227 "the catalyst for
our district."
Without the change in the law, he said, "we would not have learned how
quickly and how well kids can learn English, not just speaking it but being
able to read and write it as well."
Noonan also attributes the improvement to class-size reduction in first and
second grades and the district's move three years ago to phonics-based
reading instruction.
A former bilingual education teacher and administrator, Noonan said he and
teachers at the school were skeptical at first, but "it has really paid off.
These kids have just taken off." |