1. ESL in Wisconsin and the United States: Presented by Suzy Klein
Lau vs. Nichols 1974
By federal court decree, the San Francisco school system was integrated in However, there was a lack of English education provided to Chinese ancestry students who did not speak English as their first language. Approximately 1,800 students out of 2,800 who were of Chinese ancestry did not receive English instruction, which the students’ alleged prohibited them from receiving their fourteenth amendment rights. The Supreme Court eventually decided that by denying the students’ needs for English instruction, the San Francisco school system was essentially denying them equal opportunities for education.
ESL in Wisconsin and the United States: Presented by Suzy Klein
Formation of bilingual schools in Dade County, FL
According to the Miami Herald, Miami-Dade County Public Schools “spends more on teaching foreign language to elementary school students than every other district in Florida combined.”
Arizona’s Proposition 203
It repealed existing bilingual education laws and required that English be the official language of instruction, except for English language learners, who would receive their education through a sheltered immersion program until they were able to transition to regular classes.
Elementary and Secondary Education Amendments of 1984
The amendments were a revision to the Bilingual Education Act to encourage the establishment of special alternative instructional programs for English language learners.
ESL in Wisconsin
During the 2012 school year, there were nearly 47,000 English language learners taught in Wisconsin schools.
Spanish (from many countries in Latin America) and Hmong (from Laos) speakers are the two largest groups of English language learners, however there are over 137 languages spoken by English language learners.
There are legal guidelines provided to school districts who have English language learner students, which include Wisconsin state statute s :
“Count of limited-­English proficient pupils. Annually, on or before March 1, each school board shall conduct a count of the limited ­English proficient pupils in the public schools of the district, assess the language proficiency of such pupils and classify such pupils by language group, grade level, age and English language proficiency.”
Wisconsin schools must also follow Section 1111 of the No Child Left Behind Act: ‘‘ACADEMIC ASSESSMENTS OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY. Each State plan shall demonstrate that local educational agencies in the State will, beginning not later than school year 2002–2003, provide for an annual assessment of English proficiency (measuring students’ oral language, reading, and writing skills in English) of all students with limited English proficiency in the schools served by the State educational agency, except that the Secretary may provide the State 1 additional year if the State demonstrates that exceptional or uncontrollable circumstances, such as a natural disaster or a precipitous and unforeseen decline in the financial resources of the State, prevented full implementation of this paragraph by that deadline and that the State will complete implementation within the additional 1­year period."
While there are many different ESL programs throughout the state, most involve immersion into regular classes while taking ESL classes to help the students be fully “mainstreamed” into only regular classes.
Founding of TESOL
The independent professional organization Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages, Inc was established in 1966 to address concerns about not having an organization with the aim of bringing together educators and administrators interested in teaching English to speakers of other languages. It’s goal was to address the need for a professional organization that would be completely devoted to problems associated with teaching English as a second language.
Bilingual Education Act
The Bilingual Education Act was passed in 1968 and established a federal policy on bilingual education, ensuring that children from non-English speaking backgrounds or limited English speaking backgrounds have access to bilingual education programs.
No Child Left Behind Act
The No Child Left Behind Act was signed into law on January 8th, 2002 by President George W. Bush. The law was designed to hold schools responsible for the progress of their students, with emphasis put on certain groups of students, including English language learners.
ESL Population in the U.S.
The population of English languages learners has been growing very fast; while the number of all Pre-K through 12th grade students increased by 8.5% from the school year to , the number of English language learner students increased by over 53% during the same period, increasing from 3.5 million students to 5.3 million. The majority of all English language learners in the U.S. speak Spanish as their first language.
California’s Proposition 227
This English Language in Public Schools Statute was approved on June 2nd, 1998 with the aim of changing the manner in which “Limited English Proficient” students are taught. It’s requirements include teaching “Limited English Proficient” students in separate special classes with the goal of shortening the amount of time which student require special classes. A 2009 analysis revealed LEP test scores have risen.