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In Indiana, English language learners' teachers warn of a bill that would prevent more third-grade students from enrolling, saying the retention requirement ignores research on language acquisition and could violate federal law. is strengthening.
Senate Bill 1, a priority bill for Republicans this year, would require schools to remediate young students who don't show reading proficiency and retain most third-graders who don't pass IREAD3, the state reading test. There is. This is part of a legislative effort to address the state's literacy rate, which has been declining for more than a decade.
The bill passed the Senate and is headed for a full vote in the House with support from the Indiana Department of Education.
The bill includes a “good cause” retention waiver for several student groups, including English learners who have been in service for less than two years and whose teachers and parents agree that promotion is appropriate. ing.
But advocates for English learners argue that exemptions for this group are inconsistent with research findings about how long it takes students to learn a new language.
Indiana's population of English learners has grown to 93,000, and there has been a shortage of qualified educators to teach language learners, making it difficult for English learners to receive the appropriate education if they are retained. Advocates worry that they may no longer be able to do so. The state also has a growing number of immigrant students, some of whom may need language services.
Advocates also say the provision conflicts with implementation of the state's Every Student Succeeds Act, which gives students six years to prove English proficiency before schools face penalties. It is also claimed that Federal law also provides that English learners should not be retained based solely on English proficiency and have the right to receive age-appropriate curriculum and participate in school programs.
But state officials supporting the bill say it does not violate federal law or state regulations.
The bill's co-author, Sen. Linda Rogers, said in a statement that the language complies with federal guidelines and that the bill's authors “worked to ensure that this was the case at the time the bill was written.” ” he said.
The Indiana Department of Education also said in a statement that federal guidance requires school districts to help students become proficient in English and participate in regular classes “within a reasonable period of time.” .
According to a statement from IDOE, the bill would ensure that EL students are not retained for a reasonable period of time solely because of “lack of English language proficiency or before meaningful opportunity or academic instruction has been provided.” is 2 years.
But learning a new language can take five to 14 years, says Patricia Morita, professor of language and literacy at Purdue University and past president of Indiana Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (INTESOL).・Mr. Maraney says.
Morita-Malaney said English language learners detained under the provisions of Senate Bill 1 could sue the state for not meeting federal requirements.
“Indiana is gearing up for a major class action lawsuit,” Morita Malaney said.
Meeting the needs of English learners
Historically, most of Indiana's young English learners were American citizens who attended American schools starting in kindergarten, Morita Malaney said. That way, most students would be eligible for retention in third grade, which would be their fourth year of receiving English services, but that's not enough time, she said.
The impact would be penalties for children, not schools, as ESSA currently outlines, she said.
Current Indiana law exempts English language learners from retention.
Donna Albrecht, an ENL/ESL professor at Indiana University Southeast and a member of the INTESOL advocacy team, said that in addition to concerns about violating federal law, barring students from participating based on English proficiency is a content said that it would have a negative impact on knowledge. Instead, teachers need to be trained on how to teach content and language simultaneously.
“It's not that they can't be taught to read. They're learning two languages. It just takes more time,” Albrecht said. “By the time they reach fourth and fifth grade, they are outperforming their monolingual peers.”
Of the 2,819 English Learner students who failed IREAD-3 statewide in 2023, 1,922 received a good cause deferment waiver and 897 did not. Most of the latter (868 students) were promoted to the fourth grade anyway. Such “social promotion” has been on the rise in Indiana schools over the past decade.
Retaining a few hundred more students means both urban areas like Indianapolis Public Schools, which have large populations of English learners, as well as smaller rural areas where these students make up a large portion of the population. Morita-Malayney said it will have an impact.
In either case, schools will need to have additional teachers in third-grade classrooms who are prepared to teach English language learners, Morita Malaney said. Indiana schools have struggled to find enough qualified teachers to serve English language learners, another federal requirement.
“We'll either move teachers to third grade or bring in new people who have never been in a high-stakes testing environment,” Morita-Malaney said.
Improving Senate Bill 1 for English Language Learners
According to data from the Indiana State Department of Education, there will be 93,625 English language learners in all grades across the state in 2023-2024.
To improve billing for English Language Learners, INTESOL recommends changing the exempt language to refer to Indiana English Language Learner Assessment (WIDA) scores.
Under the organization's proposed language, students with a WIDA proficiency level below 5.0, the score required to exit the English Learner Program and join the general student body, would fail IREAD3. are eligible for exemption.
Mr. Albrecht said that on average, students achieved a level of proficiency that was half of their annual assessment. However, even a student who gains a perfect level of English proficiency every year may not be ready to pass her IREAD-3 in third grade if she started learning English in kindergarten.
Albrecht added that it is not clear from available state data what WIDA level students typically pass IREAD-3. Morita Maraney said state and federal tests have changed over the years, making it difficult to compare data.
WIDA measures grade-level English proficiency as required by ESSA, and IREAD3 measures overall reading proficiency, according to the state Department of Education.
Supporters objected to this interpretation, saying that WIDA focuses on all parts of the language, while IREAD is designed to test the reading comprehension of native speakers.
Mr. Rogers, the bill's author, also said that remaining would not conflict with Indiana's ESSA plan.
“This law emphasizes early identification of students who may not reach reading proficiency by the end of third grade. These students receive remedial instruction and summer school that aligns with the science of reading. provided,” Rogers' statement said. “The goal is to ensure that 'every child learns to read,' without holding back those without a valid excuse.”
Previously, advocates said retention would remain a last resort for students after they undergo more interventions and make multiple attempts to pass the test. Still, they said retention is a necessary step in some cases, giving students an extra year to develop literacy skills.
Mr. Rogers and Education Secretary Katie Jenner said they don't think many students will remain even with the enhanced intervention.
“This is a crisis for our state, and we don't have time to waste,” Jenner told the House Ways and Means Committee on Wednesday.
The bill is scheduled for second reading in the House of Commons on Monday.
Senate Bill 1 can be tracked on the General Assembly website.
Alexandra Appleton covers education policy in Indiana and writes about the state's K-12 schools. To contact her, aappleton@chalkbeat.org.
Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news organization covering public education.
