States with Alternative Tests for ELLs

LEARNING THE LANGUAGE–Staff members of the U.S. Department of Education have provided me with a factual statement about states that have alternative tests for English-language learners for calculating adequate yearly progress under the No Child Left Behind Act—and full story

What the Feds Said About ‘Supplement Not Supplant’ for Title III

LEARNING THE LANGUAGE–I hope you’ve had a chance to read my reports on this blog of what officials from the U.S. Department of Education have been saying about the “supplement-not-supplant” provision of Title III, the section of the No Child Left Behind Act that authorizes funds for English-language-acquisition programs. The provision says that money from Title III full story

District 63 officials blame language barrier for inadequate ISAT scores

NILES, IL–East Maine School District 63 and three of its schools failed make adequate yearly progress according to the standards of No Child Left Behind and the Illinois Standards Academic Achievement Test, but school officials said their test scores suffered because many of their students were forced to take this year’s test in a foreign language — English. full story

City, county schools surpass state English language learner targets

GAINESVILLE, GA–Hall County and Gainesville schools passed all three annual measurable achievement objectives under No Child Left Behind pertaining to the performance of limited English proficient students last school year. Results from the annually administered ACCESS English Language Proficiency Test reveal 69.9 percent of the Hall County school system’s English language full story

Grades are in for Tennessee’s students

NASHVILLE, TN–The state Department of Education today released Tennessee’s annual report card — detailed data on student achievement, discipline and demographics. According to the results, Tennessee met federal benchmarks in every category except with limited English proficient students. Overall the state is in good standing under the No Child left Behind law, which requires full story

School district examines new testing calculations

HAMMONTON, NJ–The state Department of Education got permission from the federal government to change the way it calculates whether New Jersey’s public schools are meeting education benchmarks. Now Hammonton School District officials are examining what effect the decision will have on its students’ standardized test scores. The state redesigned its proficiency full story

Central meets NCLB goals

CECELIA, KY–Central Hardin High School has met all of its goals for No Child Left Behind, a recent discovery the school’s administration made after an error was found in the results. Previously, Central wasn’t considered to have made annual yearly progress, or AYP, which is achieved by meeting all of the school’s listed goals, because they hadn’t made sufficient progress in full story

GISD schools make adequate yearly progress

GRAHAM, TX–The Graham Independent School District made adequate yearly progress — by the slimmest of margins. The school district accomplished no small feat in meeting the required standards as outlined under the No Child Left Behind Act that allows the U.S. Department of Education to monitor how each public school and school district is performing. No Child Left Behind full story

The Marriage of Title I and Title III

LEARNING THE LANGUAGE–Given that the joining of Title I and Title III under one administrative office of the U.S. Department of Education has already taken place, Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, Inc. has put aside its objections and put out a joint statement with the National Association of State Title I Directors with recommendations for how the union full story

Qualified Koreans to Serve as English Lecturers

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA–The government is overhauling its plan to recruit 23,000 new assistant English teachers among Koreans who don’t have teaching licenses, said the nation’s top educator. To improve English education, the government had planned to give them civil servant positions under 3-5 year renewable contracts. This plan, originally proposed by President Lee full story