New Rules Offer Schools Flexibility on Language

Schools will gain flexibility in measuring the progress of students with limited English skills through two policy changes announced Thursday by the U.S. Department of Education.

The revisions mean that many of the nation’s school districts may find it easier to meet their yearly progress goals and avoid federal penalties imposed by the No Child Left Behind Act, federal education officials said. About 5.5 million public school students are enrolled in programs teaching English as a second language.

Under the current education law, schools nationwide are required to test all students in third- through eighth grade, including those who are still learning English. Schools must meet annual testing objectives or they can face sanctions as severe as a state takeover.

State education leaders in California and elsewhere have complained that students new to English perform poorly on state tests because of the language barrier and thus make it hard for schools to meet the new federal expectations.

U.S. Education Secretary Rod Paige said at a news conference that the revised regulations are intended to give schools more flexibility.

Under the first change, reading and writing tests for students enrolled less than a year will be optional rather than mandatory. But because those students will be tested on their knowledge of the language and will also take mathematics tests, they will count toward the law’s requirement that 95% of a school’s students be tested.

The second change will allow schools to count students as “limited English proficient” for two years after they are reclassified as fluent English speakers, enabling schools to show progress in measuring improvement of language skills.

“I am confident that these policies will improve education for our English-language learners and that they will help schools meet the goals of No Child Left Behind,” Paige said.

But the new policies, which take effect immediately, will have little, if any, impact in California, where 25% of the 6.2 million public school students are still learning English.

Most students who are learning English enter the state’s schools in kindergarten or first grade -- well before third grade, when their test scores count for federal evaluation purposes, state officials said.

California already has an agreement with the federal Education Department to count students in the limited-English group for three years after they are determined to be fluent in English. State education officials criticized the new regulations.

“They try to put down a one-size-fits-all approach to an accountability system that doesn’t take into account the unique challenges or progress of individual states,” said Rick Miller, a spokesman for the state Department of Education.

Rep. George Miller of Martinez, the senior Democrat on the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, praised the revisions while chastising the department for its timing and expressed concern that “the administration and Congress continue to seriously underfund the law.”

“Schools have been clamoring for help with guidelines for nonnative English speakers for nearly two years, and only now help is arriving,” he said. “And this announcement comes too late in the school year for schools to make changes that will affect this year’s group of students.”

Paige pledged that he would renew talks with advocacy groups and lawmakers, including Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), who has been critical of the implementation and funding of the act. The Education Department, Paige said, will continue to assess “kinks and adjustments that need to be made” to fulfill legislative requirements.

Kennedy supported the revisions, but maintained his critical stance on the overall act.

“It’s a shortsighted solution and a limited fix,” he said. “Until the department focuses on improving quality of tests used to measure progress of limited English proficiency children, we won’t have an accurate picture of those students’ role in school accountability.”

Paige defended the law, saying that Thursday’s announcement was not a response to individual states’ attempts to separate their education systems from federal requirements.

He also objected to school districts’ elimination of programs for gifted students in favor of initiatives that keep schools in stride with No Child Left Behind requirements, saying that the purpose of the act is to be “good for all students.”

Marino reported from Washington and Helfand from Los Angeles.