Washington, DC (March 17, 2006) – {This week, Congressman Rubén Hinojosa (TX-15), chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus’ Education Task Force, and Congresswoman Grace Napolitano (CA-38), Chairwoman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, sent a letter to the co-chairs of the newly formed No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Commission, urging them to pay special attention to the implementation of NCLB in three areas that greatly affect the success of Hispanic students.
These are: services to English language learners, electronic transfer of migrant student records, and accountability for high school graduation. The Commission is an independent, bipartisan body that will analyze the successes and failures of NCLB and will make recommendations to Congress in the coming year. Congress is scheduled to renew the law in 2007.
The text of the letter follows:
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The Honorable Tommy Thompson, Co-Chair
The Honorable Roy Barnes, Co-Chair
Commission on No Child Left Behind Act
Dear Secretary Thompson and Governor Barnes:
On behalf of the Members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, we would like to commend you for accepting the leadership of this important commission. All of us have a stake in making sure that No Child Left Behind works for all of our children.
When we voted for passage of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), we were voting to end the days when low-income, African-American, Hispanic, English language learners, migrant students, and students with disabilities were systematically left behind. We voted for accountability – from our schools, from our states, and from our federal government. As the commission begins its deliberations, we hope that you will continue to focus on accountability at all levels.
In particular, we urge you to make special efforts to review the implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act in three areas: services and outcomes for English language learners, the electronic transfer of migrant student records, and accountability for high school graduation.
English Language Learners
If NCLB does not work for English language learners, the law will be a failure for most of the schools in our congressional districts and for many across the nation. English language learners come to our schools in all grades --- preschool through high school. Some arrive with strong educational backgrounds in their native language. Often these students find themselves placed in lower-level content courses or in classes they have already taken in their home countries because their limited English proficiency is seen as their defining characteristic for the school.
Others have little educational background and need extra time to master math, science, and language content. Others still come to our school as preschoolers or kindergartners. The instructional program, assessment and accountability systems must take all of these factors into account to be meaningful.
NCLB substantially changed the way that states must serve and monitor the progress of students with limited English proficiency. Before NCLB, the federal government assisted states and schools districts in serving limited English proficient (LEP) students through a competitive grant program, which focused on developing and implementing model practices in instruction and professional development. Immigrant students were supported through the Emergency Immigrant Education Program, which provided resources to states via a federal formula. NCLB combined these programs into one formula-driven state grant program. As a result of the restructuring, the program must now serve over 5.5 million students – more than ten times the 400,000 served in 2001.
We ask that the commission study the impact that these changes have had on the intensity and quality of services to immigrant students and English language learners and the academic outcomes for these students. Specifically, we hope that the commission will focus on how states are meeting their obligation to ensure that students with limited English proficiency are being accurately assessed, including, to the extent practicable, being assessed in the language that will best enable them to demonstrate their knowledge.
Migrant Student Records
The National Migrant Student Records System was disbanded in the 1994 Improving America’s Schools Act. Since that time, migrant student records have been exchanged on an ad hoc basis, jeopardizing the health and academic progress for this group of extremely vulnerable students. NCLB explicitly requires the electronic transfer of migrant student records on a nationwide basis.
The development of student data systems has become one the central next-step discussions for NCLB. The experience with migrant student’s records could be instructive to this larger discussion. We ask that the commission review the implementation of the requirements for electronic student records transfer in the migrant program as part of its deliberations.
High School Graduation
Numerous studies have reported that barely half of Hispanic students graduate from high school on time. For the past 30 years, little real progress has been made in closing the high school graduation gap between Hispanic students and their peers.
Although NCLB included high school graduation rates as one of the accountability measures for adequate yearly progress, it is not clear that the schools will be required to reach a 100 percent graduation rate goal that would correspond to the 100 percent proficiency goals on the math and reading assessments. We urge the commission to carefully evaluate NCLB with respect to secondary school students. Specifically, we urge you to look at the resources available to secondary schools under NCLB and evaluate the accountability for student achievement, including high school graduation, at the secondary school level.
Thank you for considering these issues. We look forward to the results of the commission’s work.