Not Passing Standardized Tests?
Apparently, if your local school system can't teach Children of Undetermined Ethnicity to read/write in English at a "sufficient" level, the solution is to teach them in a Language of Undetermined Ethnicity.
Classy.
As an aside, I would be remiss if I weren't to remind you yet again that proficiency in reading and writing English is still a requirement of obtaining American citizenship, so it's not like these schools are failing because they are jam-packed full of American citizens, right?
Classy.
NEW HAVEN — After narrowly missing a national award last year when students learning English in the third and fourth grades failed to meet standards set by the No Child Left Behind act, John C. Daniels Principal Gina Wells embarked on a mission to allow standardized testing in Spanish.
"There’s no doubt if my kids took that test, they would have passed with flying colors in their native language," Wells said. "They need more years in their native language to be able to thrive. ...By fifth and sixth grade, they are truly bilingual kids. I don’t want them to only speak Spanish."
So far, though, Wells is taking on this effort without state support, with state education officials claiming such an initiative would cost millions of dollars and would discourage development of English language skills.
"Connecticut has had a focus on … students acquiring strong English language skills in reading, writing, math and science," said Department of Education spokesman Thomas Murphy. "Developing tests in a second language is a departure from that focus."
As an aside, I would be remiss if I weren't to remind you yet again that proficiency in reading and writing English is still a requirement of obtaining American citizenship, so it's not like these schools are failing because they are jam-packed full of American citizens, right?
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