Written Testimony for the State Joint Committee on Education

Presented on October 6, 2009

By Dr. Laurie Zucker-Conde

MABE Board Member

My name is Dr. Laurie Zucker-Conde. As a board member of the Massachusetts Association of Bilingual Educators/MABE, I can say that we are proud to join with our sister organization, the Massachusetts Association of Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, MATSOL, in supporting the passage of House Bill 486. On behalf of public school teachers and administrators of English Language Learners programs K12 and beyond, we believe that passage of Bill 486 will improve access to quality educational programs for all English Language Learners in Massachusetts. Passage of 486 will give district leaders a tool to enable them to make the provision of resources to create more than one size fits all programs for students a reality. We need the specificity of Bill 486 for a diverse learning population that moves among districts and enters the school system throughout the year. Bill 486 specifies the type of student data, uniform assessment instruments, and plans a district must make for staff development depending on the numbers of ELL students in a district. This is an important aid to helping administrators plan future expenditures based on demographics, instead of, solely on contextual political factors.

We need the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to initiate a process of standardizing placement testing, and translation of required forms. It is wasteful that every district recreates a process, and some do not, until after ELL students are in their districts. This means that many ELL students receive no instruction in either their native language or in ESL; they are simply submersed in classrooms where they may not understand instruction, or where they cannot read or write in English. When Question 2 was passed six years ago, some may have hoped that ELL students would “naturally” pick up everything they needed to know through exposure, or through Sheltered/Structured English Programming. However, increases in numbers of ELL students referred to Special Education programs, higher drop out rates, lower performance rates on MCAS, and far less access to college for even high-achieving ELL students, demonstrate a clear need to improve programs for ELL students. One place to start is by requiring clarity in program administration and teacher training requirements for all teachers who are responsible for teaching ELL students. 

The other crucial half of improving educational outcomes for ELL students lies in improving the instruction they receive. Because they comprise the most diverse student population, we need a diversity of program options, which, if developed, can help all students in a district become bi-literate or learn new skills. From fully developed dual language programs, such as the Amigos School in Cambridge, where 8^th grade students were among the State’s highest scorers on the 2009 science MCAS, to an excellent single teacher program in Winchester, where the ESL teacher co-teaches in a different classroom each year, one size fits all, or all-in-English instruction should not be the goal of legislation or district planning efforts on behalf of ELL students and their families. ELL student success in school, and graduation from high school, trade school, or college are outcomes that need to improve for the sake of students, their families, and the future of Massachusetts. On behalf of MABE, I strongly urge you to pass Bill 486, An Act Relative to Enhancing English Opportunities for All Students in the Commonwealth.