It's Ok to Fail
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Arizona is blaming the U.S Department of Education for increasing the number of failing schools, by making educators count ELLs only after two years of learning a language. Sure, language acquisition is complex and can take students several years depending on various factors, but to blame ELLs and to request longer terms of exemption is not the solution. Superintendent Tom Horne states:
No person with common sense can believe a person can come here from Mexico and pass the AIMS test in three years," Horne said. "They're saying that if you have a significant number of ELL students, we condemn you to failure, no matter how good you are.
But really Tom, how good are you if your ELLs aren't prepared with skills (including language proficiency) for life after high school?
