9486 in the collection  

English Language Learners [ELL] at Risk; Florida State Bill [SB] 286

Ohanian Comment: For a short explanation of SB 286, see ELL Advocates.

These are the same politicos who spew hot air about "highly qualified teachers."

Rochelle Cisneros Comment: An Education Week article makes some important points on this bill. 1.The DOE has no position on the bill. 2. The FEA has no position on the bill. 2. Advocates for ELLs nationally are watching what happens with the ESOL Inservice bill. 4. Other states have higher ESOL training standards for mainstream teachers than the 60 hours proposed in HB 0491/SB 0286. 5. All reading teachers need extensive training--almost a second master's degree-because the approach to teaching reading is not the same for ELLs. Additionally, there is no 300 hour requirement for Reading teachers. The DOE's plan, called the Reverse Crosswalks, requires two ESOL classes and a practicum. Broward County's practicum is writing 3 lesson plans.

by Candace Harper

On Thursday, SB 286 passed with little opposition in the Florida Senate. Legislators who voted for the bill either don't understand the English language and literacy learning needs of the .25 million English language learners (ELLs) in Florida schools, or they simply don't care. In either case, if this bill passes in the House of Representatives and becomes law, it will result in our failure to prepare Florida teachers to meet ELLs' very real needs to learn to read in English and to succeed in school. Whether SB 286 has been motivated and propelled by ignorance or by negligence, it represents a giant step backwards for our students.

The fact is that Florida teachers of reading to ELLs need more ELL-specific professional development than some apparently think. I use the case of "Holly" to illustrate. Soon after SB 286 was introduced in the Senate, a reading teacher named Holly wrote in to one of Florida's major newspapers to assert that, based on her experience, teachers do not need special preparation to teach reading to ELLs. Holly stated that she had not pursued the ESOL professional development required by the state because, she explained, "If I had wanted to become an ESOL teacher, I would have done so."

Please read the rest of this article here.

— Candace Harper
BeThink
2008-03-14
http://www.bethink.org/showDiary.do?diaryId=819

---

INDEX OF OUTRAGES

Pages: 380   
[1] 2 3 4 5 6  Next >>    Last >>