Memphis Schools Challenged to Bridge Language Gap
Educators in Memphis Schools have strong opinions about the 2001 No Child Left Behind (NCLB) act that will soon be up for renewal. So do most Americans. A recent Scripps Howard poll reported that two thirds of Americans want to have the act either rewritten or revoked completely. The poll found that those most familiar with the law were the most likely to be opposed to it.
The reasons for this are echoed in the halls of Memphis Schools. With the goal of setting higher standards of accountability for public schools NCLB issued a number of unfounded mandates that have challenged Memphis Schools. The most pressing is the requirement that all children will test at proficient levels on state exams by 2014.
This standard is especially difficult for Memphis Schools because of the large numbers of English Language Learners (ELL) that the district educates. Tennessee ELL students generally test between 40-50 percentage points behind white students in reading, and 20-30 point behind in math. While its not surprising that a child learning a new language will have more difficulties than a native speaker, the fact that these children are expected to take exams in English to be allowed to pass is very distressing to many of Memphis School’s educators. Language experts claim that it takes 5-7 years to gain proficiency in a new language. But for the ELL students in Memphis Schools who take these exams starting in 3rd grade, they don’t get that much time.
According to the 2006 Tennessee Report Card Memphis Schools were able to move a majority of ELL students to a proficient rating in both math and reading. While this is welcome news, it doesn’t remove concerns that ELL students still
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