Annotated Bibliography-

Annotated Bibliography


Short, D, Fitzsimmons, S. (2007). Double the Work: Challenges and Solutions to Acquiring Language and Academic Report to Carnegie Corporation for New York. A publication of Alliance for Excellence Education. Retrieved March 13, 2009 from www.all4ed.org/files/DoubleWork.pdf

(300 words)
http://www.all4ed.org/files/DoubleWork.pdf
(You can view the "article" here, I cannot copy and paste it- it's far too large)

This is a large article written for the Carnegie Corporation for New York which pledges time and money to help members of the New York City community. The Carnegie Corporation Advancing Literacy program dedicates itself to adolescent literacy and the issues associated with it as well as putting into place research, policy, and an extra focus on reading and writing skills of high school students, usually in urban environments based in New York City. The article explains the issues that non-English speaking children are confronted within the realm of education. Despite a “growing awareness” of the issues affecting these children, many of them continue to struggle with literacy, reading, and writing in a new language.

The article explains issues affecting adolescent ELL’s, or English Language Learners. The article identifies six criterion that impacts ELL’s, but also explains that socioeconomic status, cultural differences, and native language present certain barriers. Policy and challenges to policymakers is also a growing concern and the article suggests things that can be done as well as the stalemate that occurs regarding NCLB restrictions and other restrictions. For example, a key issue regarding students with limited language capability is the fact that these students are not tracked once they leave language programs designed to help them integrate into English speaking classrooms, so there’s little way to track their progress and how it relates to aspects of their education that NCLB aims to assess.

Additionally, this article includes key facts that explain how dire the situation is for ELL’s and Hispanic students being educated in urban areas. For example, eighty-nine percent of Hispanic students read below grade level. While this is alarming, it is a much more difficult situation for ELL’s as only 4% of ELL’s in the eighth grade scored as having an adequate level of reading proficiency. The findings also support other findings in drop out rate. It also explains that there is an definite connection between language and school performance and surmises that if these students do not speak English at home, then are disadvantaged in their school environment.

Haskins, R., Greenberg, M. & Fremstad, S. (2004). Federal Policy for Immigrant Children: Room for Common Ground? The Future of Children. 14 (2) A publication of the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University and The Brookings Institution. Retrieved March, 20 2009, from http://www.brookings.edu/articles/2004/summer_demographics_haskins.as px


Haskings and Fremstad’s research examines the issues that are disadvantaging immigrant children. It proves that there are secondary issues besides education and the struggle of educating children in an environment where English is not their primary language. This article will serve as a good factual basis for explaining the lifestyle of immigrant children and the issues they face. Haskings and Fremstad also examine policies that address educational deficits, including NCLB. The article suggests how to fix some of these issues, like use of funding money, examining early childhood education, and creating sub-sets for tests like race, primary language, and ethnicity. Creating this would lead to more accurate test scores for children who do not fall into the one criteria. All in all, if issues that immigrant children and immigrant families face were corrected, it appears like educational issues may follow suit and changes can be suggested and put into place.

Assessment Accommodations for English Language Learners: Implications for Policy Based Empirical Research. Jamal Abedi, Carolyn Huie Hofstetter and Carol Lord Review of Educational Research, Vol. 74, No. 1 (Spring, 2004), pp. 1-28 Published by: American Educational Research Association Retrieved March 20, 2009, from http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.montclair.edu:2048/stable/pdfplus/3516059.pdf


This article examines which language accommodations work, which one should be used, for students with limited English proficiency and which populations of students these accommodations are designed to benefit. The article also examines the empirical research being done on how to best benefit these students. It also explains which children have access to these accommodations as well as including facts that describe why this criteria may be considered problematic like the use of standardized tests for children who do not have an adequate command of English. Therefore, this could produce low test scores and these low test scores are used to predict their achievement according to NCLB restrictions, thereby disadvantaging these children, the teachers, and the schools they come from by henceforth labeling them as “failing.” The authors also include a list of recommendations that would create change for these students.

McGuinn, P. J. , 2007-08-30 "Equity Meets Accountability: The Implementation of No Child Left Behind in New Jersey" Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association, Hyatt Regency Chicago and the Sheraton Chicago Hotel and Towers, Chicago, IL Online March 21, 2009 from http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p210849_index.html

Equity Meets Accountability: The Implementation of NCLB in New Jersey is an article that is a reputable source because it’s filled with factual information that will give a basis to the our argument on ESL programs, their success, and whether or not the issues associated with urban education applies to limited language proficient children and whether or not NCLB restrictions impact their education. This article include a factual base to it and includes information about how money was relegated to districts in New Jersey, the gaps in test scores, how money was spent or relegated in districts of high need in poor areas of the state. The article and its information can be applied to Newark and West New York and compared to statisitics in other areas of the state. It’s important to include this as a basis of the comparison and proving if, how, or why NCLB restrictions affect immigrant children in Essex County more or less than elsewhere in New Jersey.



Scott J Cech. (2009, January). Weigh Proficiency, Assess Content :Students who are still working to master the English language are being held to the same reading and math proficiency targets as native English-speakers.. Education Week, 28(17), 35, 36. Retrieved March 21, 2009, from ProQuest Education Journals database.

I am interested in looking at reading skills and how ELL’s acquire these skills in classrooms that cannot properly facilitate their learning and literacy because of the ever-present language barrier. This article surmises that ELL’s cannot be lumped into the same category as students whose first language is English and expected to achieve the same scores under the current NCLB system. It suggests that NCLB will not work for every child, a point I want to compare to West New York, Carteret, or Newark schools that serve Hispanic children and Hispanic immigrant children.