Project Findings

My project centered on ESL programs and issues facing ELLs in the state, especially in regard to state testing and accountability through NCLB. In the beginning of my research, I saw that there was a definite issue in preparing ELLs, or English Language Learners, for the same state examinations that students take who already have a command of English. As per the NCLB requirement, students who are in ESL have to show that they are showing progress in the acquisition of English. I learned from the head of ESL in Newark that a lot of the ESL students are asked to state tests before they reach level 3 for ESL, which means they can't write a full sentence or read and understand the material. These tests then predict AYP for the school and can designate whether or not it is deemed a "failing" school.
Through the data presented in my project, I have found that primary language and language ability is an integral issue for ELLs attending East Side High School and Carteret High School. These programs are tailored to the specific needs of English Language Learners in its classrooms. However, with regard to NCLB and making AYP goals, One teacher I interviewed at ESHS believes that the school will always be at a disadvantage because of the fact that the ESL students in the school are held accountable on the state tests. She said, “Somebody needs to help these kids. Nobody sees what we do. The state requirements don’t reflect all the work we’re doing. We’re putting in the work and we’re being penalized for it.”
Some issues associated with urban education, namely primary language in the home and parental involvement with school, do have an impact on an ELL and his or her ability to learn English. Often times the parents do not speak English and cannot help with the work. Also, students in Newark work as many as 20 to 30 hours a week. It is extremely difficult when one considers the fact that some of these students are asked to take, and pass, a state test when they can’t write a sentence in English. It’s even harder to imagine that these scores then allow the school and its teachers to be held accountable.
Also, the teachers commented that many students slip into speaking their primary language in their content area classrooms as well as outside of school, both socially and in work environments. The Ironbound section of Newark, for example, lends itself more towards a Spanish speaking culture than an English speaking one. The culture within the community next to East Side High is palpable. The school also employs people who are able to dealThe tendency to speak Spanish and to spend less time learning a new language could certainly be a factor as to why the ELLs progress on state tests is less than that of other students.
The project discovered that certain elements of NCLB disadvantaged a group of learners simply because of the testing element. From the interviews I conducted with teachers who were brave enough to be completely forthcoming, I learned that this is true. I learned that the system, fundamentally, is unfair to ELLs. It asks them to acquire knowledge of a new language in a shorter amount of time than is needed and then asks them to produce an understanding of English when classroom time hasn’t afforded them the possibility of having a command of a single sentence.
As seen from the data regarding primary language and the racial background of residents in the Ironbound district, language is a huge part of a student’s everyday life in his or her primary surroundings. Spanish and Portuguese are spoken on the streets surrounding Independence Park, where people go to meet up with friends and family. Spanish and Portuguese restaurants, cafes, clubs, and businesses are all main fixtures within the community, drawing in outside influences as well as maintaining inside influences. The students are a reflection of their community, and the school system responds to the community in which the student’s live.
Tutoring services, community resources, secretarial staff, guidance staff, and teachers all aim to understand the community and the languages used as a means of integrating themselves into Ironbound as well as integrating students into the English speaking world. However, in Carteret, ESL teachers were the students’ sole source of language help and understanding of language difficulty. One teachers adds, “I know because they tell me their problems.”