0.7 Gallegos, c., & Wise, d. (september 2011). leadership for  (Page 14/18)

Schools district leaders and teachers should investigate their own data to determine if there is a relationship between reclassification rates and CELDT and CST performance. Because students can qualify to be reclassified in California at the Early Advanced level even if one language domain is actually at the Intermediate level, it is critical to determine if there is achievement evidence that supports reclassification decisions over time. Only through the exploration of the patterns of achievement of the English learners who are reclassified can a district determine if its internal reclassification process results in reclassification decisions that truly indicate a student is proficient in English at a level that allows that student to fully participate in academic instruction in all language domains. Moreover, school leaders need to consider whether decisions to reclassify a student are being driven by what is best for the student or what is best for the school’s and district’s accountability measures.

Unfortunately, achievement scores can be “Basic” rather than “Proficient” when considering reclassification. This means that the student is no longer classified as an English learner and is no longer identified as needing English language development (ELD), yet the student may still have considerable language development needs at the academic vocabulary and language structure levels which are preventing the student from achieving academic proficiency. While some schools may continue to provide ELD to these students, it is more likely that the greater percentage do not. Examining a district’s patterns of reclassification and achievement can help a district determine if its current policies are effective in terms of the long term academic success of its English learners.

The other consideration is whether the subjective elements of the state’s reclassification guidelines need to be revised. While an overall score of Early Advanced does indicate language fluency according to the scoring criteria, the fact that an individual domain can still be at the Intermediate level is questionable, since the Intermediate level indicates conversational fluency and not academic language fluency. This fact, combined with the fact that even at Early Advanced levels of language proficiency, the student is not fully proficient in English, makes these criteria questionable as a basis for the decision to reclassify a student as proficient in English and then expect that student to be able to have the same level of access to curriculum and instruction as an English-only peer.

Conclusion

This study resulted in many implications regarding the academic and language achievement of English learners as well as the strong leadership necessary to bring about higher achievement. The issue of reclassification and how it is addressed needs to be explored further. A reclassification process that uses valid data from multiple assessments and that does not permit the reclassification of English learners who are not fluent in all language domains and who are not yet academically proficient would ensure a more rigorous and consistent process. The fact that it is acceptable to deem a student as proficient in a language when the assessment results indicate that the student still has identified gaps in proficiency sends the message that some standards are more rigorous than others and that some students are still expected to achieve higher standards than are other students. There is one set of content standards that all students are held accountable to meet. Under the current system, the message is that less than proficient is acceptable for English learners, which serves to maintain the status quo rather than to close the gap. Only when the language standards are also held high and consistent will no English learner be left behind. As leaders, no child left behind is the only acceptable alternative. Our leadership preparation programs and our current school leaders must develop the knowledge and skills necessary to ensure the learning of ALL students.