ENSURING ENGLISH LEARNER STUDENTS HAVE EQUAL ACCESS TO HIGH-QUALITY EDUCATION

April 19, 2016

This presentation provides general information and does not represent a complete recitation of the applicable law or the Departments’ guidance in this area. This presentation does not provide specific determinations of compliance, which depend on specific facts and are evaluated on a case-by-case basis. The language used in these slides is approved for purposes of this presentation only and should not be used for other purposes.

2

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION PRESENTATION

OVERVIEW OF PRESENTATION

OCR: Mission and Activities Laws Enforced

January 2015 Releases: Joint EL Dear Colleague Letter & Translations Legal Basis Ten Main Civil Rights Issues Covered

Joint Fact Sheets & Translations OELA Tool Kit

February 2015 Release: Civil Rights Data Collection’s EL Feature

Questions and Answers

3

OUR COMMON GOALS Ensuring that ELs receive a quality education

Protecting ELs’ civil rights so that they are not subject to discrimination and harassment

Promoting an educational culture that values inclusion of students of different linguistic and ethnic backgrounds

4

OCR MISSION & ACTIVITIES

• Mission: to ensure equal access to education and to promote educational excellence throughout the nation through vigorous enforcement of civil rights.

• Activities:– Complaint investigations– Compliance reviews– Policy guidance – Technical assistance

5

DOJ/ED: New 2015 EL Resources

6

January 7, 2015 :

Joint Dear Colleague Letter: English Learner Students and Limited English Proficient Parents

Two Facts Sheets that provide an overview of the guidance

First chapter of the Tool Kit

EL RESOURCES

7

http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/ellresources.html

EL GUIDANCEJointly Released by ED and DOJ on January 7, 2015 Available @

http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/ellresources.html

8

Under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VI) and the Equal Educational Opportunities Act of 1974 (EEOA)

Public schools must ensure that EL students can participate meaningfully and equally in educational programs.

Guidance is available in multiple languages.

OVERVIEW OF EL GUIDANCE

The Guidance:

– Eliminates confusion between Title VI, the EEOA, and Title III

– Reminds state and local educational agencies of their legal

obligations to EL students and LEP parents

– Suggest ways state and local educational agencies can meet

those obligations

– Discusses the ten most frequent civil rights Issues that arise in

the context of EL students and LEP parents to promote

compliance

PURPOSE OF THE GUIDANCE

9

IS THIS EL GUIDANCE APPLICABLE?

The Guidance Applies to:– State educational agencies; – Local educational agencies; and – any “school district” that is a recipient of

Federal financial assistance from ED or DOJ including: Public School Districts Public Charter Schools Public Alternative Schools

10

WHAT IS THE LEGAL BASIS FOR THE GUIDANCE?

Title VI prohibits recipients of Federal financial assistance from discriminating on the basis of race, color, or national origin.

42 U.S.C. § 2000d to d-7.

The EEOA requires state and local educational agencies to take “appropriate action to overcome language barriers that impede equal participation by [their] students in [their] instructional programs.” 20 U.S.C. § 1703(f).

Case law interpreting Title VI and the EEOA

11

12

LAU V. NICHOLS414 U.S. 563 (1974)

“. . . there is no equality of treatment merely by providing [EL] students with the same facilities, textbooks, teachers and curriculum; for students who do not understand English are effectively foreclosed from any meaningful education.”

Castañeda v. Pickard, 648 F.2d 989 (5th Cir. 1981).

– The EL program is based on an educational theory that is recognized as sound by some experts in the field or is considered a legitimate experimental strategy;

– The program and practices used by the school system are reasonably calculated to implement effectively the educational theory adopted by the school; and

– The program succeeds in overcoming students’ language barriers within a reasonable period of time.

CASTAÑEDA’S THREE-PART TEST FOR EVALUATING COMPLIANCE

13

TEN MAIN CIVIL RIGHTS ISSUES COVERED BY THE EL GUIDANCE

A. Identification and assessment

B. Language assistance program

C. Staffing and supporting an EL program

D. Meaningful access to curricular and extra curricular programs

E. Unnecessary segregation

F. Evaluating EL students for special education & providing special education

G. Opting out of EL programsH. Monitoring and exiting EL

studentsI. Evaluating the

effectiveness of a programJ. Meaningful communication

with LEP parents

14

A. IDENTIFYING AND ASSESSING ALL POTENTIAL EL STUDENTS Local educational agencies must have procedures in place to accurately

and timely identify potential EL students (e.g., Home Language Survey)

Once identified, local educational agencies must determine if potential EL students are in fact EL through a valid and reliable test that assesses English proficiency in speaking, listening, reading, and writing.

Local educational agencies must notify all parents of EL services available to their EL child within thirty days of the start of the school year.

When state educational agencies mandate the manner in which school districts identify and/or assess EL students, the State-imposed mechanism must meet these requirements.

15

B. PROVIDING LANGUAGE ASSISTANCE

EL students are entitled to appropriate language assistance services to:

– become proficient in English; and– participate equally in the standard instructional program within a

reasonable period of time.

School districts can choose among EL programs– Program must meet Castañeda standards , i.e.,

be educationally sound in theory and effective in practice

– To select an appropriate program consider each EL student’s: English proficiency, grade level, educational background, language

background, and other relevant factors.

16

C. STAFFING AND SUPPORTING AN EL PROGRAM

EL programs must have sufficient resources to ensure they can be effectively implemented, including:

Adequate number of highly qualified EL teachers Support staff trained to support the EL program Sufficient training for teachers to implement the EL program Administrators trained to evaluate EL program teachers Adequate and appropriate instructional materials at

appropriate English proficiency and grade levels Appropriate bilingual materials

17

THE NEED FOR QUALIFIED EL TEACHERS

Districts have an obligation to provide the qualified staff necessary to implement their chosen program properly within a reasonable period of time.

“[Q]ualified teachers are a critical component of the success of a language remediation program.” Castañeda, 648 F.2d at 1012-13.

OCR and DOJ consider: whether teachers are qualified to implement the EL program; if not, whether the state or local educational agency is making a genuine effort to assess and improve the teachers’ qualifications; and whether evaluative instruments are valid.

18

D. PROVIDING MEANINGFUL ACCESS TO CORE CURRICULUM

EL students must have access to their grade-level curricula so that they can meet promotion and graduation requirements.

Two examples of how school districts may meet this obligation: Temporarily emphasize the language assistance program and

remedy any academic deficits incurred. Provide full access to curricula from the start of an EL program

by using language assistance strategies that enable students to participate as they learn English.

19

D. PROVIDING MEANINGFUL ACCESS EXTRACURRICULAR PROGRAMS

EL students are entitled to an equal opportunity to participate in all programs including: Pre-kindergarten Magnet programs Charter schools Gifted and talented programs Career and technical education Arts and Athletics Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate courses Clubs and Honor Societies

20

E. AVOIDING UNNECESSARY SEGREGATION OF EL STUDENTS

School districts may not unjustifiably segregate students on the basis of national origin or EL status.

Schools districts and states are expected to carry out their chosen program in the least segregative manner consistent with achieving the program’s stated educational goals.

State education agencies’ monitoring of school districts’ EL programs must assess whether the programs unnecessarily segregate EL students and, if so, rectify this noncompliance.

21

AVOIDING UNNECESSARY SEGREGATION

OCR and DOJ consider whether: entry and exit into a segregated EL program model are voluntary; whether the degree of segregation is necessary to achieve the goals

of an educationally sound and effective EL program; the program is reasonably designed to provide EL students

comparable access to the standard curriculum; EL students in the program have the same range and level of

extracurricular activities and additional services as other students; and

whether the district at least annually assesses the English proficiency and appropriate level of language assistance services for its EL students and determines their eligibility to exit from the EL program based on valid and reliable exit criteria.

22

F. EVALUATING EL STUDENTS FOR SPECIAL EDUCATION AND PROVIDING DUAL SERVICES EL students with disabilities must be provided with both:

Language Assistance and Disability-related services to which they are entitled

EL students who may have a disability must be located, identified and evaluated for special education and disability-related services in a timely manner

EL students must be evaluated in an appropriate language based on the student’s needs and language skills

The IEP Team must include participants knowledgeable about the EL student’s language needs

23

F. PROVIDING DUAL SERVICES

Districts must inform a parent of an EL student with an individualized education program (IEP) how the language instruction education program meets the objectives of the child’s IEP.

Policies that do not allow dual services or delay disability evaluations of ELs for special education and related services for a specified period of time based on their EL status are impermissible under the IDEA and Federal civil rights laws.

The Departments expect state educational agencies to address these policies in monitoring districts’ compliance with Federal law.

24

H. MONITORING EL STUDENTS

School districts must monitor the progress of all EL students, including opt outs, to ensure they achieve English language proficiency and acquire content knowledge within a reasonable period of time.

Districts must annually administer a valid and reliable English language proficiency (ELP) assessment, in reading, writing, listening, and speaking that is aligned to State ELP standards.

School districts should use annual ELP assessment data and EL student progress in terms of ELP standards to inform instruction.

25

H. EXITING EL STUDENTS FROM EL PROGRAMS AND SERVICES

EL students must not be exited from EL programs, services, or status until he or she demonstrates English proficiency on an ELP assessment in speaking, listening, reading, and writing.

To demonstrate proficiency, EL students must have either a separate proficient score for each domain or a composite score of proficient taken from all domain scores.

26

J. ENSURING MEANINGFUL COMMUNICATION WITH LEP PARENTS

LEP parents are entitled: – To meaningful communication with the school in a language they can

understand; and – To adequate notice of information about any program, service, or

activity that is called to the attention of non-LEP parents.

School districts must develop and implement a process for: Determining whether parents are limited English proficient; identifying their language needs; and meeting those needs through qualified interpreters and translators.

27

J. ENSURING MEANINGFUL COMMUNICATION WITH LEP PARENTS State and local educational agencies have a duty to ensure meaningful

communication with LEP parents in a language they can understand and to adequately notify LEP parents of any program, service, or activity that is called to the attention of non-LEP parents.

This duty requires school districts to provide language appropriate interpreter services for LEP parents who speak a non-dominant language.

Schools must provide translation or interpretation from appropriate and competent staff or outside professionals.

Schools may not rely on or ask students, siblings, friends, or untrained school staff to translate or interpret for parents.

Language assistance must be provided at no cost to parents.

28

FACT SHEETS OCR and DOJ created two facts sheets:

1. Ensuring English Learner Students Can Participate Meaningfully and Equally in Educational Programs This fact sheet provides an overview of the joint guidance, but does not

attempt to comprehensively address all of the issues in the guidance. The fact sheets focuses on the responsibilities of school districts.

2. Information for Limited English Proficient Parents and for Schools and School Districts that Communicate with Them This fact sheet answers common questions about the rights of parents

and guardians who do not speak, listen, read, or write English proficiently because it is not their primary language.

The facts sheets are available in 11 languages: Spanish, Chinese, Cambodian, Hmong, Korean, Laotian,

Russian, Tagalog, Vietnamese

Arabic (in process)

29

ENGLISH LEARNER TOOL KIT

30

OPTIONS FOR INVOLVING OCR

File a Complaint

– A complaint may be filed by mail or fax with any OCR office or by using OCR’s electronic complaint form at www.ed.gov/ocr/complaintintro.html

Request Technical Assistance from OCR

– Contact OCR’s office serving your state by phone or email with questions, concerns, or requests.

– For contact information visit www.ed.gov/ocr or call OCR’s customer service team at 1-800-421-3481.

31

Thank You! Questions?

Marcelo Quiñones, AttorneyU.S. Department of Education

Office for Civil RightsLyndon Baines Johnson Department of Education Building

400 Maryland Avenue, SWWashington, DC 20202-1100

Telephone: 800-421-3481FAX: 202-453-6012; TDD: 800-877-8339

Email: ocr@ed.gov

ocrdata.ed.govhttp://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/know.html?src=ft

33