Voter Initiatives Affecting Ell Essay Example for Free

Voter Initiatives Affecting Ell Essay It is no secret that the debate over what is the best course of action to educate our non-native English language students across the country is a highly charged topic that runs from the classroom to Capitol Hill. There have been many shifts in direction and focus of educational programs for English Language Learning (ELL) students during the past century in our nations history. In 1968, with the passage of the Bilingual Education Act (Title VII of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act) legislation was adopted to support programs for educating language-minority students. For the first time, this federal law provided legal guidelines and funding for transitional bilingual education programs. This legislation was further developed in 1974 as a result of the US Supreme Court ruling in Lau V Nichols where a group of Chinese immigrant parents in San Francisco argued that the school district was not adequately providing an equal and effective education because they failed to address their students needs to learn English. As a result of this ruling the mandate to school districts was established to focus funding and attention around a sufficient bilingual education program. Several rulings following this case helped to clarify the need for adequate pedagogy, a sufficient number of qualified teachers to implement the program and a system to measure the effectiveness (Mora,2009). However, the tone of bilingual education began to shift beginning in 1998 when states began to propose anti-bilingual-education ballot initiatives. Three such initiatives were passed in California (1998), Arizona (2000), and Massachusetts (2002) but were rejected in Colorado (2002) and Oregon (2008). (Mora, 2009) All three initiatives in California, Arizona, and Massachusetts were initiated by the same person, Ron Unz, a wealthy chairman of a financial services software company from California. The result of his efforts created Proposition 227 in California, Proposition 203 in Arizona and 603 CMR 14.00 in Massachusetts which all required that English language learners be educated for one year in a sheltered English immersion program. After that time students must then transfer into mainstream English classrooms. The laws only allowed for instruction of students in their non-English native language under limited and restricted conditions through a parental petition and waiver process (Mora, 2009) The real issue at hand concerning these introduction of these laws are much deeper cultural and sociological issues. According to the California Department of Education, changes in school demographic figures indicate that the language minority student population at that time was growing two and a half times faster than the general student enrollment. As an example, nowhere was this change more notable than in California where 1.4 million students were classified as English language learners, with native Spanish-speakers comprising 82 percent of this population (Weisman and Hanson, 2002). Before the implementation of Proposition 227 eliminated the need to provide bilingual education, California was reported to be short 22,000 bilingual teachers. Bilingual teachers on average were paid $5000 more annually than non-bilingual teachers. This law eliminated the need for these resources. To other voters, the concept that children can learn in their native language while also learning English and eventually achieve academically in English contradicted the American tradition of assimilating immigrants into the mainstream society. To many opponents of the bilingual education program that existed prior to these laws, encouraging bilingualism and biculturalism threatened the very definition of the American culture, which, they believed, promoted the values and language of a common group (Weisman and Hanson,2002). ). These proponents of the initiatives believed that new immigrants must abandon their native languages and cultural practices to fully assimilate into U.S. society. They feared that Spanish-speaking immigrants in particular had been clinging to their language and resisting learning English (Mora,2009). It remains to be seen the impact that this legislation has had on the academic outcomes of ELL students. In Arizona, research has suggested that the immersion program has been ineffective with only 11% of students entering the one year program actually obtaining English proficiency within a one year period (English for children, 2013). In California, due to the dramatic changes in the education policy of the state since the passage of Prop 227, it is difficult to measure the impact that Proposition 227 specifically has had on the outcome of these students (American Institutes for Research and WestEd, 2006). One thing is clear, the improvement in the outcomes for ELL students since the adoption of these state initiatives has not been noteworthy. While there has been a slight decrease in the performance gap between ELs and native English speakers, it has remained virtually constant in most subject areas for most grades (American Institutes et al, 2006). Despite the new law, the growing presence of students whose native language is not English indicates that the need for teachers who can understand the language and culture of their students has not waned (Weisman,et al 2002). Educators have reported that since the implementation of the law in their classrooms they have felt frustrations about instructional constraints, concerns about adverse effects on students, fear, intimidation, tension, and a sense of political consciousness(Weisman et al, 2002). In conclusion, the one common denominator resulting from the implementation of the state voter initiatives is that it has created conflict between the law and the instructional tools that educators know to be effective. The initiatives have been more of an expression of cultural ideas and insecurities that have affected the productivity and the role of our education system as it pertains to integrating immigrant Americans. In the future, in order to best navigate the changes in policies and legal mandates concerning the outcomes of ELL students, educators should lean more on research and experience to drive educational programs that will be most effective to this population of students. In this way, our countrys education system can lessen the emotional impact of various cultural groups and political agendas and allow all students to receive the core educational standard set forth in the Equal Education Opportunity Act of 1974, a fair and equitable education for all students regardless of race, ethnicity or language of origin. References American Institutes for Research, WestEd. (2006, January 24). Effects of the implementation of Prop 227 on the education of English learners, K-12. Retrieved from http://www.wested.org/online_pubs/227Reportb.pdf English for children (Arizona Proposition 203, 2000). (2013, January 24). Wikipedia. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_for_Children_(Arizona_Proposition_203,_2000) Mora, J. K. (2009, April). Membership. Educational leadership: Supporting English language learners: From the ballot box to the classroom. Retrieved from http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/apr09/vol66/num07/From-the-Ballot-Box-to-the-Classroom.aspx Weisman, E. M., Hanson, D. Z. (2002). Teaching English language learners after Prop 227: Reflections of bilingual teachers. Issues in Teacher Education, 53-68. Retrieved from http://www1.chapman.edu/ITE/weismanhanson.pdf

Clinton Administrations Proposal To Increase Taxes For Multinational Co

My topic is the increase if the taxes which Clinton Administration is planning. This increase in taxes will target "multinational Corporations, end the favored tax treatment of extra long term bonds", It will also raise capital gains taxes by â€Å"changing the rules for computing the cost basis of securities when they are sold at a profit†. What this will do is increase the taxes for the rich and will decrease the difference between the rich and the poor. The plan is intent on cutting the middle class tax and finance higher education (yeah right). The current tax law decreases the Federal Treasury Revenue and makes the economy less efficient or less competitive. The multinational tax would disallow multinationals to assume half of their goods are foreign even if they are made in the US. Thus they could export to a country with low taxes and thus pay less taxes. This change would bring an increase of 7.9 Billion in corporate taxes over the next 5 years.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This withdraws a lot of money from the economy and may thus decrease demand for goods, as people have less money to spend. The multinationals would employ many people and with and increase in their cost (tax is a type of cost) they would be forced to decrease the average amount of wages which the their employees received. This may take the form of decreased raises, or the laying off of some people. This would thus decrease aggregate demand for goods Nationally (as Multinationals would employ people in th...

Desires Baby Essay

In past America women did not have the rights that they have today. This is very apparent in History as well as literature. In â€Å"Desire’s Baby† by Kate Chopin, she characterizes Desire by starting her off as being no one, then she becomes something to someone, and throughout everything she is disrespected. In the beginning, Kate Chopin characterizes Desire by being no one. â€Å"The prevailing belief was that she had been purposely left by a party of Texans†¦Ã¢â‚¬  This shows Desire as being no one because nobody really knows where she came from or why she was there. In past American daughters were not important to the family as much as the sons were so the Texans most likely left her because there wasn’t enough food for her to. She had just appeared in Valmonde one day. She had met a guy named Armand. â€Å"He was reminded she was once nameless†¦Ã¢â‚¬  This is a great example of how Desire was no one because she didn’t even have a name. This is how Kate Chopin characterizes Desire as being no one in the beginning. As the story goes on, Kate Chopin characterizes Desire by becoming someone to Armand. â€Å"†¦Armand Aubigny fell in love, as if he had been struck by a pistol shot.† This is a great quote because falling in love means that two people truly care about each other, that means Desire became something to Armand. Back in the day it was a blessing for the Woman to be asked to get married to a man. Armand married Desire and she soon became pregnant with his baby boy. â€Å"†¦the birth of his son had softened Armand†¦Ã¢â‚¬  This shows that Armand cared about Desire and his family. He was softened and proud of her for bringing such a thing into the world. This is how Kate Chopin characterizes Desire as being so one to Armand. Throughout everything, Kate Chopin characterizes Desire as getting disrespected. It all started when they noticed their child was black. â€Å"It means,† he answered lightly, â€Å"that the child is not white; it means that you are not white.† This shows Desire was being disrespected because he wrongly accused her of being black because that was the easy way out for him. â€Å"Moreover he no longer loved her†¦Ã¢â‚¬  This quote shows Desire was disrespected because he just fell out of love with her because of a misunderstanding; it was also disrespect because he was not willing to try to find out anything about the situation. In past America it was no un common for women to get mistreated my men. This is how Kate Chopin Characterizes Desire as getting disrespected. In conclusion, in the story â€Å"Desires Baby† by Kate Chopin, Kate characterizes Desire because she starts off as no one. Desire didn’t know who her parents were and she didn’t even have a name. In early America the daughters were not that important to a family. The Kate Chopin characterizes Desire as meaning something to Armand. Armand fell in love with her as if he had been struck by a pistol shot, that means she meant something to him. Back then it was a blessing to get asked to marry someone. Lastly, Kate Chopin characterizes Desire as being disrespected, because Armand and Desire found out their son was not white and Armand wrongly accuses Desire as being black. She was also disrespected by him falling out of love with her fast. In past America it was common for women to get treated badly. All in all this is how Kate Chopin characterizes Desire as being a round character.

The Methods Of Heminway By Ernest Hemingway - 1234 Words

The Methods of Heminway The words and works of an author are like a fingerprint. They are unique, distinct and enable you to identify the owner. Some writers choose to remodel techniques, while others choose to create their own. This is the case with Ernest Hemingway. I chose this author because he not only respects his audience but, trusts them to discover the true meanings of his works. Between each line and word is an emotion and purpose that transcends the dialogue. The former reporters roots have caused him to create his own style of writing now coined as â€Å"The Iceberg Theory†. This direct, minimalistic style leaves and enduring impression on the reader and has made his writing instantly recognizable. In Hemingway’s works, the dialogue brilliantly executed technique subtly exposes the reader to his theme that revel dark parts of the human psyche when it comes to war, love and humanity. In the summer of 1917 while the sun beat down in Kansas City, Kansas, Ernest Hemingway took his first official job a writer at the Kansas City Star (Antonacci). Hemingway describes the job explaining â€Å" And the Kansas City Star happened to be, in those years, the beau ideal of every newspaperman in American† (Antonacci). There the writing had to be direct and straight to the point. The paper didn’t have time for frilly literary techniques that required facts and ideas to be wrapped up in adjectives and imagery. This task caused