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Championing the Success of English Learners

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Victory for Proposition 58 Guarantees that Parents and Educators Can Choose the Best Language Education Program for Students in California

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Overwhelming majority of California voters said Yes to opening the doors and providing more opportunities for Multilingual Education in California Schools

Los Angeles, CA (November 9. 2016) Once more California will lead the nation in recognizing the value and importance of students graduating from our schools proficient in English and one or more other languages. California students, parents and teachers can now freely decide the best possible language program for their children. With the passage of Proposition 58, California is embracing its diversity, giving the hands-on decision of the best language education programs back to those closest to the students. [Read more…] about Victory for Proposition 58 Guarantees that Parents and Educators Can Choose the Best Language Education Program for Students in California

Victory for Proposition 58 Guarantees that Parents and Educators Can Choose the Best Language Education Program for Students in California

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For Immediate Release:  November 9, 2016                                                   
Contacts: CABE:Jan Gustafson-Corea (951)662-0795, Californians Together: Shelly Spiegel-Coleman  562-756-0493

Overwhelming majority of California voters said Yes to opening the doors and providing more opportunities for Multilingual Education in California Schools

Los Angeles, CA (November 9, 2016) Once more California will lead the nation in recognizing the value and importance of students graduating from our schools proficient in English and one or more other languages. California students, parents and teachers can now freely decide the best possible language program for their children. With the passage of Proposition 58, California is embracing its diversity, giving the hands-on decision of the best language education programs back to those closest to the students.

“As president of Californians Together and a school board member, I am thrilled that the electorate sees being bilingual as an asset, and we will work with policy makers and school districts to make this a reality for California’s students”, said Xilonin Cruz Gonzalez.

This vote removes the barriers put in place 18 years ago by a previous proposition that mandated a “one size fits all” approach to educating 1.4 million students learning English in California schools and diminishing the opportunity for all students to learn another language. Starting July, 2017, any 20 parents at a grade level or 30 parents at a school site can initiate the conversation and planning process for determining with educators the best approach to prepare all students for the 21st  century with communication skills in two languages.

“Eliminating barriers and creating equal opportunities for students has been a life-long passion of mine. I’m so proud that the voters of California voted to give all students a chance to learn by overwhelmingly passing Prop 58,” said Senator Ricardo Lara (D-33), author of the legislation that created the proposition.  “This decisive vote helps restore the pride in being multi-lingual as a valued skill and reflects a cultural shift toward openness and acceptance of people from all different backgrounds.”

In addition to the whole education community, the California Business Roundtable, the California Chamber of Commerce and the California Medical Association among many more supported Proposition 58 as essential for equipping students with the skills and abilities to meet the demands of our local communities, state and nation. California’s graduates will be our next doctors, teachers, service providers, and business leaders who can build bridges with the use of their bilingualism and confidence to move across California’s diverse ethnic and linguistic communities.

As the sixth-largest economy in the world, California’s passage of Proposition 58 encourages California schools to offer multilingual programs to ensure that our students become proficient in English while also having the chance to learn in other languages.  Currently, only 425 of the 10,393 public schools in California offer dual language immersion programs.

In 2010 California became the first state in the United States to establish a state Seal of Biliteracy. Currently, 22 states and Washington DC public schools have adopted a statewide Seal of Biliteracy to honor graduating seniors who are proficient in English and another language. With the passing of Proposition 58, California continues to demonstrate its commitment to the education and advancement of its richly diverse population.

“This is an historic day.  The California Association for Bilingual Education (CABE) will be working from now until Proposition 58 is implemented in July, 2017 to help support and prepare our schools, teachers, administrators and school board members to best plan for this exciting new era in public education” said Karling Aguilera Fort, president of CABE.

For more information on next steps now that Proposition 58

 has passed please visit:

http://www.gocabe.org/prop58

www.californianstogether.org

Californians Together is a statewide coalition of 25 parent, teacher, education advocacy and civil rights groups committed to improving policy and practice for educating the state’s 1.4 million English Learners. Since 2001, Californians Together, a nonprofit organization, has served as a clarion voice on behalf of language minority students in California public schools

California Association for Bilingual Education (CABE) is a non-profit organization incorporated in 1976 to promote a vision of biliteracy, educational equity, and 21st century success for all.   CABE is a statewide association with members and  chapters  throughout California along with partnerships with other state and national advocacy organizations  who work to promote equity and student achievement for students with diverse cultural, racial, and linguistic backgrounds.

Closing the Achievement Gap for English Learners Must Focus on New State Data

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Long Term English Learners are 62% of all English Learners in Grades 6-12

 

Los Angeles, Calif. (August 31,2016): Students who have been enrolled in California schools for six years or more as English Learners, are not making adequate progress in learning English and are struggling academically constitute 62% of all the English learners in grades 6-12 according to data released today by the California Department of Education(http://data1.cde.ca.gov/dataquest/SearchName.asp?rbTimeFrame=oneyear&rYear=2015-16&Topic=LC&Level=State&submit1=Submit).  As the new school year is beginning, every school and district has been given the data to identify these students, called Long Term English Learners (LTELs), and hopefully will have plans to accelerate their language and academic growth.

The new data furthermore shows that 29% of all English learners who have been in California schools for four or five years are at risk of becoming LTELs with the majority of these students in the lower grades.

According to Laurie Olsen, researcher and author of a report that first called attention to Long Term English Learners six years ago, “this new data adds tremendous urgency to a problem throughout the state.  LTELs are students who despite having been in our schools for years, haven’t been given the support to learn English adequately to be able to succeed academically.  Their life-chances are compromised by a schooling system that isn’t responding to their needs. In the wake of state test scores released earlier this month that showed a widening gap for English Learners, hopefully the new LTEL data will spur state and local action to invest in the programs and services we know can make a difference.”

California’s Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) has granted schools and districts funding to strategically address the needs of English learners as one of the student subgroups that have been historically underserved.  LTELs and students at risk of becoming LTELs should be at the core of LCFF investments in instructional and programmatic improvements if these students are to graduate and become college and career ready. Without any additional support, research shows that these students are more likely to drop out

For the short term, Californians Together calls upon the state, the county offices of education, the districts and schools to use this data to respond to the legal mandate of the LCFF to provide “increased or improved services and programs” for English learners.  The plans that districts write documenting how they will spend their budgets needs to be explicit about how they will yearly reduce the numbers of LTELs and students at risk and what specialized instruction and programs they will implement.

“The real goal for California’s schools and district should be to guarantee that no English Learner becomes a Long Term English Learner.  There are research-based  models and documented successful practices to provide districts with the direction they need to serve and prevent students from becoming LTELs.  Each school and district should commit to assessing their current EL programs and investing in what we know works,” said Xilonin Cruz Gonzalez, president of Californians Together.

Californians Together is a statewide coalition of 25 parent, teacher, education advocacy and civil rights groups committed to improving policy and practice for educating the state’s 1.4 million English Learners. Since 2001, Californians Together, a nonprofit organization, has served as a clarion voice on behalf of language minority students in California public schools

Two California School Districts are Honored with the Prestigious Multiple Pathways to Biliteracy Award

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Baldwin Park Unified School District and Redwood City School District have been selected as recipients of the 2016 Multiple Pathways to Biliteracy District Recognition Award.  The Californians Together award celebrates districts that are leading the way to world-class language education in preschool through 12th grade.  District teams will receive these awards at the 41st annual conference of the California Association for Bilingual Education (CABE) on March 25, 2016 in San Francisco.

“Together we hope to inspire the development of strong dual language programs, multiple opportunities and comprehensive pathways enabling all students to reach the goal of high levels of proficiency in two or more languages,” explained Xilonin Cruz-Gonzalez, President of Californians Together.

[Read more…] about Two California School Districts are Honored with the Prestigious Multiple Pathways to Biliteracy Award

Study of Year 2 Local Control Accountability Plans (LCAPs) Reveals a Weak Response to the Needs of English Learners

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Report on 2nd Year of LCAPs Calls for the State, Districts and County Offices of Education to Make the Remaining Years of LCFF about Closing Gaps and Raising Levels of Language and Academic Growth

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (April 5, 2016) – A second report that reviewed the Local Control Accountability Plans (LCAPs) of 29 key school districts throughout the state, and the impact those LCAPs are having on English Learner students, was released today by Californians Together.  This report is a follow-up to the year 1 report released in May 2015 and serves to document the key differences between first and second-year LCAPs in demonstrating increased or improved services to English Learners.   [Read more…] about Study of Year 2 Local Control Accountability Plans (LCAPs) Reveals a Weak Response to the Needs of English Learners

English Learner Leadership & Legacy Initiative

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Californians Together, in collaboration with the California Association for Bilingual Education (CABE), has developed the EL Leadership & Legacy Initiative (ELLLI) as a three year effort that will initially result in a group of nineteen new English Learner (EL) education advocates/leaders. These EL fellows will be equipped to advance proactive projects (such as the current biliteracy campaign), as well as to respond effectively to anticipated political challenges at state and local levels. In addition to the preparation of selected cohorts of new EL leaders, the project aims to make more widely available an EL leadership and legacy curriculum that can empower many other leaders at the local, regional and state levels. The project will draw on the perspectives of many senior EL leaders, and current advocates for ELs and will use a blend of whole group training insinuates, one-on-one coaching and mentoring and project based experiences. [Read more…] about English Learner Leadership & Legacy Initiative