Ltd. Eng. proficient & school adequate yearly progress

[1st.gr.teach]

The academic progress of students with limited English proficiency (LEP) is categorized as the LEP subgroup for No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) reporting. Currently, the progress of the students in this subgroup is being grossly misrepresented which is negatively impacting the reported adequate yearly progress (AYP) statistics for schools, districts, states, and the nation. The negative consequence for schools deemed as not meeting their adequate yearly progress goals is a loss of a portion of government funding which can be substantial.
The problem with the current LEP subgroup classification is that students are only tracked as part of this subgroup when they are not proficient in English. When these students become proficient in English they are removed from the subgroup and their progress is never recorded in the LEP subgroup. Therefore, only beginning and intermediate English speakers are measured but not the ones who have made significant progress.
I propose that a new subgroup, non-native English speakers, be created for the limited English proficient students and those who have ever held that classification. This change in reporting students’ academic progress will resolve the issue of tracking and measuring the academic progress of limited English proficient students and the issue of unjustly decreasing funding to schools who have limited English proficient students.