Written by Valerie Brooks   

Arizona's anti-immigrant sentiment doesn’t end with SB1070. Arizona Department of Education administrators have begun to instruct school districts that they must get rid of schoolteachers whose accents or grammar are not 'English' enough. In a recent Wall Street Journal article, Miriam Jordan sheds light on the targeting of teachers whose first language is Spanish by the Arizona Department of Education. Jordan writes that The Arizona DOE is “imposing arbitrary fluency standards that could undermine students by thinning the ranks of experienced educators”.

Research shows that English language learners (ELL) more successfully learn literacy skills in English when they already have a real understanding of, and exhibit proficiency in, their first language. It would seem that Arizona education officials acknowledged this research when, in the 90s, they employed teachers whose first language was Spanish to assist ELL students. Teachers whose spoke Spanish as their first language (many from Latin American nations) were hired to teach in bilingual Spanish-English classes in Arizona schools. Then Arizona voters reversed this trend in 2000, approving an initiative calling for English-only instruction is schools. Quantifying this legislation in 2007, the state of Arizona mandated a 3-hour block of English language instruction for newly arrived students. This type of English-only instruction flies in the face of years of thoughtful research by Cummins and others, which shows that language support for inter-personal communication skills, and academic language and communication skills, is essential for ELL students to progress successfully through the phases of introduction to and familiarization with their new language.

Encouraging and enabling success and proficiency in literate skills in a student's first language, offering support and instruction in both the student's first language and second language - these are essential for successfully assisting students in a new and puzzling setting who are attempting to learn and communicate in their new and puzzling language.

Removing from their classrooms experienced teachers of ELL and other students because their accent doesn't seem 'English enough' is ludicrous. These are the very teachers new learners of English need. These are also the very teachers the balance of the student population can learn from as well - lessons not limited to language instruction. For just as essential as skilled teachers, thoughtful administrators, and welcoming school environments are for ELL students' success, so too we must honor and celebrate the first language and culture of ELL students. Who better to share with students how amazingly difficult it is to learn to read, write, spell, and use grammar correctly in a new language than one who has experienced the complexities of learning the English language? Who better to encourage the 150,000 Latino ELL students to retain and nurture a sense of pride and respect for their ethnic, cultural, and linguistic heritage than a teacher with whom the student can relate immediately based on shared experience and language? To remove these experienced and dedicated teachers from classrooms is the utmost folly and an incredible disservice to all Arizona students and families.


Submitted by:
Valerie Brooks, Teacher and Reading Specialist, K-12
Ketchikan, Alaska
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Original article:
M. Jordan in Wall St Journal
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703572504575213883276427528.html