Immigrant Children Shielded From State Tests, but for Whose Protection?

[teech]

I have mixed emotions on this--on one hand it is not right to have children of limited english speaking skills to sit through a grueling state test--I have one such child this year--the ESOL teacher does not help--I pull my own work together--which mind you is not on the subject at hand becuase I cannot judge were this child is at academically--it is very frustrating--any thoughts???

Immigrant Children Shielded From State Tests, but for Whose Protection?
Put your pencils down!” Yannyn Suarez commanded her third-grade English-as-second-language class. “Eyes on me! Sit up straight!”
She began telling a story about a boy named Kirby who could not find the gym shoes he needed for the big game. The story ended happily. When Kirby’s dog, Buster, scrambled off his dog bed, there, to Kirby’s delight, were the shoes.
The third graders, all from Latino immigrant families though some were born in the United States, listened with the nervous intentness of children practicing for the first make-or-break test of their young lives, the New York State English language arts test. One portion assesses the ability to listen and remember details without seeing the text, so when the teacher read the story a second time, the students took notes. But not all notes were of the same caliber.
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[Bonnie B.]

I have mixed emotions on this--on one hand it is not right to have children of limited english speaking skills to sit through a grueling state test--I have one such child this year--the ESOL teacher does not help--I pull my own work together--which mind you is not on the subject at hand becuase I cannot judge were this child is at academically--it is very frustrating--any thoughts???

Immigrant Children Shielded From State Tests, but for Whose Protection?
Put your pencils down!” Yannyn Suarez commanded her third-grade English-as-second-language class. “Eyes on me! Sit up straight!”
She began telling a story about a boy named Kirby who could not find the gym shoes he needed for the big game. The story ended happily. When Kirby’s dog, Buster, scrambled off his dog bed, there, to Kirby’s delight, were the shoes.
The third graders, all from Latino immigrant families though some were born in the United States, listened with the nervous intentness of children practicing for the first make-or-break test of their young lives, the New York State English language arts test. One portion assesses the ability to listen and remember details without seeing the text, so when the teacher read the story a second time, the students took notes. But not all notes were of the same caliber.
[Only registered and activated users can see links]

IMO -- have the kid evaluated twice -- once in her/his native langauge, and once in English. It will give you a much clearer picture of where the child is academically.