Some civil rights and advocacy groups have sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and members of Congress arguing for accountability for student subgroups, including English-language learners, to remain strong in the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.
My colleague Alyson Klein has just written about this letter over at Politics K-12. Among the recommendations in the letter are that the new ESEA require proper adaptions, accommodations, and assessments for students with disabilities and ELLs.
Alyson reports that Raul Gonzalez, the director of legislative affairs for the National Council of La Raza, told her in an interview that he is worried that without strong accountability for student subgroups, states and school districts may not focus on ELLs and other groups of students who are lagging behind their peers, even if students in schools are doing well overall.