Paper

Legal and Ethical Issues Confronting the Education of English Language Learners (ELLs)

Latasha Thorne

AED/204

03 April 2015

Terry Houlton

LEGAL

“The foundation for providing ELLs equitable access to learning began with the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Supreme Court opinions, case law precedent, and congressional actions following passage of this law have strengthened the legal rationale for assuring that ELLs receive an equitable education appropriate to their linguistic and academic needs. With these protections, there is ongoing, improved clarification about the implementation of instructional practices that ensure equitable access for all ELLs in publicly supported programs and practices. Schools are bound by legal provisions that support English language learners.

School districts must implement policies for equal access of students for whom English is a second or new language. Those policies are set at the level of the local school board, but they may never supersede federal or state law. These policies may be referred to as a Lau Plan or an Equal Access Plan and may supplement a more comprehensive plan protective of the rights of all students.

Of course, educational policies created at the national level are negotiated at the state and local school district levels as supports are provided to schools, teachers, and their students. In this way, federal policies affect classroom practice in the micro-interactions that occur between teachers and students (Brown University 2006).”

ETHICAL

“A general understanding of the nature of culture creates a framework for understanding the characteristics and dynamics...