BILL NUMBER: S2330A

SPONSOR: ALCANTARA
 
TITLE OF BILL:  An act to amend the education law, in relation to
establishing fair, equitable and appropriate English language testing
requirements for certain students

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

To establish procedures that will allow limited English proficient
English language learners who enroll in a New York State school after
grade eight (8) and who meet all other high school graduation require-
ments except the English Regents Test, to meet that requirement as
follows:

* pass a native language arts test

* demonstrate English language acquisition at levels commensurate with
the number of years of English language instruction as measured by
English language achievement test.

 
              

SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:

Section 1 of the bill amends the education law by adding a new subdivi-
sion, 57, which requires that the board of regents implement policies
that will allow pupils of limited English Proficiency who first enroll
in a New York state school after grade eight, and who meet all other
requirements for graduation, to be allowed to meet the English regents
examination requirement by passing a native language arts test, demon-
strating English language acquisition at a level commensurate with the
number of years of English language instruction as measured by an
English language proficiency assessment instrument approved by the
commissioner.

Section 2 of this bill states that it will take effect immediately and
shall apply beginning in the 2018-2019 school year.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

New York State requires that, starting with the 2009 ninth grade class,
all students must earn a Regents diploma to graduate from high school.
While English language learners have the option of taking four of the
five high stakes Regents tests required for graduation in their native
language, they must also pass an English language arts test, i.e., the
English Regents Examination. Research shows that it takes approximately
four to six years to acquire English proficiency.  Students enrolling in
school in the United Sates after the middle grades will not have the
time or the level of instruction needed to acquire the English language
proficiency needed to pass the Comprehensive English Regents Examina-
tion.

Many of these students have high levels of literacy in their native
language. Given the strong correlation between native language literacy
and acquiring English language literacy, students with strong literacy
skills in their first language do become strong readers of English. As a
consequence of the new requirements these students are forced to remain
in high school until they either pass the English Regents test or drop
out of school. They must put off and delay moving on to higher education

although they may have already been accepted into a college or universi-
ty.

New York State data shows that approximately ninety percent of English
language learners do not earn a Regents diploma in four years. For those
students who can read challenging literature in their native language,
i.e. Cervantes' Don Quixote de la Mancha, and who are rapidly acquiring
English proficiency, there must be a more fair and equitable road to
acquiring a high school diploma in New York State.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2010, 2011

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

The Advanced Placement Tests published by the College Boards and avail-
able in French, German, Spanish and Japanese can be used. The fee for
the AP test would be waived for students eligible for free and reduced
lunch which through a combination of waivers would bring the cost to
zero.


$94 - cost of test reduced by:
$32 - College Boards fee waiver for free and reduced lunch students
$54 - NYSED waiver through a Federal Grant
$ 8 - Administrative fee, waived by college Boards
$ 0 - cost


Not all students that will take the Advanced Placement Test will be
eligible for free and reduced lunch. Therefore, the fiscal implications
are yet to be determined.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately and shall apply beginning in the
2018-2019 school year.