Taylor Manrique

In the News
Complete APA citation of the resource:
Mo, K. (2019, May 14). New law changes how English Language Learners are taught. But what
comes next? Cronkite News. Retrieved from https://cronkitenews.azpbs.org/2019/05/14/english-
immersion-changes-ell/
Two-Three sentence summary of the issue/topic/idea:
Due to the fact that this Arizona school had failed in accommodating for their ELL students, they
were forced to improve their programs to tailor to those students needs. In order to prove that
they were attaining and achieving equal and equitable education for those students, they used a
proficiency test called “AZELLA”. Because they wanted the students to perform well on this
assessment, they immersed their students in a full day of rigorous work time for these students,
meaning they were missing those other content-area classes and free time. This did not sit well
with ELA teacher, Hinton Sainz, because of the fact that she believed that students need to be
immersed in other content-level classes and be apart of the school community. She did not feel
her school’s program was truly equitable and equal for her ELL students, therefore she adjusted
the program so that students were heavily immersed in ELA at the beginning of the day so that
time could be freed up for them to participate in other classes (ex. PE) and interact with their
peers. She hopes that this will not only improve test scores for AZELLA, but help students
develop those social aspects and gain the necessary skill-level in order to develop as an English
speaker.
Connection to ELLs:
Arizona schools have put forth a strong effort in order to tailor to and accommodate for the ELL
students in their schools in the best way they know how to. They have made sure that their
students are given the opportunities.to emerge in all aspects of ELA so that they can become
proficient. They have also immersed students in a setting in which they are able to collaborate
with other ELL students, that way they can assist in each other’s learning processes. They have
also dedicated a teacher in which primarily focuses on their progression towards proficiency. The
system still needs a lot of work in terms of equality and equitability, that way ELL students are
not just focusing on learning English, but also developing as a social and effective citizen of our
society. They are making the efforts to accommodate and tailor to their ELL student’s needs, but
they need that guidance in order to get to where they need to be.
Questions for you:
 What do you think test scores for AZELLA will look like now that this teacher has
changed the dynamic of the system for her ELL students?
 Do you think there is a better way that students can show their proficiency?
Something other than AZELLA?
 What does your school do to show proficiency?
 Do you think Washington state schools do a better job at accommodating and
tailoring to the needs of our ELL students? Could we do better?