Thursday, August 12, 2010

Arizona Subpoena Seeks Researchers' ELL Data

This story about Arizona subpoenaing the names of teachers who participated in an English-learner study is particularly interesting in the light of the SB1070 controversy.

Arizona Subpoena Seeks Researchers' ELL Data
By Mary Ann Zehr
Edweek.org
August 12, 2010

A subpoena seeking research data related to the education of English-language learners in Arizona is drawing fire from civil rights advocates and researchers....

Arizona’s schools are mandated to provide ELLs with a four-hour block of English until they pass the state’s English-language-proficiency test. The findings of the three studies suggest the program will have negative consequences for ELLs. One study, for example, found that 85 percent of 880 teachers surveyed throughout the state were very concerned about the “segregation” of students in the classes, and that most said a majority of students were not meeting grade-level standards through them.

For the study based on that teacher survey, Mr. Horne’s lawyers asked the University of Arizona to turn over “[a]ny and all documents, records, memoranda, recordings showing or reflecting the name, school, and grade of each teacher who participated in the surveys described in the report.” They made similar requests for a second study conducted by researchers at the University of Arizona and an additional study carried out by researchers at Arizona State University...

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