What the SAT9 Really Says About Latino Student Achievement LULAC Convention Los Angeles, CA May 18,2

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What the SAT-9 Really Says About Latino Student
Achievement LULAC ConventionLos Angeles,
CAMay 18,2002

• Jill Kerper Mora, Ed.D.
• San Diego State University

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Californias Demographic Reality

• 38 of Californias total population speaks a
  language other than English in the home
• One out of every three public school students is
  a Spanish/English bilingual learner
• Only one third of all English language learners
  (ELL) have a fully credentialed teacher with
  professional preparation in cross-cultural
  language and academic development.

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Californias Latino Students

• Latino students are very diverse in their
  linguistic and cultural characteristics.
• 42 of all Californias public school students
  are Latino 49 of Latino students are classified
  as English language learners
• Sound educational policies that promote high
  levels of academic achievement and low dropout
  rates are vitally important to the social and
  economic well-being of the Latino community

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Transnational Latinos

• Many Latino families are transnational.
• Sociologists find that second generation Latino
  immigrants who are bilingual and have a strong
  identification with their parents culture of
  origin are more successful academically (Portes
  Rumbaut, 2001).
• Compatriot community resources support and ease
  acculturation by cushioning the impact of
  societal prejudices and barriers

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Academic Needs of L2/Bilingual Learners
Content
Literacy
Language
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SAT-9 Scores for ELL

• Use of the SAT-9 for judging achievement of
  English language learners disregards basic
  principles of scientific research design and
  educational measurement.
• There are many reasons why SAT-9 scores do not
  give us an accurate picture of ELLs achievement

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Normal Distribution CurveA Band of Scores
68
95
99
0
-1?
1?
-2?
-3?
2?
3?
MEAN
? Standard Deviation
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Normal Distribution CurveTwo Populations of
Students
NES
ELL
34 NPR
ELLEnglish Language Learners NESNative English
Speakers
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Interpreting Standardized Test Scores for ELL

• Does the student score low on the test because...
• s/he does not have sufficient English proficiency
  to understand the questions?
• s/he cannot read English?
• s/he does not know the academic content?
• s/he knows the academic content but simply cannot
  express their knowledge in the English language
  used on the test?

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The Achievement Gap
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Comparing Standardized Test Data for SAT-9 and
SABE/2

• When they have been taught in Spanish and are
  tested in Spanish, ELLs perform at or above
  national norms on a standardized test of academic
  achievement.
• This means that lack of English language
  proficiency is the major factor in these students
  underachievement on the SAT 9.
• A system that penalizes schools for low levels of
  achievement in English and does not recognize
  achievement in Spanish is unfair to
  Spanish-speaking students.

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SAT-9 SABE/2 Reading 2001
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Statistics Do Lie Liars Use Statistics

• The media is full of improper and inaccurate
  interpretations and use of SAT-9 scores.
• Media analyists do not examine alternative
  explanations or trends and patterns in test data
  Scores and data are manipulated for political
  purposes.
• Aggregated standardized test data can give
  distorted pictures of student performance and
  tell us very little about program effectiveness

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The CA English Language Development Test (CELDT)

• The first year or baseline CELDT data only
  tells us how many ELL students with different
  levels of English proficiency there are and where
  they are placed.
• The CELDT scores tells us nothing about program
  effectiveness
• Condemning bilingual education because more
  students with beginning levels of English
  proficiency are in BE programs is pure nonsense!

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Proposition 227 Friend or Foe?

• The enemies of bilingual education are not
  friends of Latino students.
• Attacks on bilingual educators harm Latinos by
  marginalizing educators with specialized
  expertise in advancing Latino student achievement
• Bilingual teachers are linguistic and cultural
  role models for young Latinos and are examples of
  the benefits of bilingual and bicultural
  achievement.

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A Wolf in Sheeps Clothing

• The so-called benefits of Proposition 227 are an
  illusion.
• It is all about social dominance. Cultural
  diversity and the growing Latino presence
  threaten the status quo.
• Bilingualism and biliteracy provide a competitive
  advantage in the global marketplace so the larger
  society seeks to impose monolingualism to
  neutralize any advantage for an ethnic minority.

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What We Really NeedTo Increase Latino Student
Achievement

• Qualified bilingual and Latino/a teachers who
  have specialized knowledge and skills in language
  acquisition, biliteracy and cross-cultural
  learning.
• Policies that support parental choice and local
  decision-making in school communities.
• Collaboration between administrators, teachers,
  parents and students to promote the attainment of
  bilingual learners full human potential.

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Please Visit Dr. Moras CLAD Website

• San Diego State University
• http//coe.sdsu.edu/people/jmora