English Learners Left Behind

Kate Menken is an Assistant Professor of Linguistics and Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) at Queens College of the City University of New York (CUNY), and a Research Fellow at the Research Institute for the Study of Language in an Urban Society at the CUNY Graduate Center. Previously, she was a teacher of English as a second language.

• ContentAcknowledgementPART I: Language Policy Context1. Introduction2. Language Policy, Federal Education Legislation, and English Language Learners in the United States3. The New York Case: The Local Implementation of a National PolicyPART II: Standardized Tests in Daily School Life4. Tongue-Tied: The Linguistic Challenges that Standardized Tests Pose for English Language Learners5. The Ones Left Behind: How High-Stakes Tests Impact the Lives and Schooling Experiences of ELL Students6. “Teaching to the Test” as Language Policy: The Focus on Test Preparation in Curriculum and Instruction for ELLsPART III: Expansion & Recommendations7. Higher Expectations vs. Language as Liability: Why the Drawbacks of Accountability Outweigh the Benefits for English Language Learners8. High-Stakes Testing and Language Un-Planning: Theoretical Implications of Testing as Language Policy9. Moving Forward: Embracing Multilingual Language Policies from the Top-Down to the Bottom-Up

Educating students who speak languages other than those recognized by school authorities is a most important issue. As the students' linguistic diversity has increased, educational authorities around the world have instituted high-stakes assessments that in effect push out language minority students. But there are few accounts of the effects of these assessments in the lives of students and their teachers. Menken's book is an exception. Written in elegant prose and with an abudance of scholarly data, Menken brings to light the tensions between top-down assessment policies and the ways in which teachers, as well as students, negotiate them. Focusing on the U.S. context, this important book is of relevance to anyone thinking about the relationship between school assessment and educational processes and practices throughout the world.