Welcome...
Welcome to the Oregon Association of Bilingual
Education website.
The following link is to President Obama's Budget Fact Sheet, and it
includes funding for the development of appropriate assessments for English
language learners. It is reassuring to see that such an important issue is
recognized by this administration, and is included in its list of budgetary
priorities. That is certainly a step in the right direction! One hopes that
the additional funding makes its way to institutions, and researchers, with
a proven track record of addressing ELL issues. It has been exciting to see
how the conversation about ELLs' academic performance and educational needs
has moved from occasional periphal circles to front and center stage in
public education, across the country.
For the last 40 years, the Office of Civil Rights has witnessed slow
implementation of the guidelines it produced in the aftermath of the Civil
Rights movement of the 1960's and 70's. Finally now, in the era of
accountability, wide consensus exists regarding the need to measure ELLs'
skills with appropriate tools so we can stop painting a distorted picture of
chronically poor academic performance by diverse student groups.
President Obama's Fiscal 2010 Budget
Liliana Heller Mafrica, Ed.D.
OABE President
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