The No Child Left Behind Act and English Language Learners: Assessment and Accountability Issues

Did your teacher test you in reading, writing, and math? My grandson answered, "Yeah, two times in reading, once in writing, and about eight times in math to see what level we are on." These are the recent tests given since school started five weeks ago in the fifth grade. "I had fun having Yup'ik culture math using berries, because we tasted berries and made a graph at the same time." At another time, "I had fun making super sentences like, 'The green pizza came to lunch at 12:00 o'clock." So now I'm thinking, are these tests good and fair assessments and are they accountable? My initial reaction was yes! I think teaching and assessing the main subjects using what is relevant for learners supports their education. I believe these kinds of teachings and assessments will likely help the LEP students in our area. Sometimes it takes time to make the AYP with happy results for all at the end.