WHAT are the provisions of the Flores Consent Decree?

Answer 1

Flores Consent Decree and the resulting proposition 203 have changed the manner by which English language learners are taught in the public schools system in the state of Arizona. These mandated changes are of note in part due to the high ratio of ELL students within the Arizona school system. Some of the changes that have affected students and teachers in the state of Arizona as a result of Flores and proposition 203 are as follows: The time frame allowance/expectation for a student to develop full proficiency in one year, English language learners no longer required to take assessments in their content area, and bilingual options are only available to the student through a special waiver.

The Arizona Department of Education time frame allowance mandates that a student to develop English proficiency in one year. The concern with ELL students and teachers under intense time constraints limits the amount of curriculum in English. SEI students are limited in the amount of curriculum they can participate in due to their limited ability to read and write in English. Meeting the maximum time frame allowance mandated could very well be a hindrance in this aspect as the exposure to necessary curriculum is reduced to meet the mandate. The Superintendant of Public instruction made a departure from this mandate in 2003 when the view of endorsing one year oral proficiency and three years for written proficiency was endorsed.

As of February 2004 the Arizona Education Secretary announces a substantial change in federal policy in reference to the testing of ELL students in that they are no longer required to take assessments in their content area in their first year in a U.S. school. Also, these test scores will remain grouped with the ELL subgroup test scores for two years following the redesignation of the students becoming regarded and Fluent English Proficient.

Finally, bilingual options are only available to the student through a special waiver. This waiver is an option for students who do not have special needs and score at or above the average for their grade level or if their score is below the average for fifth grade. This waiver allows the student to access bilingual options that would be unavailable to them in standard circumstances. The difficulty in determining if a student is eligible for a waiver is the establishment of an "average" score created by ELL students rather than the test being administered to native language students.