The Oregon Education Department has released a progress report on how well districts meet federal standards in preparing English Language Learners.
Oregon schools received overall mixed reviews in their efforts to bring English Language Learners – or ELL students – to advanced levels of English proficiency. Seventy percent of districts rated didn’t not hit the three required benchmarks. Only 11% of districts were able to move half their ELL students out of the program after five year.
Jake Weigler, with the Department of Education, says it’s been traditionally challenging for districts to meet the needs of these students.
“We know that English is very important to success in life, whether you’re entering the workforce or moving on to education beyond high school. And we really do a disservice to these students when we don’t prepare them for full English proficiency in our society.”
Weigler says that Eugene’s 4J District was exceptional in its success at graduating students from ELL programs. Springfield, Bethel and Corvallis school districts did not achieve that standard, but were able to meet other benchmarks.
