Separate but ELL

The Greensboro News-Record reports on an interesting solution to the challenge of quickly getting English language learners up to speed and passing standardized tests: an all-ELL school.

After trouble making AYP the last few years, Guilford County Schools spent $2.4 million to develop the Newcomers School, which offers a special one-year curriculum, class sizes of 15 students, and support services for families, such as Saturday adult literacy classes.

The News-Record paints a hopeful picture of students being well-served, and this  experiment bears watching, for the issues it raises as much as its outcomes. You can imagine it would prick up the ears of those who disapprove of more flexibility for ELL and special ed assessment. Let it, because with only 110 students, the Newcomers School is a good example of how resource-intensive meeting NCLB’s requirements can be – and how much the law’s funding needs to match its mandates.

But, shudder to think, can’t you just hear someone taking the idea to its absurd nth degree and calling for separate schools for each NCLB subgroup? You know, just till they catch up?

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