Second language acquisition and NCLB

On Daily Kos, there's a journal about Jim Cummins, the second language acquisition researcher. It's a good summary of the problems of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) for second language learners if you're not familiar with the flaws of that wonderful law.

For those not familiar, Cummins came up with the idea of "BICS" and "CALP"--that there are two basic kinds of language that need to be learned. BICS, or Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills, basically deal with socializing and day-to-day living; CALP, or Cognitive Academic Language Processes, is your "academic speech." The difference is that CALP is used in the classroom without any context. Hence while a student can appear to be fluent, due to acquisition of BICS, their CALP may be far too low to enable any solid academic progress in the second language (English for my students).

NCLB gives a three-year exemption before students are required to be assessed in English for Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP). NCLB also removed any references to biliteracy and bilingualism and made the goal of bilingual programs solely to teach English--a good goal, but not enough.

I promise to post more on this soon, as my summer coursework has dealt largely with English language learning issues, and I've learned a lot that's currently churning around in my head.