Over at the New York Times website, they're doing a really interesting series on how immigration is "remaking" America. Funny, since I thought immigrants have always been making and defining America. This new wave of immigration is nothing new.  Perhaps, what is new is crazies like the Minutemen and wackos like Congressman Sensenbrenner and his bill back in 2006, which thankfully did not become law. They've definitely stirred up the conversation about changing the immigration system. We just need some sensible conversation about how to improve immigration policy in a way that respects and values human rights. With that said, the New York Times' series on immigration is also looking at education, and did a really interesting piece on English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) students in a high school in northern VA. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600" caption="Leon Peng, ESOL student"][/caption] The piece is very well written, and raises several important questions, especially given that this ESOL program is relatively successful at getting the students to pass standardized tests, as required by No Child Left Behind (NCLB).

1. Are ESOL classes 21st century segregation?
2. How do you get ESOL students socially integrated and not so isolated, but have enough time to get these students to pass graduation and other NCLB related tests?

I mentioned Lau v. Nichols in my last post. That Supreme Court case decision basically states that the lack of linguistically appropriate educational materials and support was tantamount to denying students of a meaningful education. If you go English-only you might stunt a student's development in communication skills in any language, and deny a student of  becoming fully bilingual, a skill that we can all agree is very valuable. What's the solution? How do we socially integrate immigrant students and ensure that they're receiving enough assistance to pass all those dang tests?

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