In California, a million English learners are at risk of intractable education loss Paloma Esquivel © Provided by The LA Times Aida Vega and her 13-year-old daughter, whose progress in learning English was disrupted by the pandemic. (Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles Times)
Aida Vega’s 13-year-old daughter, who has attended Los Angeles schools since kindergarten and is in eighth grade, still struggles to read and write English.
Vega has long pushed for extra help so her child can master the language. Early last year, she felt confident that a breakthrough was at hand her daughter’s teachers had a plan to start additional tutoring in March.
How COVID distance learning hurt California English learners
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In California, a million English learners are at risk of intractable education loss
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Students across California who speak another language at home are starting to take tests this month to see how well they are learning English. For many students it will be the first time they’ve been tested in two years.
Due to the pandemic, last year the federal government did not require states to test and report English learners’ language skills. But this year, the federal and state governments are proceeding with the test, even though the pandemic is far from over.
If some students are not tested for the second year in a row, teachers and district officials worry they may not know how much English learner students have progressed over the last two school years. That could affect schools’ ability to give students the classes or other language help they need, and it could affect districts’ ability to evaluate how well different programs teach students English.