SF 1776

as introduced - 82nd Legislature (2001 - 2002) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

  1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to education; requiring a review of English 
  1.3             language learner education. 
  1.4   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.5      Section 1.  [ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNER REVIEW.] 
  1.6      (a) The department of children, families, and learning must 
  1.7   determine how much it costs to educate English language learners 
  1.8   until they are able to have an all English curriculum, taking 
  1.9   into account the age the student enters the program and the 
  1.10  student's cultural background. 
  1.11     (b) The department of children, families, and learning must 
  1.12  determine the cost of: 
  1.13     (1) educating a child that enters an English language 
  1.14  learner program in kindergarten and is able to have an all 
  1.15  English curriculum by third grade; 
  1.16     (2) educating a child that enters an English language 
  1.17  learner program in first or second grade and is able to have an 
  1.18  all English curriculum by fifth grade; 
  1.19     (3) educating a child that enters an English language 
  1.20  learner program in third or fourth grade and is able to have an 
  1.21  all English curriculum by eighth grade; and 
  1.22     (4) educating a child that enters an English language 
  1.23  learner program in fifth through eighth grades and is able to 
  1.24  have an all English curriculum by twelfth grade. 
  2.1      (c) In the report, the department must identify: 
  2.2      (1) the specific skills teachers need to educate English 
  2.3   language learners if the student comes from a nonliteracy-based 
  2.4   culture; 
  2.5      (2) assessment tools that are reliable whether or not a 
  2.6   student comes from a literacy-based culture; and 
  2.7      (3) any other factors that would determine the length of 
  2.8   time it takes for a student to have an all English curriculum. 
  2.9      (d) The department must establish best practices, which 
  2.10  would allow school districts to better serve their English 
  2.11  language learner populations. 
  2.12     (e) The department must submit its report to the education 
  2.13  committees of the legislature by February 15, 2002.