Florida ESOL Consent Decree Summary

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The Consent Decree (also known as the META or ESOL Consent Decree) of 1990 is Florida’s framework for compliance with federal and state laws and jurisprudence regarding the education of English Language Learners (ELLs) (Govoni & Palaez, 2011). The Florida ESOL Consent Decree came about when the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), along with other civil rights/educational community organizations, decided to sue the Florida State Board of Education. The organizations were fighting for equal educational opportunity for all students, regardless of the individual’s primary language. Students in English for Speakers of Other Language (ESOL) program were not receiving an education that met their cognitive level because teachers in most schools were not properly trained to give ELL students an appropriate education. Teachers lacked the training to facilitate equal opportunity to the students. The Consent Decree of Florida paved the road to better education for ELL students. On August 14,1990, a settlement agreement between the plaintiffs and defendants was signed. Both …show more content…

The monitoring part of the Consent Decree was created to make sure the program is running as it should. Monitoring include a periodic review of program compliance, equal access under the Florida Educational Equity Act, and review of program effectiveness (“Consent Decree”, 1990). Schools must be ready, if asked, to show proper documentation of the program and of each student in order to prove that it is functioning properly. Finally, the sixth and last component of the Consent Decree, the outcome measures. The document lists the requirements for evaluation. As said in the Consent Decree, the evaluation system shall address equal access and program effectiveness. Students who are LEP and non-LEP are to be compared on retention rates, graduation rates, drop out rates grade point average and state assessment test

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