Date: 1954

Summary of the event: Brown v Board of Ed was fought to determine the illegality of segregation of schools based on race. The outcome of this case decided that 'no state shall deny any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws'.

Explanation for Multilingual Learner Education: This case was a groundbreaking decision that became the basis for future decisions on discriminatory practices based on race, class, language, disability, etc. As a result, multilingual learners were granted the right to receive an education that addresses their unique linguistic needs. This is the very start of adequate education for all, but there was a long way to go before ML education was mandated as a specific program. As a result, ML students were in classrooms with a "sink or swim" mentality, limiting the ability of students to perform well on assessments, grasp content knowledge, and overall succeed in school.

Citations

HISTORY.com Editors. (2009, October 27). Brown v. Board of Education: Summary, Ruling & Impact | HISTORY. History. https://www.history.com/articles/brown-v-board-of-education-of-topeka

Mahoney, K. (2024). History: How Did We Get Here?. In The Assessment of Multilingual Learners: Supporting English Language Learners (pp. 29-54). Multilingual Matters.

Date: 1974

Summary of the event: Landmark decision which decided that lack of supplemental education programs for English language learners violated the Civil Rights Act. 

Explanation for Multilingual Learner Education: This decision led to the establishment of the right to meaningful access to the curriculum, mandating that schools provide specialized language support programs rather than leaving students to "sink or swim" in standard English-only classrooms. As a result, ML students will receive BE or ENL education, but there are still issues that persist when it comes to assessment of content area knowledge. Even though MLs have specialized programs, they are not exempt from assessments which are not good tools of measure for their learning.

Citations

English as a Second Language, Bilingual Education, Multilingual Education, Lau v. Nichols (1974), English learners, Fourteenth Amendment, Civil Rights Act of 1964 | lesson plan curriculum | The Asian American Education Project. (2022). Asianamericanedu.org. https://asianamericanedu.org/english-second-language.html

Mahoney, K. (2024). History: How Did We Get Here?. In The Assessment of Multilingual Learners: Supporting English Language Learners (pp. 29-54). Multilingual Matters.

Date: 1991

Summary of the event: The first ever national education standards were put into place by the National Council of Teaching Mathematics. This action was the first of its kind, but certainly not the last, opening the floodgates for the creation of national standards to assess across all content areas.

Explanation for Multilingual Learner Education: National education standards historically are a disservice to ML students because they often assume a "universal" starting point of English proficiency, which creates an inherent achievement gap by measuring linguistic ability rather than subject-matter mastery. Historically, national standards have been designed around the "native speaker" norm. This approach overlooks the cognitive complexity of learning a new language while simultaneously trying to learn academic content. As a result, MLs are often regarded as a 'problem area' for schools since they drag down national testing scores. Even though we understand the issue with assessment, there is still not an answer as to how to adequately assess MLs at a national level.

Citations:

Counting on You: Actions Supporting Mathematics Teaching Standards (1991). (1991). National Academies. https://www.nationalacademies.org/read/20550/chapter/3

Mahoney, K. (2024). History: How Did We Get Here?. In The Assessment of Multilingual Learners: Supporting English Language Learners (pp. 29-54). Multilingual Matters.

Date: 2010

Summary of the event: A single set of standards was adopted by 48 states in math and ELA. Assessments were developed with a grant from the US Department of Education, but fair assessment of MLs and students with disabilities was not strictly defined or completed.

Explanation for Multilingual Learner Education: With the development of national education standards, states have more pressure put on them for performance. As a result, MLs are forced to learn the same content as their native speaking peers, often before they have acquired the linguistic proficiency necessary to process that content. Their assessment scores are often unreliable and do not reflect the actual content knowledge of students. However, these scores are hugely impactful for education policy decisions.

Citations:

Mahoney, K. (2024). History: How Did We Get Here?. In The Assessment of Multilingual Learners: Supporting English Language Learners (pp. 29-54). Multilingual Matters.

Redd, B. (2022). The Common Core State Standards - For My Concerned Friends. Ofthat.com. https://www.ofthat.com/2013/04/the-common-core-state-standards-for-my.html

Date: 2021

Summary of the event: Over half of the states that originally adopted the CCSS repealed or revised those standards. Many states pushed out CCSS for more state-led jurisdiction over curriculum. As a result, curriculums and standards between states are often different, meaning that students will receive very different educations based on the state they reside in.

Explanation for Multilingual Learner Education: The decentralization of Common Core standards has created a complex issue for MLs, often resulting in a lack of instructional continuity for students who move across state lines. While some states remain part of consortia like WIDA to maintain shared English Language Proficiency (ELP) standards, others have developed independent frameworks, leading to significant variations in how "proficiency" is defined and measured. This shift has forced educators to navigate localized curricula that may lack the linguistic supports and centralized digital resources that a unified national standard once promised to provide. As well, assessment of MLs remains an unanswered question. How do we assess content knowledge effectively while also supporting English language development?

Citations:

Inside GOP, the question is where do you stand on Common Core? (2014, June 20). Fox News. https://www.foxnews.com/politics/inside-gop-the-question-is-where-do-you-stand-on-common-core

Mahoney, K. (2024). History: How Did We Get Here?. In The Assessment of Multilingual Learners: Supporting English Language Learners (pp. 29-54). Multilingual Matters.