History Chapter 2 by Elizabeth R Bumpus

1974 – Lau v. Nichols

bump5463 — 2025-04-08 22:10:28 UTC

Description:
This landmark Supreme Court decision established that schools must take affirmative steps to help MLs (Multilingual Learners) overcome language barriers.
Significance:
It redefined equal educational opportunity to include linguistic accessibility. This eventually led to the development of bilingual and English as a New Language (ENL) programs across the U.S.

1981 – Castañeda v. Pickard

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Description:
A federal appeals court ruling introduced the Three-Prong Test for evaluating ML programs:

Based on sound educational theory
Adequately supported with resources

Effective in practice

Significance:
This framework is still used today to determine if schools meet the educational needs of MLs.

2001 – No Child Left Behind (NCLB)

bump5463 — 2025-04-08 22:14:32 UTC

Description:
A major federal education law that required annual standardized testing for all students, including MLs.
Significance:
Introduced test-based accountability and tied school funding to test results. It brought national attention to MLs, but also led to widespread test misuse and fairness concerns due to English-only testing.

2002 – Title III of NCLB

bump5463 — 2025-04-08 22:15:36 UTC

Description:
Replaced the Bilingual Education Act (Title VII) and required states to:

Develop English Language Proficiency (ELP) standards

Implement a single, valid, reliable ELP assessment
Significance:
Centralized ML language testing and established annual accountability for language acquisition progress.

2015 – Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)

bump5463 — 2025-04-08 22:21:48 UTC

Description:
Replaced NCLB and gave more flexibility to states while maintaining requirements for ML accountability.
Significance:
Encouraged culturally responsive assessments and allowed for multiple measures of success. It balanced validity with accountability, addressing several issues raised during the NCLB era.