Click on the following links to access research studies, opinion articles, state and federal reports, and other resources on legislation and policies affecting English language learners. These links are provided for information only. No endorsement by NABE is implied.

WestED "Excellence in research, development, & service - Effects of the Implementation of Proposition 227 on the Education of English Learners, K-12: Findings from a Five-Year Evaluation: Final Report

No Child Left Behind Act
National Indian Education Association – Report on extensive hearings about the impact of NCLB on Native American students. One conclusion: "The effect is increasingly to focus on testing at the expense of efforts to meet individual students' needs or progams focused on Native language and culture" (October 2005).

Education Policy Studies Laboratory (Arizona State University) – Research study by Sharon L. Nichols, Gene V Glass, and David C. Berliner, which found "no convincing evidence that the presure associated with high-stakes testing leads to any important benefits for student achievement." For example, between 1990 and 2003, the growth of NCLB-like accountability schemes was associated with no increase in NAEP reading scores. On the other hand, the researchers found considerable evidence that testing pressures encouraged students, especially minorities, to drop out of school after the 8th grade (September 2005).

FairTest – Position paper, "Why 'No Child Left Behind' Will Fail Our Children," by the National Center for Fair & Open Testing. Site also includes detailed analyses of the law, legislative testimony, reports on litigation, federal regulations, fact sheets, news updates, and other resources.

TESOL 2005 Conference – Board-Sponsored Colloquium on No Child Left Behind Policy and English Language Learner Research featuring papers and PowerPoint presentations by Jamal Abedi (UCLA), Jim Stack (San Francisco USD), Sarah Hudelson (Arizona State University), Candace Harper (University of Florida), and James Crawford (NABE). Topics include assessment, accountability systems, literacy, teacher qualifications, and "scientifically based research" (April 2005).

Center on Education Policy – The most comprehensive and nonpartisan progress report of its kind to date, "Year 3 of the No Child Left Behind Act" features both favorable and unfavorable reactions by state and district officials; the accountability system for ELLs draws widespread criticism (March 2005).

Office of English Language Acquisition (US. Department of Education) – Congressionally mandated, biennial report on Title III emphasizes "significant progress" in state programs for ELLs; the fine print tells a different story (March 2005).

National Conference of State Legislatures – Bipartisan taskforce report critiques NCLB as flawed and unconstitutional system of accountability (February 2005).

Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development – "No Child Left Behind: Three Years On." Part I of this report assesses the impact on local school districts; Part II, on state and federal levels (February 2005).

Education Policy Studies Laboratory (Arizona State University) – Report by Wayne E. Wright, a NABE 2005 dissertation award winner, on the implications of NCLB for language-minority students.

Council for the Great City Schools – Report on the fiscal impact of Title III, NCLB in urban schools (Fall 2004).

New Politics (Winter 2005) – A special symposium of this journal analyzes the politics of NCLB from the viewpoints of progressive educators including Stan Karp, Lois Weiner, Michele Brooks, Michael Charney, and Carlos Alberto Torres.

Rethinking Schools – Perhaps the most extensive compendium of in-depth analyses by critics of NCLB, pulled from the archives of this progressive journal.

Center on Education Policy – Site including numerous resources on NCLB, including papers from policy forums, political analyses, and editorials. Click here to access the September 2004 forum on ELLs and students with disabilities.

ARC Associates – Study in San Francisco, funded by the U.S. Department of Education, recommends that ELLs be exempted from content area assessments for at least three years and that the results of a single standardized test are especially misleading for this population September 2004).

Harvard Civil Rights Project – Comprehensive survey on teacher attitudes toward NCLB (September 2004).

SusanOhanian.Org – Daily updates on NCLB-related news and "atrocities" by one of the most articulate voices in American education.

National Education Association – Gateway to research and analysis of NCLB by the nation's largest teachers union.

Commonweal Institute – Report on "Responding to the Attack on Public Education and Teacher Unions" (November 2004).

Title I Report – Technical guidance on NCLB, Title III, by James Crawford (Spring 2002).

National Clearinghouse for English Language Acquisition (NCELA) – Resource page includes several articles focusing on ELL issues under NCLB, along with a guide to analyses by nonprofit organizations and a searchable database on NCLB resources.

Council of Chief State School Officers – Detailed guidance about the technical requirements of NCLB and the law's impact on various aspects of school reform.

U.S. Department of Education – Official site explaining the Bush administration's policies on NCLB.