The motion to approve alternate assessments requiring a low level of proficiency for Hawaiian Immersion and severely disabled students passed at the June Board of Education meeting without discussion.

The Board’s move to set easy passing scores for students in both these categories means -- even if these students cannot read or write -- they will show improved scores. That way local schools will be able to show “adequate yearly progress” under the federal No Child Left Behind requirements. Severely disabled students should be provided with alternate assessments that measure the attainment of life skills. But it is not apparent why students, whose native tongue is English, should be provided with English proficiency tests in a foreign language.

Patrick Rooney of the U.S. DOE explains that states must assess students’ reading and language arts achievement, but adds that it “makes good sense” to test students in their native language if that is the language used for instruction. (It seems some people in the Mainland don’t realize students in Hawaii speak English, not Hawaiian, as their first language.) Therefore, the Hawaiian Aligned Portfolio Assessment (HAPA), administered in third and fourth grade, would be considered an acceptable measure of English and math proficiency if aligned with the state’s content standards.

But how does the Hawaiian Aligned Portfolio Assessment align with the following Hawaii Content and Performance Standards?

• To develop competent language users who are able to use written and spoken language for communication, learning and reflection, social and personal fulfillment, and to meet the demands of society and the workplace;
• To increase students’ understandings of the English language and to improve their ability to use written and spoken language in a wide variety of contexts and for a variety of purposes and audiences; and

“Knowledge of the content in the Language Arts is vital, but knowledge alone is of little value if one has no need to or cannot apply it.”

What texts will students, who have been taught only the Hawaiian language, “Read to research a topic?” How will they “Read a variety of genres?” Or, as a prerequisite, how will they learn phonics, phonemic awareness, achieve fluency or obtain exposure to extensive vocabulary? How will they understand something as simple as “rhyme,” a fundamental pre-reading skill?

It’s a Catch 22: The Hawaiian Aligned Portfolio Assessment is not designed to measure English proficiency, according to Rooney.

And English proficiency assessments for limited English proficient students don’t apply to students who take the Hawaiian Aligned Portfolio Assessment, because Immersion students’ native language is English.

But immersion students are limited English proficient – not because they were born with a foreign tongue – but because they are being deprived of instruction equal to that provided to other students.

What if other cultures of Hawaii demanded federal education funding for Samoan, Tongan, Filipino, Celtic, Japanese and Chinese immersion schools, just to name a few?

My ancestors are Welsh. If the government funded a Celtic school and my children were tested under No Child Left Behind in the Gaelic language, would that mean they could function in today’s world? No, they would be at a severe disadvantage in America and in the world.

If I wanted my children to learn the language of their ancestors, I’d enroll them in an after school program and never expect the government to pay for it.

In a July 12 press release, Sen. Daniel K. Akaka (D-HI) praised Hawaiian immersion schools at the National Indian Education (NIEA) Native Languages Legislative Summit, claiming students were “empowered and equipped with the tools to combat contemporary challenges that confront our communities.”

But immersion school scores demonstrate otherwise, with as few as 6 percent of the students proficient in English and math, while some schools report no scores at all.

Sen. Akaka’s press release coincided with the referral of S. 2674, the Native American Languages Act Amendments Act of 2006 to Support Native American Language Nests and Survival Schools, to the Senate Indian Affairs Committee.

The purpose of the bill is to bring more federal dollars to Hawaii’s school system. The Native American Languages Act of 1990 (P.L. 101-477) encouraged schools to work with “tribes” to implement Native language instruction.

Is it the goal of the government to segment our society into ethnic groups who cannot communicate with one another or function in the world?

Or is the motive for expanding Native Language programs simply a quest for more federal dollars to benefit special interests?

References:

Board of Education Approval of the Hawaiian Aligned Portfolio Assessment Cut Scores, 6/22/06

http://tinyurl.com/kwsfe

http://www.theorator.com/bills109/s2674.html

Laura Brown is the education reporter and researcher for HawaiiReporter.com and the education policy analyst for the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii. She can be reached via email at mailto:laura@grassrootinstitute.org