The Department of Health, Education, and Welfare

In 1990, a judge of the United Stated District court, Southern District of Florida, signed a Consent Decree giving the court power to enforce an agreement between the Florida State board of Education and a coalition of eight groups represented by Multicultural Education, Training, and Advocacy, Inc. (META). An agreement was drafted regarding the identification and provision of services to students whose native language is other than English (Govoni, 2010).

Miss Kane’s first grade class at Lutie Lewis Coates Elementary School (also known as Coates Elementary) has twenty students and seventeen of them are considered English Language Learners (ELL) (E. Kane, Personal Communication, October 4, 2016). This is very frustrating for both Miss. Kane and her students because it is very difficult to communicate with many of her ELLs. Out of Miss Kane’s twenty students eight students are Hispanic, five Indian, five Black, and three White. Miss Kane’s class is very diverse and this allows students to feel more accepted because not all students are similar. Coates Elementary as a whole is very diverse: Asian 28.86%, Black 18.26%, Hispanic 37.32%, and White 12.08% (Fairfax County Public Schools, 2015). Miss Kane’s classroom reflects similar diversity as Coates Elementary does. Both Miss. Kane and the Coates staff really show their appreciation for diversity and attempt to treat all children equally giving all students equal opportunity. Coates Elementary is a Title I school; about fifty percent of students receive free and reduced lunch (Fairfax County Public Schools, 2015). This school was placed in the center of poverty and many of these students who participate in the free and reduced lunch program are English Language Learners.

When it comes to legal obligations for students that are English language learners, every student violated supposed to have equal access to their education. It was mentioned that in the year of 1970 the federal Office for Civil Rights, distributed a letter to all school’s districts mentioning that all school districts must offer services to students who are English language learners (Office for Civil Rights ,2006). After the ruling of Lau v. Nichols was pass, the congress passed an act called Equal Educational Opportunity Act (EEOA). The act is based upon that all children must have equivalent educational opportunities. This is important for the reason that each student should be treated equal and it does not matter if they are familiar with the English language. Every student should have the right to a proper education and nobody should be discriminated upon.

Must not assign students who are deficient in English language skills to special education solely on the basis of lack of English proficiency. Nor deny children access to college

The educational system in the United States fails to acknowledge the importance of integrating different cultural components such as first language in the education of minorities. Social institutions like schools tend to neutralize their structures to fit the needs of the dominant groups. For the purpose of this study, the dominant group in the context of linguistic is predicted to have more resources available to succeed academically than the subordinate groups. The achievement gap in our education system has been studied by many in the

This letter is in response to your complaint in reference to your son, Joseph Deffenbaugh Moschetti sustaining injuries while in foster care. You initially spoke to the Foster Care Ombudsman, Darin Mancuso from the Governor’s Advocacy Office (GAO) on June 15, 2015 after Mr. Mancuso saw your posts on Facebook regarding the injuries your son sustained while in foster care. Please accept this letter in response to your expressed concerns and as an explanation of our findings based on our investigation and review of the complaint.

Florida is a state composed of diverse cultures and languages. Prior to 1990 there were not any modifications or accommodations in the classroom for English Language Learners (ELL), which had become an increasing issue. During this decade Florida was the third largest state with residents that were not native-born. Historically, Florida has become the home for many individuals who migrated from Central and Latin America (MacDonald, 2004). According to the Consent Decree (n.d.), the Florida English speakers of other languages (ESOL) Consent Decree was a result of the case, LULAC et. al v. State Board of Education, August 14, 1990. This case addresses the civil rights of English Language Learners (ELLs). The plaintiffs in this case were LULAC and Multicultural Education, Training and Advocacy (META) and the defendant were Florida Board of Education. LULAC and META came together to bring justice to students whose native language was not English. The plaintiffs’ sought to implement policies to protect students whose native language was not English in order to create an equal learning environment. For example, English was the only means of communication in the classrooms and students who did not speak or understand the language would find themselves at a disadvantage. Due to the lack of modifications in place, students would eventually fall through the cracks of the school system. This case brought

The primary goal of any school district’s English Language Learner policy should be to ensure that all students receive equitable access to the curriculum. The Office of Civil Rights memorandum (May 25, 1970) requires school districts to take affirmative steps to provide equal access to instructional program for students with limited English proficiency. The Illinois Constitution guarantees every child from kindergarten through grade 12, access to a free public education; which means, regardless of a child’s home language, he/she deserves a free and appropriate education (Illinois State Board of Education, 1998).

In 1954 the Supreme Court saw a case called Brown v. Board of Education of Kansas. This case was about segregation of public schools but before this was to be found unconstitutional, the school system in Kansas and all over the United States had segregated schools. For example, Topeka Kansas had 18 neighborhood schools for white children, but only 4 schools for African American children. (Brown v. Board of Education) Many people believe that the problem is no longer existent; however, many present day African American students still attend schools that are segregated. This problem goes all the way back to the 18th and 19th centuries when slavery was prevalent, yet still to this day it has not come to an end. Complete racial integration has yet to happen in many areas. This problem is not only in the Kansas City School District, but all over the country. The segregation of races in schools can impact a student’s future greatly. The Kansas City school district has been known to have the most troubled school’s systems for a long time.(Source) I’m sure the school board is well aware of the problem of racial inequality that is before them, but I will help them become more aware of the problem and how it affects a student’s future. In today’s society it is commonly overlooked on how important the subject of racial segregation really is. In this memo I will discuss the topics of racial socialization and school based discrimination in Kansas City, and the resulting effects that

When it comes to students that have not officially mastered the English Language, schools should give students the opportunity to learn it. Schools are supposed to arrange services for students who are not familiar with the English Language. All students should be treated with the same respect and all students should receive some type of education no matter what their background comes from. English is a language that is very popular today in this world. When it comes to legal obligations for students that are English language learners, every student is supposed to have equal access to their education. It was mentioned that in the year of 1970 the Federal Office for Civil Rights, distributed a letter to all school’s districts mentioning that

“What it takes for English Learners to Succeed?” is an article written by Jana Echevarria, Nancy Frey, and Doug Fisher that discusses four accessible teaching practices that will allow English Learners in U.S. classroom to become academically successful and attain fluency in English. To clarify, the authors use practices such as access, climate, expectations, and language instruction to eliminate educational inequality and enable students to be able to fully participate in rigorous course work without excluding English Learners. Ultimately, this provides an approachable school reform, creates additive and transformative approach, as well as integration of multicultural perspective and lastly brings a way for language diversity to be seen in the classroom.

For many years the United States minority population mostly consisted of African Americans. In 2003, the statistic changed to Hispanics becoming the largest minority population in the United Sates (Parrado & Kandel, 2010). With the increase of the Hispanic population, education concerns of this population have started to arise. In some cases, Hispanics are being over referred to special education programs. This phenomenon is linked to the presence of a language barrier as well as other characteristics of the children in this population (Guiberson, 2009). Although the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) specify that language barriers should be ruled out, it seems that this phenomena continues, but could be

The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) defines medically underserved area as ranking low on a scale that involves physicians per 1000 people, infant mortality rate, percentage below poverty level, and population >65 years old. 9 The HHS defines medically underserved population as that which includes “economic barriers (low income or Medicaid-eligible populations or cultural/linguistic access barriers to primary medical care services.” 9 According to the American Pharmacist Association, approximately 85% of US states have 61-100% of counties with medically underserved areas. 11 “28% of poor, 23% of near poor…[lack] health insurance coverage,” which is much higher than the national percentage of 13%.6 When reviewing the risk factors for vaginitis such as lack of health insurance, tobacco use, lack of bachelors degree, Hispanic origin, etc., many of the women suffering from the condition fall under the category of the underserved population as defined above. This means that clinics with the purpose of treating underserved areas and populations must have a heightened awareness of the prevalence and significance of vaginitis and must be interested in staying up to date on the most efficient medical practice strategies given the patient population.

The Department of Health and Human Services and their partners continue to strive to meet the needs of all people regardless what the socioeconomic statuses are. DHHS focus is to encourage all people to become healthy. As many believe, that being healthy starts at home, schools, community and your workplace. Studies suggest that being healthy consist of one taking good care of themselves and their health needs, eating healthy, and not smoking or drinking. With the available resources that all will be able to have access to social and economic opportunities that consist of resources. Healthiness also consist of the cleanliness of your surroundings, water, air and nature. Through various partnerships of DHHS, the continuous of

Last semester, I was in a 2nd grade classroom at Randolph Elementary for my Teac297A Practicum. The school has 475 students and 31% are minority students. I talked to my cooperating teacher, who has been in education for over 20 years, about immigrant students who are learning English.