Educating English-Language Learners

Law student Eva Shell argues that Massachusetts “has failed to adequately serve the needs of its English-learner students“ in a commentary written for the Rappaport Briefing.

“If Massachusetts is to remain competitive in the national and international market, it must invest in the growing population of English-learners by ensuring that they receive adequate education in public schools,” she writes in the commentary “State must address challenges in serving English language learners.”

Shell points out that voters mandated English immersion in Massachusetts schools in a 2002 ballot initiative, but that training has been inadequate and underfunded. The result: The US Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and the US Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights began investigating … deficiencies in services for English-learner students.”

Shell’s analysis is available in the Rappaport Briefing, which offers a collection of student commentaries on issues confronting state and local government in Massachusetts, from utilities regulation to the new “Bottle Bill.”

The briefing blog, created by the Rappaport Center for Law and Public Service at Suffolk University Law School, also presents news about Rappaport Center activities.

Shell, a student at Suffolk University Law School, is focused on civil rights, education policy, criminal justice policy, and criminal defense. She is interning with the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office during the summer as she prepares for her final year of law school.