Full Text of HJR0036 99th General Assembly
HJ0036 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, Illinois has required its public schools to | 3 | | provide bilingual education services to English Learners (EL) | 4 | | since 1972; today, more than 600 school districts serve
more | 5 | | than 205,000 language-minority children with bilingual | 6 | | programs, with the goal of
transitioning all English Learners | 7 | | into mainstream classrooms in 3 years or less; although most EL | 8 | | students are native speakers of Spanish, EL enrollees are | 9 | | native
speakers of 139 different languages; and
| 10 | | WHEREAS, Illinois bilingual educators have been remarkably | 11 | | innovative, professional,
and successful; despite many serious | 12 | | obstacles to success, two-thirds of bilingual
students attain | 13 | | English proficiency; only 2.7% of language-minority students | 14 | | drop out
before completing transitional bilingual programs; | 15 | | students who gain English proficiency
meet or exceed the | 16 | | Illinois Standards Achievement Test performance of native
| 17 | | English speakers in reading and mathematics for grades 6, 7, | 18 | | and 8; about 7,400 teachers
hold some type of EL certification; | 19 | | and
| 20 | | WHEREAS, The State Board of Education adopted new learning | 21 | | standards in 2010 and is
implementing an aligned assessment | 22 | | this year; it is important to know how these
changes are | 23 | | impacting ELs, as well as the issues being discussed in |
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| 1 | | Congress regarding the
rewrite of the Elementary and Secondary | 2 | | Education Act; and
| 3 | | WHEREAS, Most Illinois counties now have EL enrollees; and | 4 | | WHEREAS, Illinois adopted the State Seal of Biliteracy, to | 5 | | be awarded beginning in
the 2014-2015 school year, promoting | 6 | | the importance of the development of proficiency in 2
or more | 7 | | languages; ELs arrive at schools with linguistic assets in | 8 | | their home languages,
which, if developed, can be a basis for | 9 | | biliteracy; while State law requires services for
ELs, | 10 | | including developing English proficiency, it does not require | 11 | | the maintenance and
development of the home language; | 12 | | unsupported, proficiency in the home language can
be lost over | 13 | | time; subsequently, like other students, ELs often take a | 14 | | foreign language in
high school; we must study how to better | 15 | | develop home languages and promote
biliteracy in conjunction | 16 | | with services for ELs; and
| 17 | | WHEREAS, Computers are now in widespread use in public | 18 | | schools, but primarily in
mainstream classrooms; the potential | 19 | | of modern
technology has yet to be harnessed in bilingual and | 20 | | EL classrooms and must be studied on how best to be | 21 | | incorporated into EL programs; and
| 22 | | WHEREAS, Teachers, schools, and districts have developed |
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| 1 | | highly effective instructional
strategies that may not be | 2 | | widely known; it is time to comprehensively identify those
best | 3 | | practices so that all programs may use them; therefore, be it
| 4 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 5 | | NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE | 6 | | SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that there is created the Bilingual | 7 | | Advisory Task Force, consisting of the following members: (1) 2 | 8 | | individuals appointed by the Speaker of the House, one of whom | 9 | | shall be a member of the House of Representatives, and the | 10 | | other whom shall serve as Co-Chair; (2) 2 individuals appointed | 11 | | by the Senate President, one of whom shall be a member of the | 12 | | Senate, and the other whom shall serve as Co-Chair; (3) one | 13 | | member of the House of Representatives appointed by the | 14 | | Minority Leader of the House; (4) one member of the Senate | 15 | | appointed by the Minority Leader of the Senate; (5) the | 16 | | Lieutenant Governor of the State of Illinois, or his or her | 17 | | designee; (6) 3 educators who hold a professional educator | 18 | | license endorsed for bilingual education or English as a second | 19 | | language from 3 different school districts in the northern, | 20 | | central, and southern region of the State appointed by the | 21 | | Speaker of the House and President of the Senate; (7) 3 | 22 | | educators who hold a professional educator licensed endorsed | 23 | | for bilingual education or English as a second language from 3 | 24 | | different school districts in the northern, central, and | 25 | | southern region of the State appointed by the Minority Leader |
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| 1 | | of the Senate and the Minority Leader of the House; (8) one | 2 | | administrator of a school district with an English Learner | 3 | | student population of at least 20% appointed by the State | 4 | | Superintendent of Education; (9) the Executive Director of a | 5 | | statewide association representing principals, or his or her | 6 | | designee, who is the principal of a school in a school district | 7 | | with an English Learner student population of at least 20%; | 8 | | (10) the President of an association representing principals in | 9 | | a city with a population of more than 500,000, or his or her | 10 | | designee, who is the principal of a school in a school district | 11 | | with an English Learner student population of at least 20%; | 12 | | (11) one school district administrator of bilingual education | 13 | | programs that meet the requirements under 23 Ill. Admin. Code | 14 | | 228.35(d) appointed by the State Superintendent of Education; | 15 | | and (12) the State Superintendent of Education or his or her | 16 | | designee; and be it further | 17 | | RESOLVED, That the Co-Chairs of the Bilingual Advisory Task | 18 | | Force may add additional
non-voting members to the Task Force; | 19 | | and be it further | 20 | | RESOLVED, That the Bilingual Advisory Task Force shall | 21 | | evaluate whether the
framework for existing bilingual | 22 | | education, including Transitional Bilingual Education
programs | 23 | | and the Transitional Program of Instruction, is appropriate for | 24 | | learning today; and be it further |
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| 1 | | RESOLVED, That the Bilingual Advisory Task Force shall | 2 | | evaluate the use of learning
technologies in bilingual | 3 | | education to ensure that the same techniques, types of | 4 | | software,
and hardware are used to educate English Learners as | 5 | | are provided today for mainstream
classrooms; and be it further | 6 | | RESOLVED, That the Bilingual Advisory Task Force shall | 7 | | examine the competencies,
experience, and coursework necessary | 8 | | to teach in a setting in which English Learners are
involved; | 9 | | and be it further | 10 | | RESOLVED, That the Bilingual Advisory Task Force shall make | 11 | | recommendations that
will ensure that all bilingual programs | 12 | | focus on the parallel goals of achieving academic
parity for | 13 | | English Learners while, at the same time, accelerating English | 14 | | proficiency so
that bilingual students are prepared to perform | 15 | | well in the mainstream classroom; and be it further | 16 | | RESOLVED, That the Bilingual Advisory Task Force shall make | 17 | | recommendations
regarding whether the existing requirement and | 18 | | supporting regulations for bilingual
education lead to | 19 | | deployment of all necessary educational, technological, and | 20 | | human
resources to support the academic success of bilingual | 21 | | students; and be it further |
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| 1 | | RESOLVED, That the Bilingual Advisory Task Force shall seek | 2 | | input from stakeholders
and members of the public on issues and | 3 | | possible improvements to bilingual education in
Illinois; and | 4 | | be it further | 5 | | RESOLVED, That the State Board of Education shall provide | 6 | | administrative support for
the Bilingual Task Force; and be it | 7 | | further | 8 | | RESOLVED, That the Bilingual Task Force submit its findings | 9 | | and recommendations to
the Governor and General Assembly by | 10 | | December 15, 2015; and be it further | 11 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 12 | | delivered to the General
Assembly, the Governor, the | 13 | | Chairperson of the State Board of Education, and the State
| 14 | | Superintendent of Education; and be it further
| 15 | | RESOLVED, That the State Board of Education shall provide a | 16 | | copy of this resolution to
school districts in the State.
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