English Language Learners Left Behind in Arizona: The Nullification of Accommodations in the Intersection of Federal and State Policies

Current educational reform efforts in Arizona involve three major federal and state language and assessment policies: (a) AZ LEARNS (2001), Arizona's high-stakes testing and school accountability program; (b) No Child Left Behind (2002); and (c) Proposition 203 (2000), which places restrictions on programs for English language learner (ELL) students. Each policy calls for the full inclusion of ELLs in statewide high-stakes testing. These policies are analyzed from frameworks of educational language policy. The findings reveal that these school reform efforts function as restricted-oriented language policies, particularly as the three policies intersect. Furthermore, it is found that most of the accommodations for ELLs called for within these policies are nullified in the intersection, especially at the level of interpretation and implementation. The remaining accommodation-oriented policies are less helpful to ELLs, and may in fact be more beneficial to state policy actors by masking the harmful effects their restricted-oriented policies are having on ELL students. Suggestions for improving this situation are considered in the Conclusion.