For the third straight year, growing numbers of California students with limited English skills have tested fluent, according to state scores released Tuesday that offered promising news about the performance of children who speak English as a second language.
"We're moving in the right direction," said state Supt. of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell. "These results are a clear indication that our English learners are making progress toward fluency."
State education officials attributed the increases to teachers who have been better trained in new standards for limited English students and in the use of specialized instructional materials, among other things.
But the results were tempered by other data that showed most students remain classified by their schools as limited English speakers even though they tested fluent.
Students who remain in the limited English category find it harder to gain access to more challenging classes, critics said. But such students also receive supplemental instruction in English.
Overall, the results from the California English Language Development Test showed that 47% of California's 1.3 million limited English students were fluent last year, compared with 43% for the previous year. The fluency rate has steadily increased from 25% in 2001.
Much of the increase was driven by students in the Los Angeles Unified School District, where the rising fluency rate outpaced the state.
In Los Angeles Unified, the state's largest school district, 49% of students with limited English skills were fluent in 2004, up from 16% in 2001.
School district officials said the encouraging results stemmed in large part from an increased focus on improving instruction for limited English students, who account for 42% of its 746,000 students.
"We know that if these students succeed, LAUSD succeeds, and ultimately, the state and city succeed," said Board of Education President Jose Huizar. "We are very proud of these results. But we have a long way to go."
Students with limited English abilities account for 25% of California's 6 million public school children. The state has been testing them since 2001 to gauge their familiarity with written and spoken English.
Kindergarteners and first-graders are tested in speaking and listening skills. Students in grades 2 through 12 also are tested in reading and writing.
