ORLANDO, Fla. — In an effort to help even the playing field, a bill filed in mid January hopes to help English language learners when it comes to standardized testing.
House Bill 159 and the similar Senate Bill 260, would give students still learning English a chance to take standardized tests in their first language to ensure they’re placed in the right classes.
What You Need To Know
- House Bill 159 and Senate Bill 260 hope to give students a chance to take standardized tests in their first language
- One of the co-sponsors of the bill, Democratic State Rep. Rita Harris, says the bills would help accurately assess students and place them in their correct classes
- Richell De Jesus believes, if administered correctly, the bills could help students of multiple background showcase their capabilities in school
- If passed, changes would go into effect during the 2027-2028 school year
The two bills are set to be considered for the next Florida Legislative Session in March, and were filed by Democratic State Rep. Rita Harris and Democratic State Sen. Kristin Arrington respectively, after hearing from teachers.
“During the course of the last year there were conversations about concern of you know kids who are ELL’s, or English Language Learners, being placed in the right classes,” said Harris. “And so, I worked with some stakeholders and thought this would be a great bill to file to ensure equity in learning.”
The bills look to ensure students are accurately assessed and if passed, the bills would call for the Department of Education to develop a version of each statewide standardized test in the three most prevalent languages represented in the ELL population.
It’s a piece of legislation that former Florida ELL student Richell De Jesus says would have benefited her when she moved to the U.S.
“A bill like this can help students be placed in the correct place where they need to be in school and give them the opportunity to be advanced and ahead if that’s what they need and not be sitting in a classroom where they know half of the material and they’re only there because they don’t know the actual language,” De Jesus explained.
De Jesus says she received all As and Bs while in the Dominican Republic. She says she was still proficient in subjects like math and science, but she struggled early on when it came to classes and standardized tests involving reading and writing in English.
“I feel like I wasn’t excelling at my full potential,” said De Jesus. “I couldn’t reach my full potential because of the language barrier.”
While De Jesus has been able to have a successful educational career and is currently a student at FAMU’s College of Law, the results from those first few standardized tests weighed on her confidence.
“So, I think it just affected my scores and my average performances and how I thought of myself because I wasn’t excelling like how I used to be back in the Dominican Republic,” she shared. “It was simply because I didn’t understand what I was reading and the materials.”
Harris says she has gotten great feedback from teachers as they feel this will help their students; while also giving families a say to choose what language they want their child to take standardized tests in.
It ensures that all students can properly showcase their capabilities.
“Here in Florida, it’s not just a bunch of Hispanic people, there is a lot of Hispanic people, but there’s also a lot of other minorities that speak Creole and other languages,” De Jesus said. “So, if they were to put the top three languages spoken other than English, then it would definitely benefit a lot more families and hopefully other states can implement things like this.”
Harris says she has yet to hear any negative feedback from the other side of the aisle on the proposed bills.
If passed, these changes could be seen in the 2027-28 school year.
