Bill Text: IL HJR0036 | 2015-2016 | 99th General Assembly | Engrossed
Bill Title: Creates the Bilingual Advisory Task Force.
Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 7-1)
Status: (Passed) 2015-07-01 - Adopted Both Houses [HJR0036 Detail]
Download: Illinois-2015-HJR0036-Engrossed.html
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1 | HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION 36
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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
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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
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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
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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
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3 | WHEREAS, Most Illinois counties now have EL enrollees; and
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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
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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
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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
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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) 3 educators | ||||||
16 | who hold a professional educator license endorsed for bilingual | ||||||
17 | education or English as a second language from 3 different | ||||||
18 | school districts in the northern, central, and southern region | ||||||
19 | of the State appointed by the State Superintendent of | ||||||
20 | Education; (6) 3 educators who hold a professional educator | ||||||
21 | license endorsed for bilingual education or English as a second | ||||||
22 | language from 3 different school districts in the northern, | ||||||
23 | central, and southern region of the State appointed by the | ||||||
24 | State Superintendent of Education; (7) one administrator of a | ||||||
25 | school district with an English Learner student population of |
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1 | at least 20% appointed by the State Superintendent of | ||||||
2 | Education; (8) the Executive Director of a statewide | ||||||
3 | association representing principals, or his or her designee, | ||||||
4 | who is the principal of a school in a school district with an | ||||||
5 | English Learner student population of at least 20% appointed by | ||||||
6 | the State Superintendent of Education; (9) the President of an | ||||||
7 | association representing principals in a city with a population | ||||||
8 | of more than 500,000, or his or her designee, who is the | ||||||
9 | principal of a school in a school district with an English | ||||||
10 | Learner student population of at least 20% appointed by the | ||||||
11 | State Superintendent of Education; (10) one school district | ||||||
12 | administrator of bilingual education programs that meet the | ||||||
13 | requirements under 23 Ill. Admin. Code 228.35(d) appointed by | ||||||
14 | the State Superintendent of Education; (11) the State | ||||||
15 | Superintendent of Education or his or her designee; and (12) | ||||||
16 | the Executive Director of the Illinois Community College Board | ||||||
17 | or his or her designee; and be it further
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18 | RESOLVED, That the Bilingual Advisory Task Force shall | ||||||
19 | first meet at the call of the State Superintendent of Education | ||||||
20 | and following meetings shall meet at the call of the Co-Chairs; | ||||||
21 | and be it further
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22 | RESOLVED, A quorum of the Bilingual Advisory Task Force | ||||||
23 | shall consist of a majority of the members of the Bilingual | ||||||
24 | Advisory Task Force; and be it further
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1 | RESOLVED, That the Co-Chairs of the Bilingual Advisory Task | ||||||
2 | Force may add additional
non-voting members to the Task Force; | ||||||
3 | and be it further
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4 | RESOLVED, That the Bilingual Advisory Task Force shall | ||||||
5 | evaluate whether the
framework for existing bilingual | ||||||
6 | education, including Transitional Bilingual Education
programs | ||||||
7 | and the Transitional Program of Instruction, is appropriate for | ||||||
8 | learning today; and be it further
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9 | RESOLVED, That the Bilingual Advisory Task Force shall | ||||||
10 | evaluate the use of learning
technologies in bilingual | ||||||
11 | education to ensure that the same techniques, types of | ||||||
12 | software,
and hardware are used to educate English Learners as | ||||||
13 | are provided today for mainstream
classrooms; and be it further
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14 | RESOLVED, That the Bilingual Advisory Task Force shall | ||||||
15 | examine the competencies,
experience, and coursework necessary | ||||||
16 | to teach in a setting in which English Learners are
involved; | ||||||
17 | and be it further
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18 | RESOLVED, That the Bilingual Advisory Task Force shall make | ||||||
19 | recommendations that
will ensure that all bilingual programs | ||||||
20 | focus on the parallel goals of achieving academic
parity for | ||||||
21 | English Learners while, at the same time, accelerating English |
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1 | proficiency so
that bilingual students are prepared to perform | ||||||
2 | well in the mainstream classroom; and be it further
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3 | RESOLVED, That the Bilingual Advisory Task Force shall make | ||||||
4 | recommendations
regarding whether the existing requirement and | ||||||
5 | supporting regulations for bilingual
education lead to | ||||||
6 | deployment of all necessary educational, technological, and | ||||||
7 | human
resources to support the academic success of bilingual | ||||||
8 | students; and be it further
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9 | RESOLVED, That the Bilingual Advisory Task Force shall seek | ||||||
10 | input from stakeholders
and members of the public on issues and | ||||||
11 | possible improvements to bilingual education in
Illinois; and | ||||||
12 | be it further
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13 | RESOLVED, That the State Board of Education shall provide | ||||||
14 | administrative support for
the Bilingual Task Force; and be it | ||||||
15 | further
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16 | RESOLVED, That the Bilingual Task Force submit its findings | ||||||
17 | and recommendations to
the Governor and General Assembly by | ||||||
18 | December 15, 2015; and be it further
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19 | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | ||||||
20 | delivered to the General
Assembly, the Governor, the | ||||||
21 | Chairperson of the State Board of Education, and the State
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1 | Superintendent of Education; and be it further
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2 | RESOLVED, That the State Board of Education shall provide a | ||||||
3 | copy of this resolution to
school districts in the State.
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