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Civil Rights Act of 1964
Title VI of this act prohibits the discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin with regards to education. This ensured that programs were implemented for students with limited English proficiency, based on sound educational theory, adequate staffing and resources, and periodic evaluations and revisions -
ESEA of 1965
This law ensured that equal access to funds and other resources were given to low income families. Since the majority of ELL students then were of low-income status, this gave them a better opportunity to learn. -
Title VII of The Bilingual Education Act of 1968
This bill provides grants to school districts and other eligible entities through a competitive grant process. While originally intended for students with a Spanish surname, it eventually broadened to include all students whose native language was something other than English. -
Lau v. Nichols of 1974
Students in the San Francisco Unified School District were placed into mainstream classrooms with little or no English proficiency and left to "sink or swim." This resulted in the Lau Remedies that were enacted so that title the Title VII regulations were only applied for schools and entities that received federal funding, but essentially became the de facto compliance standards regardless of whether funding was recieved. -
Serna v. Portales of 1974
This dealt with a primarily white New Mexico school that failed to meet the needs of "Spanish surnamed students." The complainants argued under Title VI of the Civil Rights act and ultimately won due to the discrimination showed based on race, color or national origin who the Act prohibits any federal funded school from doing. -
Equal Educational Opportunities Act of 1974
This act was enacted to solidify the Lau Remedies. The EEOA was implemented so that " No state shall deny educational opportunities to an individual based on race, color, sex or national origin by a educational agency failing to take the appropriate action to overcome language barriers that impede equal participation by its students in its instructional programs." When it was passed, it was interpreted as the legal right for ELL to receive bilingual education. -
Casteneda v. Pickford of 1981
A case originating in Texas, the plaintiffs charged the Raymondville School District for failing to to address the needs of ELL students. While federal court ignored the Lau remedies and EEOA, it found that the school district fell well short of meeting the requirements of EEOA. A three pronged test was designed as a result to ensure schools are taking appropriate action to address the needs of ELLs. -
Plyler v. Doe of 1982
This landmark case states that students have a right to a public education based on residence, regardless of whether or not they are documented immigrants or illegal aliens. -
NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND ACT OF 2001
NCLB had bilingual education programs eligible for funding without restrictions but put a cap on the number of years students could be in the program. This program also helped students be monitored and tracked their progress, by leaving it up to the individual states for the implementation of how they would track and assess such progress. -
Race To The Top of 2009
A competitive grant process where states were awarded points for satisfying certain educational policies that include performance based evaluations for teachers and principals based on different measures. -
Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015
While this act still retains the standardized testing requirements of NCLB, it shifts the laws federal accountability provisions to the states and raises funding for ELLs