Reviews Find ELL Programs Lacking in Four Districts

Four urban districts—in Boston; Buffalo, N.Y.; Portland, Ore.; and Seattle—did not provide special help to learn English to all students entitled to it under federal law, according to reviews of those school systems over the past two years.

The reviews, some of which were conducted by state officials and others by private, independent groups, come as the Obama administration steps up enforcement of civil rights laws in schools. But directors of programs for English-language learners in those four districts, who say they are trying to fix the problem, maintain that part of the issue is confusion over how to apply federal civil rights laws to the education of such students. For example, they’ve had questions about whether they must give extra help to ELLs whose parents choose to send them to neighborhood schools that don’t offer services for such children, and they aren’t always sure when it’s appropriate to move students out of special programs.

The U.S. Department of Justice and Department of Education are expected to bring some clarity to the challenge of upholding the civil rights of ELLs as they undertake investigations of ELL programs in districts around the country. The Justice Department has opened 15 such investigations since President Barack Obama took office in January 2009, according to Xochitl Hinojosa, a spokeswoman for the federal agency. Boston is one of them. In March, the Education Department announced that it, too, was increasing enforcement of civil rights laws in schools through its office for civil rights, which has since started investigations of ELL services in...