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The Language Acquisition and Educational Equity Workgroup reviews and proposes various recommendations to the House of Representatives.
Its members include child-language specialists, legislators and administrators. It meets regularly in February and March, with the aim of presenting recommendations for consideration by the General Assembly during this legislative session.
Lavielle, who represents Wesport, Wilton and Norwalk in the 143rd District, is also the ranking member of the General Assembly’s Education Committee.
As of October, there were nearly 35,000 students identified as English language learners attending the state’s public schools and speaking about 160 different languages including Spanish, Portuguese and Mandarin.
“The population of non-native English speakers in our public schools is growing, and it is imperative that we identify the best ways to help them learn English quickly so that they are equipped to reap the maximum benefits from our school system as early as possible,” said Lavielle.
“One of the most important concepts we discussed in our first meeting was flexibility. People learn languages differently depending on their age, their previous educational background in their first language and their motivation, among other factors. I’m very pleased that we won’t be seeking a one-size-fits-all solution.”
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