English Language Learners.....

This is a bit of a rant. I apologize, but I feel strongly about this. As mentioned in another post, I fight for the rights of my students. This is one case where I have to follow state law even though it frustrates the daylights out of me on their behalf. The problem does not lie with the students, nor does it lie with the ELL teacher. The problem lies with government.When I write of this, I write from experience. My Master's Degree was in ELL and Reading. I taught ELL class in elementary and middle schools. I have given the assessments, taught the students, supervised the para-educators and supported the teachers
This year I have a higher percentage than normal of my students who do not speak English in the home and whose parents require translation at conferences. These same students are no longer served by the ELL program, much to my frustration. Several problems occur for these students every year. 
Problem #1 The test. It was changed this year, hopefully for the better. That being said, I have not seen the newest version and cannot speak to its effectiveness. The old version was too easy for 5th grade students and too hard for Kindergarten. The SAME test was given to all ELL students. It also measured predominantly conversational language. Research shows that it takes, on average, 3-5 years to develop conversational language fluency. It takes 5-7 years to develop the same fluency with academic language. These students are tested yearly with this test to determine whether they qualify for services. The will spend one year being "monitored" (in the regular classroom with check in's by the ELL teacher to see how they are doing) before being exited from the program.
Problem #2 Statewide Assessment test. ALL ELL students must take the full state assessment test only ONE year after they enter public schools in our state. 1 year.....much less than what research supports. Not to mention, students who have been here less than one year take the Math portion anyway. Now, the test doesn't count against the school if they are in the less than a year population, and they can have a reader. However, the reader just reads. If the student cannot COMPREHEND the content, it may not make any difference in the outcome. Our math test is more of a reading test. Most problems are formatted as story problems.  If the student doesn't know words that are academic language specific to mathematics (average, factors, multiples), having a reader will not make a difference. Not to mention the fact that some are multiple choice while some require the student to write out their thinking in numbers, words, or pictures.
Problem #3 It is VERY difficult to get resource room help for an ELL student. In order for them to even be considered, there can be no doubt about whether their issues stem from cognitive ability rather than language. I understand that at one point in time, too many ELL students were given to the resource room, but now it seems that the pendulum has swung too far the other way. It does not make sense to assume that students other cultures will not have cognitive difficulties. If they need help, let's at least assess instead of assume.
In order to help these kids I speak often with the staff at school from the resource staff, to the ELL staff and beyond. I teach students using activities that will reach students who learn aurally (hearing), visually, and kinetically. We work in multi-level groups, we work with "expert" partners, with student and adult tutors, and anything else that I can think of to increase understanding. We read, we write, we discuss, we do. I front load vocabulary, I teach them to use resources (dictionary, thesaurus, internet). On top of that, I give the students skills to help themselves acquire language and comprehension so that when they reach the big world of middle school next year, they have a better chance of learning.