Despite the substantive body of research on African American Language (AAL), designating it a meaningful, rule-governed language system and the first language of many African Americans, schools in the US have systematically failed to integrate a language policy related to African American English learners (AAELs). In this article, we employ a…

Discusses "Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School Children, et al. v Ann Arbor School District Board," a court decision requiring that teachers be instructed in the role and significance of Black English. Argues that the issues of educational achievement and Black English do not constitute a matter for the courts. (GC)

This document contains the text of a United States District Court decision on a Michigan school district's proposed plan designed to help the teachers at a local elementary school (1) to identify those children who speak Black English and to determine the language spoken as a home or community language, and (2) to employ that knowledge in teaching…