Get Informed.
…to Improve Teaching and Learning. You may know that:
- English language learners are among the fastest growing but most segregated student groups in U.S. schools: Seventy percent of ELLs are concentrated in just 10% of schools.
- The over 5 million children who are ELLs speak over 400 languages. Almost eight in ten speak Spanish as a first language. The nine other most commonly-spoken languages are: Vietnamese, Chinese, Hmong, Korean, Haitian Creole, Arabic, Russian, Tagalog, and Navajo.
- Schools with high numbers of ELLs are far more likely to rely on substitute teachers and teachers with provisional certification than schools with fewer ELLs.
- Achievement gaps are substantial: We are preparing only 7% of English learners to achieve basic mathematics proficiency.
- Schools in California, Texas, Florida, Illinois and New York continue to serve large numbers of English learners, but in recent years, ELL student enrollment has dramatically increased in southern and Midwestern states.
To learn more, visit Education of English Language Learners in U.S. and Texas Schools – Where We Are, What We Have Learned and Where We Need to Go from Here – A 2009 Update. IDRA’s latest policy update, released April 2009, provides an overview of the demographics of ELL students, instructional programs and funding programs, along with recommendations for improving policy and practice.
You may also want to see The Urban Institute’s Putting English Language Learners on the Educational Map; the U.S. Department of Education’s Biennial Report to Congress on The Implementation of the Title III State Formula Grant Program; The US Census Bureau’s “Language Needs of School Age Children” and Education Week’s Portrait of a Population.
Get Connected.
…for Quality Teaching. In a survey of California teachers of English language learners, Dr. Patricia Gándara and her colleagues found that professional development and support for teachers of English language learners is lacking or “uneven.” Visit Listening to Teachers of English Language Learners to learn more about what teachers feel is needed.
…for Pathways to Graduation. As part of IDRA’s Pathways to Graduation project, African-American and Latino leaders in the south and in the southwest are developing blueprints for action to better serve all students, including English language learners. To find out how, visit The Need for Cross-Race, Cross-Sector Dialogues, an IDRA Classnotes podcast with project director Dr. Rosana Rodriguez in conversation with co-leads Ms. Frances Guzmán and Dr. Bradley Scott.
…for Community Collaboration. In places like Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where demographics are shifting, residents are using the Everyday Democracy Study Circles Program to work together, rather than at odds, to reduce language barriers by supporting bilingual education in local schools, increase cross-cultural understanding, and create a diverse city-county task force.
Get Results.
…in Teaching and Learning. Get Good Schools and Classrooms for Children Learning English: A Guide by María "Cuca" Robledo Montecel, Ph.D.; Josie Cortez, M.A.; Albert Cortez, Ph.D., and Abelardo Villarreal, Ph.D., for research on the characteristics of successful bilingual education programs and recommendations on how you can raise the bar at your school.
…in Student Engagement. In Fostering Student Engagement for English Language Learners an IDRA Classnotes podcast, Kristin Grayson, M.Ed., an IDRA education associate, outlines IDRA’s engagement-based sheltered instruction model and its research base.
…in School Leadership and Instruction. Properly Serving English Language Learners features a conversation with Dr. Abelardo Villarreal, director of IDRA field services, on what schools need to do to ensure that ELLs receive educational services that meet the quality and equity standards to graduate prepared for college and work.
…in Early Childhood. Visit Science in Early Childhood Bilingual Classrooms for a conversation with Dr. Rosalinda Barrera, dean of the College of Education at Texas State University in San Marcos, on the need for schools to actively integrate science instruction into the earliest grades for second language learners.
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Are students of all background engaged in learning at your school? Visit: Voices of Students on Engagement: A Report on the 2006 High School Survey of Student Engagement by Dr. Ethan Yazzie-Mintz, Center for Evaluation and Education Policy.
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We want to hear from you! You have received this e-letter either because you expressed interest in the topic or somebody who likes you forwarded it to you. Have a story of school-community partnership that's raising graduation rates? Let us hear from you. To submit questions or comments, send e-mail to gradforall@idra.org.
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The Intercultural Development Research Association is an independent, private non-profit organization whose mission is to create schools that work for all children.
Thanks for reading!
Laurie Posner
Graduation for All Coordinator
Intercultural Development Research Association
5815 Callaghan Road, Suite 101
San Antonio, Texas 78228
210.444.1710
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