Limited English Proficiency

General education classroom teachers are responsible for providing the primary instruction for English Language Learners (ELLs) development in English literacy skills (Thompson, 2004). Supplying ample resources to accommodate ELLs inside and outside of the classroom are essential as the number of ELL students has grown steadily. According to research, “one out of four of all children in the United States are from immigrant families, and in most cases these children speak a language other than English at home” (Samson & Collins, 2012 p. 4). Further research suggests, “students from a non-English speaking home and background account for the fastest growing population of children in the kindergarten through twelfth grade setting (Short &

Recently, as the schools in the United States become more diverse in cultures, the needs for new English learners to learn the basic of English and grow in fluency has expanded. Nevertheless, a major of English learners receive insufficient education and have low achievement at school. Therefore, the approach of the schools for English learners might not be sufficient for them to unchain themselves from the boundary of differences in language and culture. As a result, the article “What It Takes for English Learners to Succeed” from Jana Echevarria, Nancy Frey, and Doug Fisher provides a guideline for teachers to help their English learners by using the four practices of “Access, Climate, Expectation, and Language Instruction.” The four practices can be divided into two categories. Access, climate, and expectations focus on educational settings, while language instruction focuses on teaching contents.

“What it takes for English Learners to Succeed?” is an article written by Jana Echevarria, Nancy Frey, and Doug Fisher that illustrate concepts that will allow English Learners to become fluent in English. The purpose of this article is to discuss four accessible teaching practices that will allow English Learners in U.S. classroom to become academically successful and attain fluency in English. To clarify, the authors use access, climate, expectations, and language instruction as the practices that will eliminate education inequality and enable students to be able to fully participate in rigorous course work without excluding English Learners. Ultimately this provides an approachable school reform, creates additive integration of multicultural perspective and approach and lastly brings a way for language diversity to be seen in the classroom.

Imagine you are young teenage girl in the high school setting. You look the same as everyone else. Nothing on the outside appears to be abnormal. You want to be included and do everything else the other students are doing. However, you have this learning disability no one knows about except for you, your parents, the exceptional educator, and now your general education teachers. It’s not easy being different wanting to do everything the other students are doing. Well, this is why mainstreaming and inclusion are important for these students. They want to be successful like everyone else. They want to fit in. They want to go to the general education classes with everyone else. Leading up to this is why Individual Education Plans

English learners are currently the fastest developing student population in schools today. This makes it extremely important to provide these students with the programs and services they deserve. Providing a strong education for ELL students is what I personally believe to be an asset in America’s future. Today there are many challenges I believe teachers and students face when it comes to instruction and assessments.

• Test scores comparing ELL students and native speakers of English as well as number of ELL students identified as requiring special education services

Migrant children face a number of obstacles when they move to a foreign country and these challenges can greatly affect students’ school performance. The result of whether or not an immigrant student goes to college is greatly concerned with the “social-class split within the immigrant population” (Jaffe-Walter & Lee, 2011, pg.281). Immigrant families who have an upper class background tend to have the resources they need to succeed in America. These families are less likely to struggle financially and are able to give their children a proper education. Upper class immigrants are more likely to be involved and aware of the problems within a school system and are willing to fight against them. Highly educated settlers have a greater opportunity to send

Define mainstreaming, least restrictive environment, regular education initiative, and full inclusion. Please also share any experiences you may have had with either of the systems.

It is no secret that the debate over what is the best course of action to educate our non-native English language students across the country is a highly charged topic that runs from the classroom to Capitol Hill. There have been many shifts in direction and focus of educational programs for English Language Learning (ELL) students during the past century in our nation's history. In 1968, with the passage of the Bilingual Education Act (Title VII of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act) legislation was

The authors of the article explained how important it is to meet the needs of the students with limited English ability in the education system. One of the main point expresses about how frustrating it could be for these students, especially if they were never expose to this sort of environment or language before. Another point that was made in the article, explains how the educational system was not prepared for changes in this sort of population. In most cases, some of the curriculum that is being offered in school cannot be changed to accommodate English Limited Learners, also known as ELLs. Budget is also another issue, as schools are limited to hiring more ELL teachers.

Over the last decade or so, important legislation has been implemented to positively ensure fair and equal access to a quality education for English Language Learners (ELL). Change did not happen without there being obstacles to overcome. There were many overturned cases that initially sought to strip English Language Learners of their basic rights to an education. Yet, there would eventually be legislation instituted to help alter the course.

There can be several different reasons why an English Language Learner can have troubles comprehending the English language. Poverty can play a huge role when in explaining why many English language learners have the troubles in mastering the English language. The State testing has varied throughout the years, along with the degrees of assessments and progress. Teachers also need constructive feedback to properly assess their own progress. The increase prescription of ADHD medication can also be a factor. Programs like SLADI in effect that pulls ELL’s from mainstream classrooms to focus on advanced grammatical structures of the English language; all in which, have been unsuccessful in aiding the student to acquire mastery within the English language domains of reading and writing. Comparing a personal experience I had dealt with wasted school year time, regarding an ELL student, involves a teacher being out of touch with her student and giving inappropriate leveled work. All of these issues work hand in hand. The ultimate goal is to teach literacy and to reach proficiency within the English language.

During the past five months, I have worked with a group of ELL’s that are both motivated to achieve academically and to learn English as a second language. Plus, as the daughter of immigrants and as an English Language Learner, I know first hand that we are capable of achieving high academic standards. Therefore, I never believed the myths mentioned about ELL’s not being capable to achieve high academic standards nor did I believe that they are not motivated to learn. I did, however, believed that the best way for ELLs to learn the language was through exposure.

Now the word segregation might sound a bit confounding, conjuring up images of race and riot, but this segregation is different. As the January 19, 2007, Inside Higher Education points out, today’s segregation transcends race and separates people by education and affluence. Americans with college and postgraduate degrees increasingly cluster in a handful of locations, leaving the rest of the country intellectually and economically sapped, the victims of a brain drain. The America that was once a melting pot for dreams and ideas accessible by all from sea to shining sea is now an America where dreams come true for the talented few only when they live by a sea. The segregation caused by this out-migration of high-ability youth from where they were raised to a few economically and intellectually vibrant locales cripples rural America and even some urban areas, while destabilizing the American economy and society. Brain drain has caused the American melting pot to reach a melting point.

The topic that will be researched is mainstreaming special educational students in the general educational setting. I choose this broad subject because I am currently a second grade teacher and have several students that are mainstreamed in the general education classroom. Mainstreaming is when “students get to receive their education with their non-disabled peers who are the same age as them” (Foust, 2012). This is the first year that we are doing guided reading in our school and I would really like to see data to show the benefits of having all students in the same classroom doing the same curriculum.