The Face Of Education Has Changed Over The Last Decade

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 &

English language learners (ELL) are one of the fastest growing classifications of students attending schools in the United States today. They represent a diverse group of students typically coming from homes or backgrounds where English is not the primary language spoken. Additionally, ELL students experience difficulties communicating or learning academic instruction in English.

Within the past ten years, the number of English Language Learners (ELLs) has doubled. An increase of more than 2 million ELL students in the U.S schools, left professionals within the field of education with no choice but to face the challenge of understanding cultural differences. In addition to this, educators must understand how these differences affect students’ language development, learning style, academic achievement and most importantly, his or her performance on standardized tests. These differences must be understood, valued and respected by all service providers, especially those who are involved in the decision making process concerning the placement of students in special educational programs. (Roseberry-McKibbin, 2014).

English Language Learners (hereafter referred to as ELLs) currently comprise 10% of the total school population in the United States (National Center for Education Statistics, 2005). It is a population that is going to continue to increase in American public education and their specific needs for learning literacy are of great importance to teachers. Since schools and teachers are increasingly judged based upon the academic achievement of students, then the success of the growing population of ELLs is going to be increasingly important. In the present paper the role of the teacher and specific research-based literacy strategies for ELLs is investigated.

“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.

When an educator walks into her classroom for the first time, she needs to be prepared to encounter students that come from a variety of backgrounds. The children will be in different stages of language development, and the educator must accommodate for each of these students. Magruder, Hayslip, Espinosa, and Matera (2013) state, “The US Census Bureau projects that by the 2030s, children whose home language is other than English will increase from roughly 22 percent to 40 percent of the school-age population” (p. 9). This increase in second language learners will cause the educator to accommodate for those needs. Second language learners “need teachers who welcome them and recognize their unique abilities, what they know, and what they need to learn” (Magruder, Hayslip, Espinosa, and Matera, 2013, p. 10).

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.

It is essential to understand English language learners’ needs because ELL students face the combined challenge of learning all the academic content as other students, while also learning the language of instruction. With the rapid growth in the size of the ELL student population in the U.S., teachers who are effective recognizes ELL students unique academic needs, unique background experience, culture, language, personality, interests and attitudes toward learning for the purpose to adjust, or differentiate, their instruction to meet students’ needs.

The class is a mainstreamed first grade co-teach class of 34 students and two teachers. There are 16 females and 18 males that included 12 active English Language Learners (ELLs) (5 females, 7 males) and five Level 5 (proficient) students. The 12 ELL students represent five languages—Spanish (7), Chinese (1), Chin Burmese (1), and Arabic (2), Brazilian Portuguese (1). Eight of the twelve students tested at Level 1 on the WIDA language proficiency scale.

The SUNY is a diverse university which has around 43% of minority students, including Hispanic/Latino, Black or African American, Asian/ Pacific Islander, ESL, and international students. Those students often encounter difficulties in English listening, speaking, reading, and writing, and understanding the Western academic culture, especially for ESL and international students. Since I received the professional training in teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL) in the Master’s and Ph.D. programs at the Ohio State University and have English teaching experience to diverse learners in EFL and ESL settings for around 9 years, I would like to help those minority students at the SUNY Oneota understand the Western academic culture, overcome academic difficulties they encounter, and improve their overall English competence. Helping those minority students is my short-term career goal. My long-term career goal is to increase K-12 content and ESL teachers’ and

Under the Civil Rights Act, schools are responsible for ensuring that all students receive equal access to education, including English Language Learners (ELLs). Merely, providing the same educational resources for all students does not constitute educational equality. Students such as ELLs, need an English Language Development (ELD) program that accommodates their specific language needs in order to legitimately offer equal educational opportunities. Based on research findings, districts need to implement and developing ELD programs that have had proven success rates of making adequate yearly progress for ELLs. For years, psychologists and linguistic theorists have speculated on the acquisition of language and educators have studied these research findings to enhance their teaching pedagogy to accommodate their ELLs.

The large school district in this study is located in the suburbs of New York City. The problem is ELL students are underachieving in reading and writing on state assessments when compared to non-ELLs in this district (NYSED, 2014b). Based on New York State’s Blueprint for English Language Learners Success (NYSED, 2014a), school districts have to ensure that all teachers can teach ELL students, and address diverse learning needs, such as cultural, linguistics, and socio-economic status, including students with disabilities. In addition, this problem impacts classroom teachers who may be highly qualified to teach content areas but may lack training in addressing the diverse learning needs of ELL students, which might include bridging cultural and language barriers (NCTE, 2008). Teachers need to be prepared to address the problem of underachievement for ELL students.

Our bilingual students and teachers are facing the same and more complication than a regular classroom. “English language learners, like all the students throughout the United States, are expected to excel on a single-measure high-stakes test” (D. Palmer, A.W. Lynch, June 2008). Not all the students master or gain their second language as the same way like everyone else, some student show difficulties in different areas but the most common one is the writing and reading because they have language gaps that they will being filling over time. “English Language Learners face a particular challenge: to perform in a language that they by definition do not master. Students who are limited in English are unlikely to be able to demonstrate their content knowledge on a test written in English” (Abedi 2004). I am a ELL student, when I was in 11th grade I felt the same pressure that most of the student felt to pass the TASK test to be available to continue with my education and graduated. It was difficult for me to pass the test because the gaps of the language and the vocabulary, I remember seen words that I didn’t recognize. When I took test, I did know that there where accommodation that could be set up for me because I was ELL student, instead I took the test without any accommodations. During that time, I had a lot of pressure from my teachers to

As a certified English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher, the English Language Learner (ELL) population is very near and dear to my heart. According to Barr, Eslami, & Joshi (2012), the ELL population is the fastest growing demographic in the U.S with most incoming students arriving from Asia/Pacific Islands and Hispanic regions. Both of these populations are expected to continue to increase in the future. Over two-thirds of this population over the age of 5 speak a second language at home. According to the 2013-2014 Texas Academic Performance Report (TAPR) there were 67 ELL enrolled on our campus, which is 3.6 percent of the total population of 1,851 students. Although this year our ELL population is lower than usual in future years are numbers are expected to grow exponential due to the rapid growth currently happening in our community. According to the Texas Education Agency (TEA), ELL students continue to have low achievement levels when compared to their native speaking peers. Data shows that as students get older, their success rates are lower and lower with over half not reaching mastery at the high school levels. Our campus is not different. The TAPR report shows that only 57% of our ELL population scored satisfactory on the end of year STAAR exam, which is almost 10% lower than the state average of 76% passing and 35% lower than the campus average of 92% passing. Due to these deficits, it is imperative to develop and plan of action that will help to bridge

During the 1990s the immigrant population expanded quickly and by a large amount. According to Eggen and Kauchak (2007) “experts estimate that by the year 2020 two thirds of the school population will be African American, Asian, Hispanic, or Native American. This means there will be great cultural diversity in our society and in our schools.” Educators will need to be educated on how to teach in a diverse classroom. Teachers will need to have an understanding for English-language learning children and the way they learn. All educators must be able to teach ELL students while encouraging them to continue to use their native language while learning to speak English. Teachers must also remember to try to keep all families