Education Commons^™

Best Practices For English Learners With Disabilities In Us Schools – A Systematic Review, Samiratu Bashiru, Jennifer E. Smith

Journal of English Learner Education

This systematic review investigated best practices for enhancing academic achievement among English Learners with Disabilities (ELDs) in US schools. By examining 17 peer-reviewed articles and comparing them to the CEC 2014 Quality Indicators, the study identifies significant practices, including culturally responsive methods, technology integration, evidence-based strategies, addressing service delivery challenges, and improving assessment tools. This review has limitations related to inconsistent terminology and highlights the need for standardized language and continued research. It recommends integrating culturally responsive practices, leveraging technology, and refining inclusive assessment tools. This review provides educators, policymakers, and researchers insights, emphasizing ongoing teacher development and policy alignment …

A Strategic Exploration Of Bilingual Education Policy: An Interpretive Policy Analysis, Abbie Strunc, Helen Berg, Amber J. Godwin

School Leadership Review

Language diversity in the United States has always been part of its history, yet policy and funding have not always promoted bilingualism or multiculturalism. Throughout the history of bilingual education, administrators, politicians, and policymakers have changed their preferences and practices in response to trends and ideological shifts (Crawford, 2004). Even with a plethora of research regarding the benefits of bilingualism and biliteracy in support of bilingual education (Baker, 201; Camilleri, 1996; Fuh Suh, 2022; Goodman, & Tastanbek, 2021; McCarty, 1980), the literature on bilingual policy exclusively focuses on the use of two languages as languages of instruction with the sole …

Preparing Future School Counselors To Work With English Language Learners, Jennifer S. Watkinson, Qi Shi, Hope Slezak, Rachel Litvin

Journal of Counselor Preparation and Supervision

English Language Learners (ELLs) are one of the fastest growing student groups in the United States, yet school counselors often feel unprepared to address their unique needs. To better prepare school counselors to work with ELLs, counselor educators can integrate experiential learning activities that are grounded practice. Yet, little is known about the types of work experiences school counselors encounter when working with ELL students. This phenomenological study described the experiences of eight, first year school counselors who work with ELLs. Findings inform the types of training scenarios counselor educators can use to prepare school counselors-in-training (SCIT) to work with …

Dynamic Policy Solutions For Rural El Educators, Elizabeth Thorne Wallington, Adrienne Johnson

The Rural Educator

No abstract provided.

Virtual Tools Show Promise For Moving The Needle On Culturally And Linguistically Diverse Family Engagement, Tamra Mitchell, Socorro Herrera

The Advocate

The school building closures of spring 2020 fundamentally disrupted education in Kansas, but out of this disruption emerged the need and opportunity for schools and educators to be creative and innovative. At a time when every parent in our state was either employed as an essential worker and working longer hours, trying to work from home, or trying to navigate the loss of their job, they were also trying to support their children with continuous learning. This required Kansas schools to think differently and try new strategies for truly engaging families. One promising innovation that many schools piloted was to …

“Frozen Up Like An Ice Cube!”: The Influence Of Situated Learning On Pre-Service Teachers' Cultural And Linguistic Awareness, Omran Akasha

The Qualitative Report

The overall goal of this study was to explore the influence of situated learning experiences on pre-service teachers' perceptions and understandings of their future Arab students. This study investigated in part the interaction between culturally diverse families and pre-service teachers. It also explored changes in pre-service teachers’ attitudes and knowledge, their perceived applications of the situated experience to their future teaching, and the families’ reactions to this experience. Twelve Arab families volunteered to host 25 pre-service teachers as participants of this study. Results showed that the situated learning experience helped the pre-service teachers develop their cultural knowledge as well as …

Analysis Of Linguistic Inclusion In Tesol Courses For Teacher Candidates, Dylan Thibaut, Irina Mclaughlin

Journal of English Learner Education

According to TESOL standard 1, teacher candidates are required to have knowledge about language including: having knowledge in foreign language grammar and how English develops in ELLs (standard 1a), comprehension of language acquisition and how L1 influences learning (standard 1b), and understanding of the language process where an interlanguage develops as ELLs become comfortable using English (standard 1c) (TESOL International Association, 2018). To identify whether teacher candidates in TESOL courses are prepared to meet TESOL standards 1a, 1b, and 1c, a study was conducted to test one hundred teacher candidates’ knowledge of basic linguistic features of English and the five …

Left To Their Own Devices, Hugh Kesson

New Jersey English Journal

How do students use digital mobile devices as part of their learning? This study is a case based investigation of five students in two ELA classrooms, the full ELL population in two high school honors classes, in a comprehensive public high school in the United States. It adds to what we know about how students use digital mobile devices, and suggests the ways students need to be supported.

Ell Families: Myths, Truths And Strategies For Engagement, Stephanie Knight, Marjaneh Gilpatrick

Journal of English Learner Education

This article is the first in our new category, Teaching Tips. These are practitioner articles designed to enhance existing in-service teacher's classroom strategies with ELs.

Parental involvement may be the strongest predictor of a child receiving a solid education. This means it is vital that teachers and administrators understand the students’ families’ culture and the way they view education. We also must be proactive with them so that we can empower them with literacy strategies to ensure academic success. Also, many English Language Learner (ELL) families are not familiar with the school system in the United States and may …

Strategies For Teaching Information Literacy To English Language Learners, Clara Y. Tran, Selenay Aytac

Collaborative Librarianship

Academic librarians are encountering a growing number of English Language Learners (ELLs) every day, as our classrooms have become more linguistically diverse every year. In this dramatically changing environment, academic librarians are expected to meet the needs of increasingly diverse students speaking multiple languages. The purpose of this paper is to present widely used teaching strategies to support ELLs based on an exhaustive literature review. Study also suggests collaboration among ESL or classroom instructors and librarians to enhance semester-long learning experience.

English Language Learners And Special Education, Adam Sempek

Journal of Curriculum, Teaching, Learning and Leadership in Education

Language acquisition is not a cut and dried process, nor is the evaluation of English Language Learners. There are many factors that go into, and must be understood and considered by educators when it comes to working with English Language Learners and deciding if evaluation is appropriate, and if so, which evaluations and evaluation methods are appropriate to gather the most valid, representative data on the student. Being open-minded, understanding, and empathetic towards not just the process of language acquisition, but the individual student’s journey is a laudable beginning.

Ell Students: Literacy Development And Language Development, Heidi T. Penke

Journal of Curriculum, Teaching, Learning and Leadership in Education

The article is about the history of ELL students and the challenges they are faced in an educational setting. Also literacy development is discussed as educators need to be aware of the importance of literacy development. The article also discusses language development and language acquisition for an ELL student.

Expanding Capacity To Serve Multilingual Learners: A University-School District Partnership, Beth Clark-Gareca, Kim Fontana

Excelsior: Leadership in Teaching and Learning

In a time of new teacher certification requirements in New York, school districts are grappling with how to meet the regulatory expectations imposed by Commissioner’s Regulations Part 154. One way that schools are solving staffing challenges is by forging new collaborations with university partners to expand their collective capacities to serve Multilingual learners (MLLs). In this article, we document a partnership between SUNY New Paltz’s Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) program and the Pawling Central School District during the 2017-18 academic year. We describe the partners’ distinct roles in the university-district collaboration, and discuss the logistical considerations …

Lost In Translation, Kara M. Kavanagh

Dilemmas in Education: A Casebook for Ethical Reasoning

The majority of teachers in America would expect to and be prepared to teach the svastika symbol in relations to Nazi Germany, Hitler, the Holocaust, and as a symbol of White supremacy groups and hatred towards anyone who is not Blonde Haired and Blue Eyed. What would happen then, if a student doodled the svastika for fun or as an art project not related to the history or social studies curriculum?

How Did Those Get There? Exploring Structures And Pyramids On Mars, Abby Rau, Brooke Becker

Journal of STEM Arts, Crafts, and Constructions

The makeup of students in our classrooms is becoming more diverse. With this change comes the need for educators to provide accommodations for students and to employ a range of instructional strategies. Arts integration in the content areas is one way to engage students and to encourage individual expression. The purpose of this practical article is to highlight a lesson incorporating the arts and Edward de Bono’s CoRT Thinking Skills to support twice exceptional learners, specifically English Language Learners and students with Attention Deficit Disorder/Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Doctoral students considered the formation of pyramids and structures on Mars using …

The Efficacy Of Peer Presentations For English Language Learners, Courtney A. Roy

The Pegasus Review: UCF Undergraduate Research Journal

This study investigates whether the instructional strategy of peer presentations positively influences English Language Learners' (ELLs') relationships with peers and their personal perspectives on their institution, the sciences, and public discourse. Data collection instruments included a pre- and post-sociometric survey to quantitate each classroom's social status, and a pre- and post-qualitative inquiry of appreciation concerning academic topics via oral interviews. Three ELLs from two learning environments participated in an eight-day intervention, comprised of 45-minute instructive sessions, to become proficient with an arrangement of scientific experiments. After the three ELLs presented these experiments to their classmates, analysis of pre- and post-sociometric …

Improvisational Teaching For Emergent Bilinguals, Denchai Prabjandee

Journal of Educational Research and Innovation

The present collaborative ethnographic case study was design to explore teaching practices for English Language Learners (ELLs) in the United States, hereafter called "emergent bilinguals" (García, 2009). Through the theoretical lens of ethnographic vulnerability (Behar, 1996), I conducted 40-hour observations, four interviews, and artifact collections. By using an impressionist tale writing style throughout this article (Maanen, 2011), this paper presents the journey of an elementary school teacher who tries to employ classroom practices, teaching strategies, and assessments to educate emergent bilinguals. Drawing on ethnographic data, I propose an effective teaching approach called improvisational teaching. This teaching approach may be beneficial …

The Language Of Learning In Family And Consumer Sciences: English Language Learners In Career Technical Education, Kali S. Lenhoff

Empowering Research for Educators

Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS) content and English as a Second Language (ESL) strategies can be organically incorporated to create a successful education for an English Language Learner (ELL). The first objective of this research project is to discover how prepared Family and Consumer Sciences teachers feel to work with English Language Learners in the classroom. The second objective is to identify practical and effective methods and strategies that are useful for Family and Consumer Sciences teachers instructing English Language Learners. The rationale for this project is that by identifying the challenges faced by English Language Learners in education, teachers …

Ell Teachers’ Attitudes Of Google Earth For Inquiry-Based Instruction On Ell Students’ Language Development In A Rural New England State, Mark Congdon Jr., Ian Mette, Andrea Mercado, Laura Lindenfeld, Emily Tupper

Diversity, Social Justice, and the Educational Leader

This study investigated factors predicting the intentions of English Language Learner (ELL) teachers to use Google Earth for language development instruction. The researchers used quantitative research methods using an electronic survey (n=40), with a 28% return rate. Results indicated that attitude was a significant predictor of ELL teachers’ intentions to use Google Earth during instruction in a rural New England state. Additional findings indicate that when comparing teachers who intended or were using Google Earth during instruction to those who did not, there were significant differences between groups. However, 95% of ELL teachers within this rural state received no training …

Dreams Beyond Labels: Case Studies Of Four English Language Learners Who Are Beating The Odds, Julie Israelson

Journal of Educational Research and Innovation

Too often, English Language Learners are failing out or dropping out of school. However, there are ELLs that are enrolled in honors classes and on a college-bound path. This paper looks at four English Language Learners in Colorado who were beating the odds and experiencing high levels of academic achievement in school. Through in-depth case studies, these students identified the factors that were most influential in their educational routes. Parents, teachers, peers, and individual determination were described as significant factors.

Drama In Dialogic Read Alouds: Promoting Access And Opportunity For Emergent Bilinguals, James V. Hoffman, Doris Villarreal, Sam Dejulio, Laura Taylor, Jaran Shin

Journal of Pedagogy, Pluralism, and Practice

In this report, we explore the potential for drama pedagogy in the classroom to support the engagement and growth of emergent bilingual students in language and literacy. We are focused on the use of drama to promote dialogic interactions during teacher read alouds. This study was conducted as a collaborative, action research investigation involving classroom teachers and university-based researchers. Our goals focused on three areas. First, we were interested in the impact of the drama intervention on comprehension. Second, we were interested in the responses of students to drama in read alouds with attention to differences in responses related to …

Preparing Teacher Candidates For The Instruction Of English Language Learners, Monica Marie Gonzalez

Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research

This inquiry utilizes a sheltered instruction approach to lesson planning with the intention of improving teacher candidates’ instruction to English Language Learners (ELLs). In this study a web-based questionnaire and a sheltered instruction lesson plan template were used to facilitate opportunities for teacher candidates to reflect on and practice planning English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) instruction. Data collections used were nine web-based questionnaire responses and thirty sheltered instruction lesson plans. Findings suggest teacher candidates need more experiences with using ELLs’ language proficiency data for instruction and need to learn how to use rubrics when giving ELLs feedback on …

Deliberative Democracy: A Contested Interactive Space. A Response To "Deliberative Democracy In English Language Education: Cultural And Linguistic Inclusion In The School Community", Esperanza De La Vega

Democracy and Education

This is a response to Liggett’s (2014) call to implement “deliberate democracy” in English language education classrooms. While the concept of participating in deliberate democracy is a solid ideal and worthy of pursuit, I present questions and scenarios that illustrate the complicated nature of the tasks. By sharing my testimonio along with the research, I propose that in order for teachers to guide their students' participation in deliberate democratic activities, they must step back and understand the context of the sociocultural interactive space created in the classroom and whether ELL students are able to and/or prepared to speak in an …

Betla Teacher Leaders: An Unselfish Sense Of Purpose, Lillian Hernandez, Christian Solorza

Occasional Paper Series

Recognizing that much of the leadership in resolving the issues of quality and equity for English Language Learners (ELLs) will fall to teachers themselves, Bank Street's Bilingual/ESL Teacher Leadership Academy (BETLA) has taken on the mission of preparing teachers of ELLs for the intense and unique leadership challenges they will face. Our study of the narrative accounts of nine BETLA teacher leaders was designed to give voice to teachers who have often been silenced and to speak to the positive relevance of teacher leaders in today's schools.

Into The Field: Learning About English Language Learners In Newcomer Programs, Cecila Silva Dr., Stephen B. Kucer Dr.

Journal of Inquiry and Action in Education

This research examines the impact of field experiences with English language learners on the conceptual and emotional development of preservice disciplinary students. For one semester, preservice university students worked with English language learners enrolled in middle and high school Newcomer Programs. During this time the university students wrote reflection papers and grand learnings/lingering questions essays linking the field experiences with course readings and in-class activities. A qualitative analysis of these reflections found four critical content-based learnings related to English Language Learners emerged from these field experiences: (1) the distinction between content, language, and activity challenges, (2) conversational versus academic language, …

English-Spanish Cognates In The Charlotte Zolotow Award Picture Books: Vocabulary, Morphology, And Orthography Lessons For Latino Ells, José A. Montelongo, Anita C. Hernández, Roberta J. Herter

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

English-Spanish cognates are words that are orthographically and semantically identical or nearly identical in English and Spanish as a result of a common etymology. Because of the similarities in the two languages, Spanish-dominant Latino English Language Learners (ELLs) can be taught to recognize English cognates thereby increasing their bilingualism and bi-literacy for these two languages.

There are over 20,000 English-Spanish cognates, many of the academic vocabulary words. Despite their vast educational potential, however, cognates are typically excluded as a word category in the language arts curriculum, thus denying Latino ELLs of a resource for acquiring English-Spanish bilingualism and bi-literacy.

English-Spanish …

Giving Power Its Due: The Powerful Possibilities And The Problems Of Power With Deliberative Democracy And English Language Learners. A Response To "Deliberative Democracy In English-Language Education: Cultural And Linguistic Inclusion In The School Community", Jarrod S. Hanson

Democracy and Education

The use of deliberation with English Language Learners presents possibilities to both improve language learning, but also expand the potential for civics education for all students. In particular, this response examines the issue of power to extend Liggett's (2014) arguments for using deliberative democracy with English Language Learners and provides practical suggestions on how to address issues of power and improve civic education.

Lost In Institution: Learning To Write In Midwestern Urban Mainstream Classrooms, Yanan Fan

Journal of Southeast Asian American Education and Advancement

How do recent immigrant students learn to write in mainstream content area classrooms? This article considers this question in the under-investigated American Midwest contexts where schooling is being reframed by rapid changing demographics. Data for this paper come from an ethnographic case study of second language learning of a Vietnamese 9th grader in an urban school setting. Grounded in a sociocultural view of learning, the author examines (1) how the student negotiated the nature and purpose of writing among inconsistent expectations, objectives and responsibilities in mainstream, and (2) how she was lost in a lack of vision in literacy and …

Teachers’ And Students’ Beliefs About Ells In Mainstream Mathematics Classrooms, Stacie K. Pettit

Journal of Contemporary Research in Education

The purpose of this study was to explore the beliefs middle school mathematics teachers have about ELLs, to identify the strategies used to help ELLs, to explore the support teachers need to teach ELLs, and understand some of the experiences of ELLs in mainstream mathematics classrooms. In addition to student and teacher interviews, 106 middle school mathematics teachers from 11 school systems completed a questionnaire. The qualitative portion of the data is presented here.

English Language Learners And Judicial Oversight: Progeny Of Castañeda, Lenford C. Sutton, Luke Cornelius, Robyn Mcdonald-Gordon

Educational Considerations

When the 93rd Congress enacted the Equal Education Opportunity Act of 1974 (EEOA), it required states to take appropriate action to overcome language barriers that inhibited equal education participation by their resident students.