Language acquisition
The middle grades demand much from students—even those who are just beginning to learn English. Title III of No Child Left Behind requires schools to provide language instruction for English learners (ELs) and immigrant students.
However, a 2006 study from the UC Linguistic Minority Research Institute found that California’s ELs attend highly segregated schools. According to the researchers, segregation limits educational opportunities for ELs in the following ways:
- Many ELs in California do not have access to native English speakers to serve as language role models.
- Many of the ELs in California come from low-income households, so a high concentration of ELs also means that many of them attend low-income schools. As noted under socioeconomic status, attending a low-income school is a significant disadvantage in itself.
- Schools with high concentrations of ELs are less likely to have fully certified teachers even after differences in school poverty are accounted for.1
In the Spotlight
Canyon Middle School, Castro Valley Unified School District, a 2007 Schools to Watch™-Taking Center Stage Model School
Teachers use a wide variety of differentiated instructional strategies to address the learning of all students. For example, teachers use lecture, group activities, projects, field trips, posters, 3-D models, skits, and musical presentations to deliver standards-based curricula. Teachers have learned to modify and scaffold lessons to assist English learners and students with disabilities. Quarterly Saturday Academies provide preteaching in content areas along with homework assistance. In addition, Canyon’s California Junior Scholarship Federation students provide tutoring in the library after school.
Millikan Middle School,
Los Angeles Unified School District, a 2005 Schools to Watch™-Taking Center Stage Model School
In an effort to encourage parents and students who are learning English to reclassify as fluent English proficient (RFEP), Millikan staff members host large ceremonies to celebrate when students reclassify. The events double as parent education, and show both students and their family members the benefits of working toward proficiency. In addition to the fun of the ceremony, one of the benefits that motivates the students is the ability to take electives.
In school year 2003-04, national data showed that in nearly two-thirds of the states, the percentage of students with limited-English proficiency scoring proficient on language arts and mathematics tests was lower than the state’s annual progress goals.2 Teacher training on sheltered English and differentiation will help incrementally but may not be enough to move students to grade-level standards.
In the Spotlight
Sacramento City Unified School District
An analysis of district tests revealed an achievement gap among Asian children. Although Chinese and Japanese students scored well on tests, southeast Asian students struggled. To close that gap, the district holds a summer school session that preteaches material the students will face when they return to regular school. All the teachers are southeast Asian, and they tie lessons to the culture and learning styles of the Hmong, Mien, and Laotian students.
Although the effectiveness of specific approaches continues to be a source of debate, there are many resources to help schools provide language acquisition supports to students.
Related Links
- Address Student Needs: English Language Acquisition (Outside Source), U. S. Department of Education.
- Bilingual instruction, Recommendation 2—Instruction, Assessment, and Intervention, TCSII.
- California Alternate Performance Assessment (CAPA), Recommendation 2—Instruction, Assessment, and Intervention, TCSII.
- California's statewide assessment system, Recommendation 2—Instruction, Assessment, and Intervention, TCSII.
- CAPA and English learners, Recommendation 2—Instruction, Assessment, and Intervention, TCSII.
- Defining an Adequate Education for English Learners (PDF; Outside Source), Gandara and Rumberger, 2007.
- English language development (ELD), Recommendation 2—Instruction, Assessment, and Intervention, TCSII.
- English language proficiency and the California English Language Development Test (CELDT), Recommendation 2—Instruction, Assessment, and Intervention, TCSII.
- English Learners, California Department of Education.
- Interventions for Bilingual Students, Recommendation 2—Instruction, Assessment, and Intervention, TCSII.
- Meeting the Literacy Development Needs of Adolescent English Language Learners Through Content Area Learning, Part One: Focus on Motivation and Engagement (PDF; Outside Source), The Education Alliance, Brown University.
- Meeting the Literacy Development Needs of Adolescent English Language Learners Through Content Area Learning, Part Two: Focus on Classroom Teaching and Learning Strategies (PDF; Outside Source), The Education Alliance, Brown University.
- National Literacy Panel on Language Minority Children and Youth (Outside Source), Center for Applied Linguistics.
- Primary language assessment, Recommendation 2—Instruction, Assessment, and Intervention, TCSII.
- Student Achievement is More than Academic, (PDF; Outside Source), Professional Learning Exchange.
- Title III (Outside Source), U. S. Department of Education.
- Title III Immigrant Students, California Department of Education.
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Footnotes
1Paul Desruisseaux, Widespread Segregation of California's English Learners ,UC Newsroom: University of California, April 2006.
2 Marnie S. Shaul, No Child Left Behind Act: Assistance from Education Could Help States Better Measure Progress of Students with Limited English Proficiency (PDF; Outside Source). Washington, D.C: Government Accountability Office (GAO), July 2006.
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