High School ELLs

Tags: Curriculum; Reading; Writing;

• Read the Full Report

Copyright 2007 by the National Council of Teachers of English. Used with permission. Olson, C.B. and Land, R. (2007). A Cognitive Strategies Approach to Reading and Writing Instruction for English Language Learners in Secondary School. Research in the Teaching of English, 41(3), http://www.ncte.org/pubs/journals/rte/articles/126617.htm.

Tags: Curriculum; Differentiated Instruction; Instructional Programs; Intervention; Placement;

Target Population: High School

Research Questions the Report Poses: Which practices best support effective instruction of adolescent ELLs?

Findings:
A number of principles and practices support improved achievement for adolescent ELLs as well as for their native-English-speaking peers:

• A schoolwide, team-based support network: all school educators must assume shared responsibility for the achievement of ELLs
• A dual curriculum that promotes the language development of ELLs as well as their general academic needs
• Global community classrooms that find a middle ground between integrating ELLs who are recent immigrants with the general school population and segregating them in self-contained classrooms or schools
• Extended time to learn: all available time in ELLs' school day should be used for effective instruction-including the idea of implementing flexible student pathwasy
• Individual progress records: maintenance of records of individual ELLs' linguistic and academic history and ongoing progress, with easy availability teachers and other key personnel

• Read the Full Report

Rance-Roney, J. (2009, April). “Best Practices for Adolescent ELLs.” Educational Leadership. 66(7). 32-37.

Tags: Comprehension; Intervention; Language Proficiency; Struggling Readers;

Target Population: Post-secondary

Research Questions the Report Poses: What policies are practices exist/should be developed to ensure to success of adolescent second-language learners?

Findings:

• Building Human Capital: Providing Educators with Tools to Support ELLs
• Meeting the Demand for ESL Specialists
• The Role of Partnerships and Cross-Systems Collaboration
• Recognizing the Diversity of the ELL Population and Differentiating Support
• College Access for ELL Students

Policy Recommendations:

• Build the capacity of all educators, including content-area teachers, to provide effective instruction for ELLs
• Support programs that develop a pipeline of educators who are trained and certified to specialize in ESL instruction
• Promote institutional partnerships and cross-systems collaboration
• Ensure that policies are responsive to the diversity of the ELL population.
• Support opportunities for postsecondary education and careers for immigrant students.

• Read the Full Report

Building Capacity to Promote College- and Career Readiness for Secondary English Language Learners: Policy Briefing featuring Austin, Texas. (2010.) Washington, DC: American Youth Policy Forum. Retrieved August 2, 2010 from: http://www.aypf.org/tripreports/2010/documents/Austin%20Building%20Capacity%20for%20ELLs%20Iss

Tags: Curriculum; Fluency; Instructional Programs; Intervention; Language Proficiency; Struggling Readers;

• Read the full report

Short, D., & Fitzsimmons, S. (2007). Double the Work: Challenges and solutions to acquiring language and academic literacy for adolescent English language learners– A report to Carnegie Corporation of New York. Washington, DC: Alliance for Excellent Education.

Tags: Books and Other Reading Materials; Curriculum; Differentiated Instruction; Intervention; Language Proficiency; Motivation; Parent Involvement and Outreach / PTA; Reading;

Target Population: Preschool, Elementary, Middle, High School

Research Questions the Report Poses: What strategies or programs can educators adopt to create schools in which ELLs learn and thrive?

Findings:
A comprehensive system of schooling for ELLS includes the following nine elements:

• High quality and accessible preschool education
• Supports for newcomers to meet needs of transition
• A comprehensive program of English Language development
• A program providing full access to challenging curriculum
• High quality instruction and materials
• Inclusive and affirming school climate
• Valid, comprehensive, and useful assessments
• Strong family and community partnerships
• Schools structured to meet the particular needs of English learners.

Policy Recommendations:

• Invest in building a qualified educator workforce;
• Build a meaningful accountability system for English learners;
• Assure that educators have the materials they need to deliver high quality English Language Development;
• Demonstrate new models of successful schools for English learners

• Read the full report (128KB PDF)*

To order a hard copy of the report, contact:

University of California

Linguistic Minority Research Institute

4722 South Hall

Santa Barbara, CA 93106-3220

Olsen, L. (2006). Ensuring Academic Success for English Learners. University of California: Linguistic Minority Research Institute.

Tags: American Indian ELL Students; Asian ELL Students; Curriculum; Instructional Programs; Latino ELL Students; Motivation; Other ELL Students (Middle Eastern, African, European, etc.);

Target Population: This article targets the general population, especially those Latino and minority groups in high school or first year in college.

Research Questions the Report Poses: This article raises the question of students' academic preparation to transition from high school to postsecondary education.

Findings:

• Poor academic performance during high school due to poor academic preparation for college can predetermine the failure of students during college.
• Current research shows that to make a different in academic preparation, school administrations and teachers have to create a rigorous academic program that needs to be continuous and based on rich coursework.
• Organizations like Achieve, ACT, and the Education Policy Improvement Center are providing feedbacks for students to better their transition from high school to college.

Policy Recommendations:

• Policymakers should begin to address the importance of academic preparation for students, especially in high school, entering college.
• The federal government should be responsible of distributing and communicating the general public the steps to take to gain greater academic preparation and skills in schools.
• Policymakers should propose and manage the strategies implemented to guarantee the success of the programs.

• Read the report

To order a hard copy of the report, contact:
Center for American Progress 1333 H Street, NW, 10th Floor, Washington, DC 20005

Chait, Robin and Andrea Venezia. (2009). Improving Academic Preparation for College: What We Know and How State and Federal Policy Can Help. Washington, D.C.: Center for American Progress.

Tags: Comprehension; Instructional Programs; Intervention; Language Proficiency; Latino ELL Students; Placement; Writing;

Target Population: Middle, High School, Post-Secondary

Research Questions the Report Poses: What issues should states consider to improve schooling for English language learners?

Findings:

• ELLs need high quality instruction focused on advanced literacy skills and not just on language acquisition; and
• Immersion-only programs lead to increased special education placements
• Latino ELLs are overrepresented in special education and lower tracked classrooms;

Policy Recommendations:

• States and districts need to redesign literacy work for ELLs in high schools to change from remediation to academic enrichment; and
• States and districts need to ensure that ELLs participate in rigorous, college preparation courses and receive support so that they can succeed in these courses

• Link to Full Report

To order a hard copy of the report, contact:
n/a

Koelsch, N. (2006). Improving literacy outcomes for English language learners in high school: Considerations for states and districts in developing a coherent policy Framework. National High School Center .

Tags: American Indian ELL Students; Asian ELL Students; Intervention; Latino ELL Students; Motivation; Parent Involvement and Outreach / PTA;

Target Population: High School

Research Questions the Report Poses: How do female high school Latina students overcome obstacles in order to graduate from high school?

Findings:

Latinas have high aspirations and goals but often are unable to reach them because of academic and social barriers such as:

• Poverty
• Immigration status
• Language barriers
• Lack of parental involvement
• Teenage pregnancy

Policy Recommendations:

• Invest in the future of Latinas. Congress should put more money into providing child care, early childhood education, health care, nutrition assistance, and tax benefits.
• Provide Latina girls with role models and set up programs that help them reach their goals. More money should be put into mentoring programs, school counseling, and college access programs.
• Make sure that all Latina girls are prepared for any post-secondary education opportunity.
• Ensure that schools are free of racial and gender discrimination. Schools should also make sure that they enforce and promote dual language programs for ELLs.
• Aid in gaining more Latino parental involvement. The government and schools should fund more programs to help parents become more active in schools.
• Fund more efforts to prevent teenage pregnancy, including implementing sex education programs.
• Support students who are pregnant or who are currently parenting.
• Schools should require better data collection and promote school accountability.

• Read the Full Report

To order a hard copy of the report, contact:
MALDEF: http://maldef.org/contact/

National Women’'s Law Center & Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund. Listening to Latinas: barriers to high school graduation. (2009, August). Retrieved from: http://maldef.org/assets/pdf/ListeningtoLatinas.pdf

Tags: Comprehension; Content Areas: Social Studies;

Target Population: Middle, High School

Research Questions the Report Poses: What are the challenges and successes in developing an effective instructional environment for teaching secondary–level social studies curriculum to a sheltered population of ELLs?

Findings:

• Indeed, social studies instruction for English-language learner (ELL) students presents a second, uniquely embedded challenge —not only are the ELL students learning a new language and culture while in the classroom, they must learn a different interpretation of historical events, develop a different conception of government, and learn a different philosophy of citizenship.
• The ELL population encounters a number of critical barriers which may impede their citizenship education: lack of prior exposure to elementary school social studies curriculum, a rudimentary understanding of the cultural context, and more importantly, their lack of English literacy skills which are vital for comprehending social studies material, acculturation, and socialization in the dominant culture.
• Best practices for ESL students can also benefit all students in the mainstream classroom, including those who may have lower reading abilities, learning disabilities, attention-deficit disorders, or other challenges which may affect their comprehension and/or production capabilities in the classroom.

Policy Recommendations:
The authors' recommendations fall into the following categories:

• The Development of Socially Supportive Classroom Environment
• The Explicit Teaching of Academic Skills under the Cognitive Academic Language Learning Approach (CALLA)
• Approaches for Reducing Cognitive Load and Increasing the Accessibility of Complex Content Knowledge

• Read the Full Report

Szpara, M.Y., Ahmad I. (2006). Making Social Studies Meaningful for ELL Students: Content and Pedagogy in Mainstream Secondary School Classrooms. Essays in Education, 16. Retrieved from http://www.usca.edu/essays/vol162006/ahmad.pdf

Tags: Language Proficiency; Latino ELL Students; Motivation; Reading; Transfer of Literacy Skills; Vocabulary; Writing;

Target Population: Elementary, Middle, High School

Research Questions the Report Poses:

• Who are immigrant students and students who do not speak English well?
• Where are they from, and what is their family background (social, economic, linguistic, etc.)?
• How well do they do in school?
• Do their literacy levels prepare them to take part in higher education and a skilled workforce?"

Findings:

• ELL populations are growing faster than general student populations
• The growth of ELL populations in different states varies widely
• Students in California are more likely to be "linguistically isolated" than students across the country or in the other three states studied
• 57% of ELLs across the country were born in the United States
• 70% of ELLs in grades 6-12 speak Spanish
• NAEP data examined for 8th grade ELLs shows that only 4% and 6% of ELLs scored proficient in reading and math, respectively
• ELLs performed radically different on state math and reading assessments from state to state
• There is a wide achievement gap between ELL and non-ELL students on the 8th grade NAEP as well as state standardized tests
• Former ELL students and non-ELL students scored roughly the same on NAEP and state assessments

Policy Recommendations:

• "Reexamine whether Census data accurately capture the [ELL] population"
• "Examine how varying state exclusion rates for ELL students affect NAEP results"
• "Explore the literacy trajectories of former [ELL] students"
• "Document how states vary in their testing and monitoring practices for ELL students who parents opt out of language instruction services"
• "Leverage the research opportunities that multi-state English proficiency tests offer for analyzing ELL outcomes"

• Read the Full Report

To order a hard copy of the report, contact:
http://www.migrationpolicy.org/pubs/index.php

Batalova, J., Fix, M., and Murray, J. (2007). Measures of Change: The Demography and Literacy of Adolescent English Learners. Migration Policy Institute, Carnegie Corporation of New York: New York, NY.

Tags: Content Areas: Math; Content Areas: Science; Content Areas: Social Studies; Differentiated Instruction; Intervention; Motivation; Placement; Reading; Struggling Readers; Transfer of Literacy Skills; Vocabulary; Writing;

Target Population: Middle, High School

Research Questions the Report Poses: What instructional practices dovetail in both the ELL adolescent literacy literature and non-ELL adolescent literacy literature?

Findings:
Eight instructional approaches are supported in both literatures (what's good for ELL adolescents and adolescent native English speakers):

1. teacher modeling, strategy instruction, and using multiple forms of assessment;
2. emphasis on reading and writing;
3. emphasis on speaking and listening/viewing;
4. emphasis on thinking;
5. creating a learner-centered classroom;
6. recognizing and analyzing content-area discourse features;
7. understanding text structures within the content areas; and
8. vocabulary development.

Policy Recommendations:
Any intervention aimed at ELLs should also benefit under–served learners generally.

• Link to Full Report

To order a hard copy of the report, contact:
The Education Alliance at Brown
222 Richmond Street, Suite 300
Providence, RI 02903-4226
Phone: 800.521.9550
Fax: 401.421.7650
E-mail: info@alliance.brown.edu

Meltzer, J. & Hamann, E. (2004). Meeting the literacy development needs of adolescent English language learners. Part two: Focus on classroom teaching and learning strategies. Northeast and Islands Regional Educational Laboratory .

Tags: Content Areas: Math; Content Areas: Science; Content Areas: Social Studies; Motivation; Placement; Reading; Struggling Readers; Transfer of Literacy Skills; Vocabulary; Writing;

Target Population: Middle, High School

Research Questions the Report Poses: Review of the literature concerning student motivation and engagement on literacy development of adolescents and research on the schooling of adolescent ELLs.

Findings:

• literacy development and effective instruction for ELL and non-ELL adolescents alike share many commonalities;
• isolated ELL students are further negatively impacted as a result of these findings; and
• content-area teachers may benefit from research and practices designed for ELL teachers

Policy Recommendations:

• Teachers should use current secondary school ELL literature to create a blueprint of classroom contexts in which ELLs will be motivated and engaged to read and write across the content areas, and where reading and writing will contribute to their broader academic achievement.
• Schools should train all secondary–school teachers to promote content–area literacy for ELLs.
• To promote ELLs' or other students' continued development and application of literacy skills for academic learning, educators should plan opportunities that
  1. provide the environmental resources to support the work (i.e., various text materials);
  2. are grounded by high expectations that students can achieve or surpass the state standards and
  3. engage students-that they involve choice, are authentic, promote self–efficacy, and support autonomy.

• Link to Full Report

To order a hard copy of the report, contact:
The Education Alliance at Brown
222 Richmond Street, Suite 300
Providence, RI 02903-4226
Phone: 800.521.9550
Fax: 401.421.7650
E-mail: info@alliance.brown.edu

Meltzer, J. & Hamann, E. (2004). Meeting the literacy development needs of adolescent English language learners. Part one: Focus on motivation and engagement. Northeast and Islands Regional Educational Laboratory.

Tags: Intervention; Language Proficiency; Motivation; Placement; Struggling Readers;

Target Population: Middle, High School

Research Questions the Report Poses:

• What is the best middle to high school transitions for ELLs?
• What happens to the ELL moving from eighth to ninth grade in a SLC?
• How are his or her unique educational needs considered?
• Is the instructional program designed to seamlessly integrate English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) instruction with the SLC or ninth?grade transitional programs?
• Is the student required to choose between accessing linguistically appropriate instruction and accessing the benefits of a career or technical academy?
• Does the student's de facto status as an ELL preclude him or her from taking part in programs and courses within the SLC schools?

Findings:

• In order to ensure that ELL students catch up with their peers, the school must place emphasis on intense ELD instruction.
• Teachers should use specialized instructional methodologies to build their abilities to teach content to ELL students.
• Beneficial to ELL transitions are the flexible delivery and scheduling of academic and non-academic supports.
• It does not appear that any one school is implementing a coherent service delivery plan. Instead, there are examples of isolated implementation of best practices in a given area, but not across the school or for all ELL students

• Read the Full Report

Lara, J., & Harford, S. (n.d.). Middle-to-High School Transition for English Language Learners: Promising School-Based Practices. Smaller Learning Communities Program. Retrieved January 13, 2011 from: http://www.edweek.org/media/final-middletohighschool.pdf

Tags: Latino ELL Students; Motivation; Parent Involvement and Outreach / PTA; Rights, Parents; Rights, Students;

Target Population: Post-Secondary

Research Questions the Report Poses: Are Hispanic students well-informed about their financial aid options for higher education? How does knowledge about financial aid affect Hispanic students' choices to pursue higher education?

Findings:

• 98% of respondents in the survey said that they felt it was important to have a college education
• 38% of respondents did not feel the benefits of college outweigh the costs
• Not being able to work and incurring debt were the opportunity costs associated with going to college
• The opportunity costs associated with going to college were not being able to work and incurring debt
• More than 50% of the respondents incorrectly thought students have to be U.S. citizens to apply for college financial aid
• Few respondents could accurately estimate the cost of attending either the University of California or California State University
• Overall, respondents demonstrated a lack of familiarity with government grants for education

Policy Recommendations:

• Students need to be better informed about the "less tangible, but real, social status differences that exist between the college-educated and the non-college educated" so that they feel that the opportunity costs of attending college are worth paying
• Because of misperceptions about how much college actually costs, Latino students may continue to be underrepresented on college campuses. To this end, perceptions must be corrected by presenting students with information about the realistic costs of attending college.
• Latino students need to be better informed about Cal Grants and Pell Grants, as well as other grant and loan opportunities available through state and federal government.
• Students and their parents both need to be educated about the system of college finances, including scholarships, loans, grants, and government guaranteed loans.
• Student perceptions about the significance of legal residency status vs. U.S. citizenship status need to be corrected, especially given the citizenship status of many students' parents

• Read the Full Report

To order a hard copy of the report, contact:
n/a

Zarate, E.Z., and Pachon, H.P. (2006). Perceptions of College Financial Aid Among California Latino Youth. Tomas Rivera Policy Institute: Los Angeles, CA.

Tags: Differentiated Instruction; Language Proficiency; Placement;

Target Population: middle and high school

Research Questions the Report Poses: What policy steps should occur in California to improve the education of secondary English Language Learners?

Findings:
A number of themes emerged from the panel discussants including:

• the need for identifying ELL students better; inadequate existing programs for ELL secondary students;
• the need for more teachers and administrators who are knowledgeable about the needs of secondary ELL students; and
• the importance of advocacy and staying on-message to improve ELL education.

Policy Recommendations:
The report adopts five policy steps that should occur including:

• Convene a panel of experts;
• Promote pilot programs;
• Develop an effective ELL assessment system;
• Establish a committee in the CA legislature to recruit and retain highly skilled ELL teachers and administrators; and
• Organize a summit to bring attention and focus to the need for improved ELL secondary education.

• Read the Full Report

To order a hard copy of the report, contact:
NA

Maxwell-Jolly, J., Gandara, P. & Benavidez L. M. (2005). Promoting academic literacy among secondary English language learners: A synthesis of research and practice. Davis, CA: UC Davis School of Education.

Tags: Fluency; Intervention; Language Proficiency; Placement; Struggling Readers; Transfer of Literacy Skills;

Target Population: Secondary, High School

Research Questions the Report Poses: Which of the English learners are left behind? What steps can be taken to prevent this?

Findings:

• The majority (59%) of secondary school English Learners are "Long Term English Learners" (in United States schools for more than six years without reaching sufficient English proficiency to be reclassified). In one out of three districts, more than 75% of their English Learners are Long Term.
• California school districts do not have a shared definition of "Long Term English Learners." Most districts lack any definition or means of identifying or monitoring the progress and achievement of this population. Only one in four districts has a formal definition or designation for identifying, counting, serving or monitoring services for these students - and their definitions vary in the number of years considered "normative" for how soon English Learners should have reached proficiency (range from five to ten years).
• English Learners become "Long Term" English Learners in the course of their schooling experience. Several factors seem to contribute to becoming a Long Term English Learner: receiving no language development program at all; being given elementary school curricula and materials that weren't designed to meet English Learner needs; enrollment in weak language development program models and poorly implemented English Learner programs; histories of inconsistent programs; provision of narrowed curricula and only partial access to the full curriculum; social segregation and linguistic isolation; and, cycles of transnational moves.
• By the time Long Term English Learners arrive in secondary schools, there is a set of characteristics that describe their overall profile. These students struggle academically. They have distinct language issues, including: high functioning social language, very weak academic language, and significant deficits in reading and writing skills. The majority of Long Term English Learners are "stuck" at Intermediate levels of English proficiency or below, although others reach higher levels of English proficiency without attaining the academic language to be reclassified. Long Term English Learners have significant gaps in academic background knowledge. In addition, many have developed habits of non-engagement, learned passivity and invisibility in school. The majority of Long Term English Learners wants to go to college, and are unaware that their academic skills, record and courses are not preparing them to reach that goal. Neither students, their parents nor their community realizes that they are in academic jeopardy.

• Read the Full Report

Olsen, L. (2010). Reparable Harm: Fulfilling the Unkept Promise of Educational Opportunity for California's Long Term English Learners. Californians Together. Retrieved January 6, 2011 from: http://www.californianstogether.org/

Tags: Intervention; Rights, Students;

Target Population: High school

Research Questions the Report Poses: To what extent, if any, have ELLs actually been included in New York City's small high schools reform initiative?

Findings:

• As a result of the new schools program, ELL students are largely sequestered to a few schools with high percentages of ELLs while many other schools offer very little, if any, instruction or resources for ELLs.
• Because new schools are not being built in areas where ELLs are highly concentrated, ELLs are being kept from new schools.
• Most schools classified as small by this report (about 500 students) fail to provide adequate resources for ELL instruction.
• Because small schools are inadequately prepared to instruct ELLs, these students are forced to go to large, failing schools, which are the type of schools that the new schools plan was supposed to cut down on.

Policy Recommendations:

• Increase ELLs' access to small schools by building more small schools in areas where ELLs most commonly reside.
• Improve the high school admissions process so that ELLs are not excluded or kept out of small schools because of their ELL status.

• Link to Full Report

To order a hard copy of the report, contact:
Advocates for Children of New York
151 West 30th Street — 5th Floor
New York, NY 10001
E-Mail: info@advocatesforchildren.org
Phone: (212)-947-9779
Fax: (212)-947-9790

The New York Immigration Coalition and Advocates for Children of New York. (2006, November). So Many Schools, So Few Options: How Mayor Bloomberg's Small High School Reforms Deny Full Access to English Language Learners. New York, NY: The New York Immigration Coalition and Advocates for Children of New York.

Tags: Intervention; Latino ELL Students; Motivation; Rights, Students;

Target Population: Middle, High School, Post-Secondary (all adolescents)

Research Questions the Report Poses:

• How do Latino adolescents navigate the different social settings and institutions that they encounter in life?
• Within the current environment, are school and work viewed by Latino youth as a great "equalizer," part of an opportunity structure that can give them the tools and security to succeed and progress?
• Or, do Latino youth perceive these settings as further reinforcing the broader inequalities that they already face?
• Do young Latinos feel that they are treated differently within such settings, and if so, in which specific ways do they experience and interpret these differences?
• Broadly speaking, how do young Latinos' interactions within all of these systems affect their sense of well-being, identity, and belonging in U.S. society?

Findings:

• Latino youth tend to have an optimistic outlook on the role of education and a strong desire to achieve successful careers. These attitudes are often associated with the hopes and expectations of their immigrant parents and with their own desire to contribute to their community and nation.
• Despite these optimistic attitudes, the teenagers expressed a pervasive sense of being negatively stereotyped by institutional actors as varied as teachers, employers, and police officers. They described how assumptions about Hispanic youth and Latinos in general are manifested within the different social settings discussed.
• Latino youth report significant ethnic stereotyping at school by teachers, administrators, and peers. Such stereotyping, they feel, often leads Hispanic students to be overlooked, excluded, or negatively tracked, and results in unequal educational opportunities.
• The youth often perceive the workplace as a site of unfair practices based on racial and ethnic assumptions on the part of employers. Many of these youth's perceptions of discrimination in the workforce were directly related to the experiences of their parents and other community members.
• Across all focus groups, the youth emphatically described feeling unfairly and habitually profiled by law enforcement as a result of negative assumptions regarding Hispanic youth, gangs, and immigrants. Such regular contact with the police, which takes place in a variety of spaces, compounds feelings of vulnerability and distrust in their communities.
• One of the most consistent findings across the focus groups was the teenagers' pervasive sense of being racialized-or constructed as different, as "other"-on a regular basis, and in practically all realms of experience.

• Read the Full Report

Foxen, P. (2010, October, 21)."Speaking Out: Latino Youth on Discrimination in the United States" National Council of La Raza. Retrieved January 3, 2011, from: http://www.nclr.org/index.php/publications/speaking_out_latino_youth_on_discrimination_in_the_united_states/

Tags: Bilingual Instruction; Bilingualism / Biliteracy; Latino ELL Students; Parent Involvement and Outreach / PTA;

Target Population: Preschool, Elementary, Middle, High School, Post-Secondary

Findings:

• In 2008, Latinos were about half as likely as African Americans and a third as likely as White students to obtain a college degree.
• “According to the U.S. Census, almost 29 percent of Latino children lived below the poverty line nationally in 2007 (compared to 15 percent of White children), and the effects of poverty on intellectual and academic achievement can be pernicious.”
• Latina mothers have the lowest education of all ethnic groups.
• Low-income Latino parents are often overlooked by schools often related to low levels of education or limited English.
• Learning to read and build vocabulary in Spanish can be an key stepping stone to learning English.
• A randomized study of preschool programs (English bilingual versus two-way immersion) Spanish-speaking students in the dual-language program showed significant growth in Spanish vocabulary with similar learning gains.
• Latino children of poverty often have fewer “opportunities to learn,” which can impede learning.
• Latino children, especially those learning English, who enter school underprepared need significant additional instructional time.
• In the West, 60% of Latinos in large cities attend schools with 90-100% non-white peers. English language learners face similar hyper-segregation that limits social capital.
• “Housing is the fulcrum of opportunity.” Segregated housing perpetuates intergenerational inequality.
• Latino students are more likely than others to move frequently, which can have a negative impact on academic achievement.
• Many Latino students are out of school a significant time due to preventable illness as a result of lack of health care access.
• Integrated physical and mental health, when implemented well, can impact children’s health, achievement, and mobility.
• California’s Healthy Start centers showed extensive effects but has been defunded.
• Well-prepared teachers for Latino students are hard to attract and retain.
• American schools often treat speaking a language other than English as an impediment, unlike other developed nations. This limits the human resource and cognitive advantage of being literate in another language.
• Students in two-way immersion classes have positive intercultural relations.
• College access and preparation programs, which often begin too late or include too few students, are severely limited in effect.
• Most Latino students attend two-year colleges, which are less likely to provide financial aid. Lack of funding is a key deterrent for Latinos going to college.
• RAND study indicated that doubling college completion rate of Latinos would cost $6.5 billion but benefit society by $13 billion.

Policy Recommendations:

• Early and continuing cognitive enrichment
• Early intervention that extends parents’ “Funds of knowledge”
• Preschool that builds incorporates home language
• Use of bilingual instruction with good models of both languages
• Subsidized preschool programs
• Housing Policies
• “Latino students must be assigned to schools that will give them the chance to break the vicious cycle of poor schooling and limited opportunity.”
• Changing school boundaries to prevent socioeconomic and linguistic isolation
• Desegregated housing (mayoral collaboration with school boards)
• Policies to help low-income families establish stable housing in a community
• School desegregation and residential stabilization
• Integrated Social Services
• Concerted effort to establish more school-based health clinics for low-income students/families
• Universal health care accessed at school sites or local communities
• Recruiting and Preparing Extraordinary Teachers
• Recruit teachers from students’ communities
• Improving work conditions (smaller classes, supportive leadership, planning time, and safe campuses)
• Targeted recruitment and tuition support for teachers in bilingual programs.
• Exploiting the Latino Linguistic Advantage
• Languages should be seen as resources.
• College Preparation and Support Programs
• Bridge K-12 schools with institutes of higher education.
• Recruit Latino students
• Create supports for peer study and social groups
• Place the best teachers in freshman classes
• Extend program components beyond the freshman year
• Acknowledge cumulative skill development
• Provide meaningful financial aid
• Cost-free four-year education for qualified individuals (through alignment of federal and state aid)
• Support for the passage of the Dream Act that would provide undocumented students with no criminal record conditional legal status and access to student aid
• Supports for dual language programs
• Dropout prevention and college access programs

• Read the Full Report

Gándara, P. (2010). The Latino Education Crisis: Rescuing the American Dream. WestEd. Retrieved from: http://www.wested.org/online_pubs/pp-10-02.pdf

Tags: Language Proficiency;

Target Population: High School

Research Questions the Report Poses: What is the relationship between level of English proficiency and content knowledge? How do English language learners compare in academic performance with native English speakers?

Findings:

• The higher students scored on the English proficiency, the higher they scored on both math and language arts exams.
• English language learner students scored lower than non-English learners in both language arts and math.
• Use the study's findings in discussion of rules on when students should be moved out of English language learner status and in creation of assessment programs and curriculum for English language learners.

Policy Recommendations:
Use the study’s findings in discussion of rules on when students should be moved out of English language learner status and in creation of assessment programs and curriculum for English language learners.

• Read the Full Report

Crane, E.W., Barrat V. X., and Huang, M. (2011). The relationship between English proficiency and content knowledge for English language learner students in grades 10 and 11 in Utah. (Issues & Answers Report, REL 2001-No. 110). Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance, Regional Educational Laboratory West.

Tags: Intervention; Rights, Students;

Target Population: Post-secondary

Research Questions the Report Poses: How do grant aid limit college assess and persistence among low-income and moderate income graduates?

Findings:

• Large-scale mismatches exist and are growing between the aspirations and qualifications of these high school graduates and where they are able financially to enroll in college.
• Triggered by increasing family financial concerns about college expenses and financial aid, these mismatches are shifting initial enrollment of qualified students away from 4-year colleges.
• Shifts in initial enrollment are consequential because where qualified high school graduates are able to start college (access) largely determines their likelihood of success (persistence).
• Exacerbating the negative impact of enrollment shifts, persistence rates today appear to be lower, especially for qualified high school graduates who are unable financially to start at a 4-year college.
• Maintaining financial access to 4-year public colleges for qualified high school graduates is of paramount policy importance.
• Between 1992 and 2004, initial enrollment rates of academically qualified low- and moderate-income high school graduates in 4-year colleges shifted downward: from 54 percent to 40 percent, and from 59 percent to 53 percent, respectively.
• The cause appears to have been an increase in the importance of college expenses and financial aid to parents and students between 1992 and 2004 (Table 4, page 17). Differences in family financial concerns accounted for 45 percentage points difference in 4-year college enrollment for in 2004.
• High school graduates from low-income families who started at a 4-year college earned a bachelor's degree over three times more often than their peers who started at a 2-year college, 62 percent vs. 20 percent. Their peers from moderate-income income families earned the degree nearly twice as often, 67 percent vs. 34 percent (table 7, page 26). Given current policies, shifts in enrollment from 4-year to 2-year colleges have implications for degree completion.
• Persistence of low-income high school graduates five years after starting at a 4-year college has fallen from 78 percent to 75 percent; for those from moderate-income families, persistence has remained at 81 percent (figure 25, page 27). For those starting at a 2-year college, persistence has fallen significantly .

Policy Recommendations:

• In addition, given steadily rising net prices and cumulative loan burdens, and the considerable impact of parent financial concerns in 10th grade on college enrollment behavior, a national experiment is required. Its purpose would be to determine the impact on family financial concerns of current features of the federal student loan programs - in particular, the income-contingency and forgiveness provisions. This study should determine how the programs might be improved to offset the negative effects of financial concerns on students taking the steps of testing, applying, and enrolling in a 4-year college (exhibit five, page 35).
• Improving academic preparation alone might raise the rates to only 27 percent and 39 percent, respectively (table 13, page 37).
• Improving access (enrollment) alone might raise the rates to only 33 percent and 42 percent, respectively (table 14, page 38).
• Improving persistence alone might raise the rates to only 34 percent and 45 percent, respectively (table 15, page 39).
• Conduct a National Loan Experiment.
• Implement a Comprehensive Federal Strategy.

• Read the Full Report

“The Rising Price of Inequality: How Inadequate Grant Aid Limits College Access and Persistence”. (2010). Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance. Retrieved August 3, 2010 from: http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2010/2010015.pdf

Tags: Reading;

Target Population: Pre-K, Elementary School, Middle School, High School

Research Questions the Report Poses:

• How should adolescent ELLs' literacy skills be assessed?
• What kinds of support and professional development will enable teachers to provide effective literacy instruction for ELLs?
• What kinds of programs should be offered to meet ELLs' diverse needs?
• What research is needed to improve the literacy instruction for adolescent ELLs?
• What policy changes are required to meet these goals?

Findings:

• ELLs comprise 10.5 percent of the nation's pre-K-12 school enrollment — double the nation's ELL population in 1990, yet as a group, they are the nation's "lowest-performing students."
• In many ways, the literacy needs of adolescent ELLs' overlap with their non-ELL peers: they also benefit from explicit instruction in comprehension and vocabulary; their reading and writing skills reinforce each other; and ELLs' personal interests and "out-of-school literacy skills" can be used to engage students in the classroom.
• Nevertheless, adolescent ELLs face some unique challenges regarding literacy. These include: limited proficiency in their native language; stronger oral skills; stronger social language (as opposed to academic language); transferring literacy skills from a different writing system (such as Chinese); lack of background knowledge; learning content and language simultaneously.
• Techniques to help ELLs include drawing on students' knowledge and experience; providing key background knowledge before a lesson; previewing vocabulary; bilingual glossaries and dictionaries; native language support for content-area material; and allowing students to explain new content to each other.

Policy Recommendations:
N/A

• Link to Full Report

To order a hard copy of the report, contact:
N/A

(February 2007). Urgent but overlooked: The literacy crisis among adolescent English Language Learners. Retrieved April 11, 2008, from Alliance For Excellent Education Web site: http://www.all4ed.org/files/UrgentOver.pdf