Long-Term ELLs

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

Target Population: Elementary and Middle School

Research Questions the Report Poses: Are English language learning students remaining in English learning classes too long? What is the benefit of transferring ELLs into mainstream English classes?

Findings:

• Improved academic outcomes in high school are associated with reclassification into mainstream English classes.
• Reclassification as late as 8th grade is still proven to be effective in improved academic outcomes.
• A large number of students who were not reclassified by 8th grade have been in the same school district since at least 1st grade.
• Students who are reclassified ELLs outperform English only students on important indicators.
• Reclassified ELLs performed better on standardized exams, were less likely to drop out of high school, and more likely to take an AP exam.

Policy Recommendations:

• Increase the amount of resources to help early English language learning.
• Persist with English language learning in middle school.
• Emphasize reclassification into mainstream English classrooms.

• Read the Full Report

To order a hard copy of the report, contact:
For the full report, please visit www.trpi.org

Flores, E., Painter, G., Harlow-Nash, Z., & Pachon, H. (1999, October). Que pasa? Are English language learning students remaining in English learning classes too long? The Tomas Rivera Policy Institute, Retrieved from http://www.trpi.org/PDFs/LAUSD%20Policy%20Brief.pdf

Tags: Differentiated Instruction; Intervention; Placement;

Target Population: All

Research Questions the Report Poses: Regardless of language of instruction, what are the most effective practices for teaching English language learners that will produce the most successful long–term outcomes?

Findings:

• Within the long–term English learners classification exist other categories of English learners with very different needs: special education students, those incorrectly labeled English proficient, migrants (within the U.S.), transitional students (return to and attend school in native country at least part of the year), recent immigrants (who have experience with core subjects but still need to learn academic English vocabulary and usage), and refugee children (who have never attended school.)
• Based on recent findings, what matters most in educating English learners is the quality of instruction, not the language. Certain salient features stand out as quality instruction practices: school structures and leadership; language and literacy instruction; integration of language, literacy, and content instruction in secondary schools; cooperative learning; professional development; parent and family support teams; tutoring; and monitoring implementation and outcomes.

Policy Recommendations:

• Reform and intervention should begin at early grades when children's needs are much more manageable and teachers are imparting new skills rather than remediating gaps.

• Read the Full Report

Calderon, M., Slavin, R., Sanchez, M. (2011). "Effective Instruction for English Learners." Immigrant Children 21 (1). The Future of Children. Retrieved from: http://www.futureofchildren.org/futureofchildren/publications/journals/article/index.xml?journalid=74&articleid=542

Tags: Intervention; Language Proficiency;

Target Population: Post-secondary

Research Questions the Report Poses:

• What are the opportunities and challenges that immigrant children present to community colleges?
• What strategies can community colleges use to serve the rapidly growing population of immigrants more effectively?

Findings:

• Immigrant students experience different challenges based on when they arrived in the country and consequently how academically prepared they are (either in their home country or U.S.)
• College participation varies greatly among immigrant students based on ethnic background.
• For all high school graduates, immigrants were more likely than native–born students of the same racial or ethnic group to enroll in any form of postsecondary education.
• Immigrant college students are at higher risk of dropping out of college than native–born students. Some of the risk factors for dropping out are: enrolling at age 24 and up, having dependents, working part– or full–time, and familial obligations.
• Many immigrant students are not well prepared academically for college coursework, so they frequently need remedial education, often as a result of deficient English proficiency, before they can enroll in college–level courses.
• One of the greatest needs of immigrant students is to improve their English–language skills.
• Many immigrant students have great financial need but often lack information about how to finance college costs, and consequently they underuse financial aid resources.

Policy Recommendations:

• Outreach programs to assists students and families with academic and financial planning, help students complete college applications, and conduct college visits and educational field trips.
• Accelerated "pathways to college" programs that combine high–intensity instruction with curricular and precollege efforts aim to improve academic preparation for immigrant students during high school while strengthening their postsecondary aspirations and expectations.
• Aside from legislation and federal aid, community colleges themselves can assist students: by conducting fundraising campaigns for scholarships, and by providing services such as transportation and child care.
• Reform is needed so that federal and state aid can cover tuition for English as a Second Language (ESL) courses and remediation. The use of Pell grants to finance ESL instruction should be broadened.
• Within community colleges themselves, high-intensity language programs can extend students' learning outside the classroom by using different curricula to meet the needs of various types of immigrant students (ie seeking immediate job marketability vs. planning for eventual transfer to academic courses.
• Community colleges should also take action to hire more ESL faculty and to improve their preparation for teaching English to immigrant students.
• Community colleges should provide counseling, orientation, and academic planning tailored to the needs of immigrant students.

• Read the Full Report

Teranishi, R.T., Suarez–Orozco, C., Suarez–Orozco, M. (2011) "Immigrants in Community Colleges." Immigrant Children 21 (1). The Future of Children. Retrieved from: http://www.futureofchildren.org/futureofchildren/publications/journals/article/index.xml?journalid=74&articleid=544.

Tags: Instructional Programs; Latino ELL Students; Motivation; Rights, Students;

Target Population: High school

Research Questions the Report Poses: How well served are out-of-school immigrant youths in the state of California in general? How well served are out-of-school immigrant youths who receive services and resources from California's Migrant Education Program (MEP)?

Findings:

• Though the California Migrant Education Program's attempts to offer educational resources to OSYs, its limited funds and eligibility requirements only allow it to service about 80,000 OSYs.
• California OSYs are some of the most disadvantaged individuals in the state because their legal statuses often make access to public services difficult.
• California OSYs are very eager to continue their education, but they are often unable to do so because of a need to work.
• Approximately 80% of OSYs said their families depended on their incomes to survive.

Policy Recommendations:

• Increase funding to the California MEP
• Change eligibility requirements for receiving MEP funds so that more OSYs are able to receive them
• Offer educational opportunities that allow OSYs to both work and learn

• Link to Full Report

To order a hard copy of the report, contact:
Public Policy Institute of California
500 Washington Street
Suite 800
San Francisco, California 94111
E-Mail:merina@ppic.org
Telephone: (415) 291-4400
Fax: (415) 291-4401

Hill, Laura., and Hayes, Joseph. (2007). Out-of-School Immigrant Youth. San Francisco, California: Public Policy Institute of California.

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: Instructional Programs; Intervention;

Target Population: Middle, High School

Findings:

• Long-term ELLs speak different languages and come from all over the world.
• They are often orally bilingual but have limited literacy skills in their native language and limited academic literacy skills in English.
• They generally fall into two main groups, transnationals who have moved back and forth between countries, and students with inconsistent schooling in the U.S.
• They struggle in content areas and are at high risk for dropping out and have different needs from newly arrived ELLs.
• Literacy skills that students learn in their native languages transfer to English, but long-term ELLs rarely have had the opportunity to hone their native language skills.
• Foreign language classes in long-term ELL students' native languages can be used strategically to develop the students' native language literacy skills and to address their gaps in schooling.

Policy Recommendations:

• Bilingualism and biliteracy development should be promoted in grades K-12.
• Secondary schools must develop specialized programs for long-term ELLs, tailor ESL classes to students' needs, and focus on literacy development across content areas and languages.
• A program targeted at long-term ELLs should include classes that help to develop a strong foundation in academic language in both English and the students' native languages, and content-area courses that focus simultaneously on content and literacy learning.
• U.S. schools must develop more coherent language policies to reduce the movement in and out of bilingual education, ESL, and mainstream programs. In the meantime, schools must take it upon themselves to learn more about the educational backgrounds of their incoming students.

• Read the Full Report

Menken, K. & Kleyn, T. (2009, April). "The Difficult Road for Long-Term English Learners." Educational Leadership. 66(7).