Effectively Reaching Students with Limited or Interrupted Formal Education (SLIFE)

Who are SLIFE?

SLIFEs usually have experienced one of the following patterns in their schooling:

• They are newcomers with two or more years of education interrupted in their native country.

• They have attended school in the U. S., returned to their native country for a period of time, then returned to the U.S again

• They have attended kindergarten in English (L2), 1st and 2nd grade in their first language (L1), then jumped into L2 in 3rd.

• They have attended U.S. schools since kindergarten but have language and literacy gaps due to ineffective instruction.

• They have attended school in one location for a few months, then moved to another location for a few months, and perhaps had some weeks in between these changes when they does not attend school. (Calderón, 2008.)