Supporting English Learners in the Elementary Classroom

Who are English learners?

English learners (ELs) are students in an English-speaking country who use another language in addition to or other than English.

English learners are...

DIVERSE

  • Over 400 languages are spoken by English learners across the U.S. (Bialik, Scheller, & Walker, 2018).

  • ELs have various ethnic and cultural backgrounds.

  • ELs differ in language proficiency, native language background, and history of formal schooling, among many other variables.

GROWING

  • percentage of U.S. English learners in public schools:

  • Fall 2000: 8.1%, (3.8 million students)

  • Fall 2016: 9.6% (4.9 million students)

  • ELs who speak Spanish comprise the majority of this group, followed by Asian language groups (National Center for Education Statistics, 2019).

IN NEED OF SUPPORT

  • There is concern about lower levels of academic achievement as compared to English proficient peers (Niehaus & Adelson, 2013).

  • ELs are at an increased risk for dropping out of school as they move up through the grade levels (Niehaus & Adelson, 2013).

  • In 2015–16, 84% of students nationwide graduated from high school on time (in four years, and accounting for transfersa). For ELs the rate was 67%, up from 57 percent in 2010–11 (U.S. Department of Education, ED Data Express, 2015-16).

  • EL students are more likely that other students to live in poverty, experience discrimination, deal with a variety of external stressors (Suárez-Orozco, Suárez-Orozco, & Todorova, 2008).

  • Results of a study suggested that Spanish-speaking ELs are at a greater risk for internalizing (depression, anxiety) and externalizing (aggression, acting out) problems compared to their English proficient peers in third grade (Niehaus & Adelson, 2013).

A PART OF OUR CLASSROOM COMMUNITIES!

Percentage of public school students who were English language learners, by state: Fall 2017.

U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data (CCD), “Local Education Agency Universe Survey,” 2017–18.

Most English learners were born in the United States and are U.S. citizens.

(Sanchez, 2017)

"We do English language learners a disservice if we think of them as one-dimensional on the basis of their limited English proficiency. ELLs have diverse backgrounds, languages, and education profiles. Some read and write above grade level in their own language; others have had limited schooling. Some enter school highly motivated to learn because of family support or an innate drive to succeed; others have had negative school experiences that squelched their motivation. Many come from middle-class families with high levels of literacy; others live in poverty without books in their homes. Those whose native language is Latin-based can recognize English words with the same Latin derivations; those who have different language backgrounds, such as Mandarin or Arabic, lack that advantage. Some students' native language does not even have a written form" (Short & Echevarría, 2004).