Who are ELs?

I came across a neat little video by Education Week with some facts about America's English learners. You can view the video here, or if you prefer, I typed out the facts below!

1. Public schools in the US educate about 5 million ELs. They're the fastest-growing segment of the K-12 student population, representing 10% of public school enrollment.

2. A majority of ELs are born in the US. Some struggle in school while others are high-achievers. They're underrepresented in both special education and talented classes.

3. Spanish is the home language of more than 2/3 of ELs. Arabic, Chinese, and Vietnamese are the next most common home languages.

4. Every state and US territory has ELs. California--where about one in four students is a current or former EL--leads the pack with more than 1.5 million. West Virginia is the only state where ELs are less than 1% of K-12 enrollment.

5. Much like other students, they're learning to read, write, and speak English. But because most haven't been learning the language since birth, they often need extra support to catch up with their classmates. Some children pick up social English quickly. But research has shown that it can take between four and seven years to acquire academic English, the language needed to succeed in school.

In addition, here are some facts about the English learners at UT.

  • We have 114 ELs this year, up from 95 last year. 13 are in ESL 1, 19 in ESL 2, 20 in ESL 3, and 19 in ESL 4. 8 students are in special ed English, 2 are at UTEC, 1 is at Camelot, and 32 refuse ESL services.
  • The ACCESS test was graded tougher in 2017, leading to two students exiting the program (down from eight in 2016).
  • We have 50 Spanish speakers, 33 French/Ewe speakers, 19 Burmese/Chin speakers, 7 Arabic speakers, and 5 that speak other languages (Chinese, Albanian, Nepali, and Liberian). However, if we count all the languages that our students speak, the number would likely be in the 20s.
  • We need more ESL teachers! The numbers keep going up, which means we're going to need more classes for our ELs. You can get your ESL endorsement online or from WIU-QC. It's 6 classes. If you're interested at all, feel free to ask me!