Hi ! I’m Maria and I am

an English Language

Learner (ELL) !

ELLs are the fastest

growing segment of the public

school population!

2015T he year ELL enrollment will reach 10 million

20251 in 4 public school students will be an ELL

Most ELL students are born in the USA

76% of Elementary ELL students are native born56% of Secondary School ELL students are native born

2 out of 3 ELL students come from low income families

3 out of 4 ELL students are Spanish speaking

ELL students often have lower academic performance

ELL students often have higher rates of dropout

NCLB& English Language Learners

Must meet same standards as all students

Ongoing assessment challenges for ELLs

Must meet English proficiency benchmarks

on statewide testing

(CRCT in Georgia for example)

Classroom challenges

Background often very different than teacher

Lack of resources

Lack of qualified teachers

Tested in English before they know the language

Especially in Math and reading !!

Teacher/student communication issues

Assessment challenges

How do we measure student needs?

How do we measure learning ?

Limited professional development

opportunities

Achievement outcomes

Only 29% ELL students scored at or

above basic reading level

* As opposed to non ELL students - 75% scored at or above basic reading level

Instructional/test accommodations

differ across states (and districts)* example: some allow use of bilingual dictionary during testing – some do not

Movement in place to extend the time an ELL student has to master the

English language before being tested in English in the core content areas

* Students currently given 1 year for mastery. Effort in place to extend to 3 years.

Movement in place to ensure that ELL students receive

all accommodations and services

National effort to improve teacher training

& professional development opportunities

The report for this presentation is available at:

http://xrl.us/ELLchallenges