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Left Behind Twice: How Federal Cuts Are Failing English Learners

Walk into any classroom in America today, and chances are, one of every ten students is learning English as they learn everything else. That’s more than 5.3 million children trying to solve math problems, read novels, and grasp history lessons in a language that still feels new in their mouths. By 2030, that number may double, reshaping what it means to teach and to learn in this country. Yet too often, English learners are treated not as the future of our schools, but as an afterthought.

The gaps are stark. On the latest national exams, nearly seven in ten English learners fell below basic reading levels, a figure that has barely moved in twenty years. In math, almost half failed to reach mastery. And in states like New York and Louisiana, fewer than 55 percent graduate high school on time, even as their peers graduate at rates above 80 percent. Numbers like these aren’t about ability—they are about systems that keep failing the very students who need the most support.

And now, the safety net is fraying further. This summer the Department of Education quietly rescinded federal guidance on how to teach English learners, erasing protections that had been in place since 2015. The Office of English Language Acquisition, once responsible for helping districts serve multilingual students, has been stripped to a single staff member. Billions of dollars in federal grants have been frozen, leaving schools uncertain whether programs for migrant children or after-school English classes will survive. The timing could not be worse: in New York City alone, 34,000 newly arrived migrant children entered schools in the past three years, swelling class sizes and overwhelming bilingual programs already stretched thin.

The inequalities multiply depending on where a student lands. In urban schools, classrooms can hold half a dozen languages, leaving teachers scrambling to translate and adapt. In rural districts, there may be only one ESL teacher for hundreds of children. Students with disabilities are misdiagnosed when assessments exist only in English. And in too many places, exit exams—given only in English—keep capable students from graduating.

The cost of inaction is measured not just in test scores, but in futures. A child who leaves high school without a diploma because she couldn’t pass an English-only test is not just “behind”—she is locked out of stable jobs, higher education, and civic participation. Families who see their home language dismissed as a barrier rather than a resource lose trust in schools. The loss is not just theirs—it is ours.

So what can be done?

First, states must take the lead where the federal government has stepped back. California, where one in three students begins school as an English learner, cannot afford to wait for Washington to act. Clear state guidance, sustained funding, and civil rights protections are non-negotiable.

Second, the teacher shortage must be confronted. That means recruiting bilingual educators from the very communities they serve, and training all teachers—not just ESL specialists—to weave language development into every subject. Professional development should move beyond token gestures (“show them a picture”) toward strategies rooted in research and respect for the complexity of learning a new language.

Third, schools must rethink assessments and instruction. Exams in core subjects should be available in students’ home languages. Early-exit bilingual programs that cut support after two years need to give way to models that sustain language development long enough for students to thrive. And curricula must reflect the cultures, histories, and knowledge students bring with them. When children are asked to bring photographs of their neighborhoods or interview their grandparents, they see themselves in the classroom—and that recognition matters.

But above all, there needs to be a shift in mindset. English learners are not guests in American schools. They are our students, our classmates, our neighbors, and, increasingly, the majority of our future workforce. To treat their success as optional is to gamble with the country’s future.

The warning is clear: just as unchecked heat threatens workers across the globe, neglecting multilingual learners threatens the health of our education system. The difference is that here, the solutions are within reach—if we have the will to act.

When Classrooms Fall Silent

In a second-grade classroom in the San Gabriel Valley, a teacher arranges laminated name tags in a neat semicircle. There are always a few that don’t get picked up. One belongs to a boy who moved from Guatemala last fall and hasn’t returned since winter break. Another to a girl whose parents work late shifts and rarely make it to school meetings. The rest are harder to track—students who show up for a week, then disappear, then come back just long enough to start over again.

Across the country, this has become common. Since the pandemic, chronic absenteeism—missing ten percent or more of the school year—has shifted from an occasional concern to a regular feature of school life. Nationally, about 15 percent of students were chronically absent in 2019. That number climbed to nearly 29 percent in 2022, and has settled somewhere near 23 percent today.

For English Language Learners, the numbers are higher. In California, for instance, absenteeism among ELL students rose from 10 percent in 2019 to 34 percent just three years later. The most recent figures show that roughly 28 percent of young English learners in the state are missing school at a rate that raises concern—about four percentage points above their non-ELL peers.

What explains this? The answers vary by household, neighborhood, and circumstance. Some families are still navigating the fallout of the pandemic. Others have limited transportation, unstable housing, or work schedules that make morning drop-offs inconsistent. A portion of students are simply adjusting to a new country, or to parents who speak one language while their teachers speak another. These factors are not new, but their effects are adding up.

So are the quieter reasons. Teachers and counselors report an increase in students who are anxious, withdrawn, or uncertain about how to ask for help. Mental health—once considered peripheral to learning—is now emerging as a central part of it. Nationwide, almost half of students say that stress or emotional struggles affect their schoolwork. Among English learners, who often carry the additional task of interpreting the world in a new language, the effect is amplified.

Absences aren’t always dramatic. Often, they begin with a missed Monday after a sleepless night. A late bus. A family emergency. A sense, over time, that no one notices when you’re gone.

Language development, especially in early grades, relies on rhythm and repetition—on hearing, responding, trying, correcting. When that rhythm breaks, the gaps widen. And while older students might compensate through reading or independent work, younger children rely on interaction: group discussions, shared read-alouds, face-to-face instruction. Every missed day is a missed opportunity to take part in the classroom’s ongoing conversation.

This puts teachers in a difficult position. Many work with students from a half-dozen language backgrounds, often without formal training in language acquisition. In some districts, one ELL specialist may serve over a hundred students. Schools do what they can—using gestures, sentence frames, and small-group instruction—but there’s only so much creativity can solve without time or staffing.

Still, there are efforts underway. Some schools have added full-time mental health counselors. Others have built early-warning systems to flag students who begin missing school regularly. Districts with in-school behavioral support teams have reported lower absentee rates than those without. In a few places, schools have partnered with community organizations to offer bilingual family outreach or home visits.

These are promising signs, but they remain uneven. In many communities, supports exist in patches—one school may have a social worker and after-school program, while another five miles away relies on teachers to fill every role. And for ELL families, especially those new to the country, understanding what services are available—and in what language—can be its own barrier.

What chronic absenteeism reveals isn’t just a crisis of attendance. It shows where support systems are thin, where communication breaks down, and where the expectations of school don’t quite meet the realities of students’ lives. 

If we want students to return—to stay—then the work ahead is less about mandates and more about attention. Paying closer attention to how students arrive, and why they don’t. To what they understand, and what they’re still trying to make sense of. 

When Classrooms Overflow: What Happens to Young English Learners Now?

For English language learners, elementary school is already hard. Even if you’re picking up English quickly, there’s still a science experiment to follow, a chapter book to read, and a math word problem to figure out. And none of it slows down just because you’re six or seven years old.

That’s why capacity matters.

Over the past two decades, the number of English language learners (ELLs) in U.S. elementary schools has soared. In some places, like California and Texas, ELLs make up nearly a third of all elementary students. Nationwide, there are over five million ELLs, and more than half are in elementary grades.

But there simply aren’t enough teachers trained to help them.

According to the Migration Policy Institute, roughly two-thirds of teachers in the U.S. have at least one English learner in their classroom, but many have had less than a single college course focused on how to teach them. In some districts, one specialist might be responsible for 150 students, darting from classroom to classroom with barely enough time to learn each child’s name.

This isn’t just a staffing problem, as the consequences are becoming increasingly dire.

Children learn languages faster than adults, but learning academic English—the vocabulary of textbooks, tests, and essays—takes five to seven years on average. Meanwhile, state reading exams start in the third grade. Science and math instruction become more text-heavy every year. When ELLs can’t keep up, their grades suffer. And too often, so does their confidence.

Under federal law, every child has the right to an education they can understand. But rights on paper don’t help much if there’s no teacher with the time or training to help a child connect the dots.

So, where does that leave elementary teachers?

In a tough spot. Many are working miracles every day, trying to teach phonics and long division while also figuring out how to explain words like “photosynthesis” to a child who arrived in the country last month. But teachers are creative. They’ve been finding ways to support young ELLs for decades, long before there were federal programs to rely on.

One solution that helps is sheltered instruction. It’s a way of teaching that makes content more accessible, using gestures, visuals, real-life objects, and simple language without watering down the ideas. For instance, a second-grade teacher introducing “metamorphosis” might bring in caterpillars and butterflies, show time-lapse videos, and create word walls with both pictures and labels in English and students’ home languages.

Another strategy is language scaffolds. Teachers might give sentence starters—like I predict that… or The problem happened because…—so students can participate in class discussions without feeling lost.

Small-group instruction helps, too. Pulling young ELLs aside for part of the day to practice new words, rehearse conversations, or preview a story they’ll read with the whole class later makes a huge difference.

And letting kids talk through an idea in their native language before trying it in English isn’t “cheating.” It’s smart teaching, as research shows that strong skills in a child’s first language help build stronger English later on.

States like California and Illinois are working to respond. Some have increased funding for bilingual teacher preparation, created fast-track certification for multilingual paraprofessionals to become teachers, and launched initiatives like California’s Global California 2030, which aims to expand bilingual programs in elementary schools.

Community groups are stepping up as well. In places like Houston and Los Angeles, nonprofits run bilingual story hours, family literacy nights, and parent workshops to help families navigate school expectations. These programs matter. But they shouldn’t have to replace what the education system is supposed to provide.

What’s really dangerous about failing to keep pace with ELL growth is the message it sends. It tells young English learners that they’re on their own and that the challenge of learning two languages at once is theirs to shoulder. 

But ELL students aren’t going anywhere. They’re already in our classrooms, singing songs at morning circle, exploring science stations, sounding out letters, and dreaming big dreams. They’re showing up every day, navigating a world of two languages and two cultures all at once.

So yes, teachers will keep adapting. Communities will keep organizing. But we can’t keep asking local heroes to solve a national problem on their own.

Until we train more teachers, fund more bilingual programs, and recognize that young ELLs deserve the same chances as any other child, we owe it to every English learner to keep the door open and to make sure there’s a seat for them inside.

When Support Fades: What Happens to English Learners Now?

For English language learners, school is already hard. Even if you’re making progress in English class, there’s still a science test to take, a history assignment to finish, a math word problem to understand. And none of them slow down.

That’s why national support matters. For years, the Office of English Language Acquisition (OELA) helped give ELL students a fair shot. It was a hub for teacher training, funding, bilingual education support, and civil rights oversight. It made sure that millions of students weren’t forgotten in the American educational system. 

But now, that office is basically gone.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the Trump administration has dismantled OELA almost entirely, letting go of most of its staff and stuffing what remains into a generic education office without a clear focus. That means there’s no one left to directly oversee Title III—a $940 million program meant to help English learners. And there’s no one left to keep track of how schools are supporting these students. 

This isn’t just a policy shift. The consequences are real.

OELA wasn’t perfect, but it gave schools guidance by holding them accountable. Under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, students have a legal right to an education they can understand, regardless of the language they speak at home. Without active oversight, those rights become harder to enforce. And when things fall through the cracks, students pay the price.

That’s not the only shift happening. The Associated Press recently reported on an executive order, signed by President Trump, that names English as the official language of the U.S. It scraps earlier rules that required agencies to offer services in other languages. This move has been criticized as both unconstitutional and, frankly, cruel—especially considering that nearly 1 in 10 students in the U.S. is an English learner, according to federal data.

So where does that leave teachers?

In a tough spot. With fewer resources, less support, and students who still need to learn. But educators are resourceful. They’ve been finding ways to reach ELL students for decades, long before there were federal offices or executive orders to lean on.

One strategy that helps is the 3-Read Protocol. It starts by removing the numbers from a word problem and just letting students read for meaning. Then they reread and guess what kind of question it might be. Only after that do they add the math back in. The point is to separate understanding the language of the problem from solving the content of it.

Visuals help, too. A picture or a gesture can provide more than five explanations. And letting students talk through a hard problem in their native language before expressing it in English can make a huge difference in confidence. Some teachers even provide partial sentences or word banks, just to give students a place to begin.

Over time, students rely on those supports less and less, but they’re extremely helpful at first. 

In places like California, where nearly 20% of students are English learners, state leaders are already pushing back. According to the Times Union, there’s a growing movement to protect multilingual education and ensure schools stay inclusive. Other communities are stepping up, too, with bilingual reading nights, community tutoring, and local funding efforts. These actions matter. But they shouldn’t have to replace what the federal government is supposed to provide.

What’s really dangerous about cutting OELA isn’t just the money or the paperwork. It’s the message. It tells English learners they’re on their own, that their education is conditional, that they’ll have to prove themselves in a language they didn’t grow up with, without the systems that are supposed to help.

But ELL students aren’t going anywhere. They are part of our classrooms, our future workforce, and our culture. They’re already showing up every day, asking questions, working hard, and navigating two worlds at once.

So yes, teachers will keep doing the work. Advocates will keep organizing. Programs like Literacy for ELL will keep showing up, especially where others step back. But federal support sets the tone. It shapes what’s possible—and what’s prioritized.

Until that support is rebuilt, we owe it to every English learner to keep the door open. And more than that, to make sure they feel like they belong inside.

Bridging the Gap Between Educators and Families 

When an ELL student approaches a teacher for help on a problem or something they need to change in the classroom, the result might be highly beneficial as the student voices their needs and allows a teacher to aid them. Moreover, this aid can also help the school, as one problem faced by an ELL might be encountered by many other students as well. 

However, many ELLs are reluctant to take the initiative to speak to a teacher. This reluctance often stems from having a language barrier between the student and teacher, making it more difficult than it already is to approach a teacher or administrator for help. Without student feedback, schools struggle to adjust to best accommodate the students’ needs. 

Thus, it is important to include family members in the school conversation, as ELL students are often more inclined to communicate with their families about the problems they face rather than administrators. Currently, there is a lack of this communication, mainly due to how educators or families can feel frustrated when talking to each other and not being able to understand one another. After a little while of this “failed” communication, most families stop trying to engage with the school, and vice versa. 

Yet, the connection is vital, as “students with involved guardians often have better attendance, behavior, and grades.” So, what can be done? 

What has been done in the past and is done quite often now is asking for students to translate or having another trusted person translate the information. Yet, this indirect method can still build up frustration, as “translators” can often miss out on crucial details and “bad” solutions, as it is undoubtedly helpful in bridging the gap between educators and families. However, more long-term and beneficial solutions exist. 

One of these solutions is to train current teachers to hold conversations in a foreign language simply. Although this method requires schools to put in more effort—it could have a “win-win” effect. On one hand, teachers can communicate with parents with minimal translation help; on the other hand, they can also increase student communication. For this to happen, many schools need to recognize the importance of family and educator communication and that simply sending notes to students’ homes isn’t enough, as it has to be an active conversation. 

Another solution is to hire educators with insight into the student body demographic. For example, if the majority of the student body speaks Spanish, then it would be beneficial to turn attention to hiring bilingual teachers who are also fluent in Spanish. This method has the limitation of often being more costly, but it can greatly reward the school system, especially one with many ELLs. 

If we want change in schools, we need to hear the voices of the students, including ELL students. To do so, it is pertinent that we bridge the gap between schools and families, creating a safe connection in which they can brainstorm solutions together.

Most ELLs Don’t Only Face Struggles in English Classes 

Often, more than not, English language learners are confounded that even if they’re learning the English language in English class, other classes also require an adept knowledge of the language. This scenario can be extremely frustrating to some ELLs, and many struggle in different courses in which they would have succeeded if it had been in their native language. 

For instance, mathematics might seem a “universal” language, as it is simply numbers. However, this description doesn’t consider all the external factors—such as how teachers often describe a question or a topic in English and word problems that are only written in that specific language. Thus, many English language learners simply either cannot understand what the teacher talks about in class or cannot comprehend a question on the test due to how it is worded in English. Consequently, in academic tests, English language learners have been shown to do worse overall. 

One solution might be having teachers say the class in the student’s native languages. However, students in a class may speak completely different native languages, thus making it nearly impossible for a teacher to ensure that all students receive the same amount of information. Moreover, standardized tests—which most students still have to take—are only written in English. Students will most likely struggle on these standardized tests without proper knowledge and usage of English in everyday class. 

Instead, there are other ways that teachers can utilize for students to understand the topics and use English in the process. One method is the 3-Read Protocol. The first step is letting the students see the word problems without the numbers. This way, students feel like they are solely in an English class where they only have to focus on understanding the words rather than the entire problem. Then, the students re-read the problem without the numbers and try to hypothesize what the problem might be. Finally, the entire class works together to read the problem in its entirety. This process allows students ample time to dissect a problem and ensure they understand what it’s asking for before they begin solving it.  

Another way is to make sure that the teacher is not simply lecturing at the students, as students may or may not be able to register all the English words that the teacher is saying. Instead, teachers can offer visuals that give students something to understand the problem without having to use the words immediately. Allowing students to fill in word blanks can also familiarize them with important vocabulary they may need while also already providing them with words they do not have to try to immediately understand from listening to the teacher. 

Finally, allowing students some leeway is crucial so that it doesn’t feel like a complete struggle as they try to understand a problem. For instance, occasionally allowing students to use their native language while discussing a problem could aid in them having more confidence when approaching a challenging problem. It is also helpful for students to be able to use some of their previous knowledge at times. Although this knowledge might be completely different from what the U.S. school curriculum teaches, students often find much greater confidence and, thus, achievement when they can rely on something they know and then build off it rather than start completely anew. As students progress throughout the school year, the ratio of their native language to English language usage in the classroom will most likely decrease, with just the students simply gaining conviction in their capabilities. 

So, as an ELL begins a school year, it is completely natural that they might struggle in classes in addition to English. Although the transition period might be a bit slower, there are many strategies around this issue, and what is most needed is flexibility.

One Syllable at a Time: ELLs and Phonics

When native English speakers see the word “shake,” they might immediately know how to pronounce it. Yet, at some point in their education, they probably learned to separate “sh” from “ake,” pronouncing each part of the word and then combining the two to pronounce the complete word. Although native speakers might not have to break up words they have seen multiple times, when they encounter new words, they still often break them apart in order to pronounce them.

Why is this skill important? Phonics serves as a method that “simplifies the English language down into just 44 sounds” instead of having to memorize thousands of individual words. Research has shown that phonics serves as a crucial part of reading as students first learn how to sound out singular letters and then eventually blend the sounds together while reading a full story. 

Unlike native English speakers who usually start learning phonics “in kindergarten and wrap up by the end of second grade,” most ELLs start much later yet have to acquire the skills of learning phonics. The beginning of doing so is gaining phonemic awareness, which is “the ability to recognize and manipulate the spoken parts of words.” It is important to initially start with phonemic awareness because only when students can hear and replicate English sounds can they start to see patterns in reading. 

ELLs might especially struggle with phonemic awareness because they are not yet experienced in English. So, it is difficult for them to differentiate between English and their native languages. Words may be spelled similarly between various languages but simultaneously have different pronunciations. Moreover, students without experience with romance languages may have never even heard of English sounds. For ELLs to begin differing between the two, there needs to be continual pronunciations of words during class time. For example, teachers could read short stories and let the students sing songs that repeat certain words. That way, students can pick up on certain words and start seeing common pronunciations of vowels and consonants.  

After students start to see patterns, they can learn how to pronounce English words when reading. One concrete yet fun way for teachers to instill certain sounds in students’ heads could be the exercise of “matching pictures and words.” This way, students can start seeing patterns while the teacher monitors the activity and helps them if needed. 

Even when ELLs have learned all 44 types of sounds of the English language, there are many exceptions, not always ensuring “a regular system of correspondence between letters and sounds.” For example, why can the word “read” be pronounced in two completely different ways if spelled the same? When is it pronounced one way or another way? Although English native speakers may know how to differentiate between these two pronunciations, ELLs often cannot due to a lack of experience in the language. Thus, it is important to expose ELLs to as many situations where this situation occurs as possible so that they can correlate a certain pronunciation with a certain circumstance. 

As seen above, learning phonics takes an extensive amount of energy and time, especially for ELLs who have to adjust from their native language to English. To simplify the process, teachers can help students automatically recognize commonly used words, such as “goodbye.” That way, ELLs can focus on dissecting new words using phonics while reading. 

In conclusion, learning phonics is not an easy task for ELLs because their native languages might have completely different pronunciations or not even need them to pronounce that letter. Teachers also face a difficult task because ELLs from different backgrounds will struggle with varying words, and teachers have to see how to best adapt to teaching them. Thus, it is crucial to recognize that ELLs often need more time in order to gain phonics skills. 

Beneficial Yet in Need of Caution: Standardized Testing for ELLs

We have probably all heard of standardized testing at some stage of our education, whether in elementary, middle, or high school. For some background on this test, it was first implemented in 2002 when Congress established the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). The government’s intention behind creating this act was to close the gap between students’ education by establishing “student academic standards as well as an assessment system.” In 2015, the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) replaced NCLB. Under ESSA, the accountability system no longer applies to the entire country; instead, each state has the flexibility to develop its own systems that best serve its students.

First, it is important to recognize how ESSA has drastically improved the overall education system in the U.S., requiring all schools to set a standard that prepares them for success in college. This policy also provides funding for low-performing schools, specifically providing free, optional programs in reading and literacy programs. As of 2018, most states have had a graduation rate of over 80% due to ESSA, a significant increase from the decades before. 

Despite how ESSA has transformed the world of education, it has inadequately adjusted for English Language Learners (ELLs) for multiple reasons. When ELLs first start learning English, they must try to keep up with the curriculum, and doing so is already quite a difficult task, considering they have to balance learning a new topic and learning a new language simultaneously. Yet, standardized tests open up a new realm of challenges because they often contain content that ELLS might never have seen before in the classroom. For example, ELLs might know some vocabulary they learned during the school year but need help understanding the more complicated reading and comprehension questions that require a mix of skills acquired over multiple years of learning English. 

Moreover, the test is only administered in English, which applies to all the word problems in the math sections. Because of this, ELLs can score lower in math than their skills would normally deem simply because they lack understanding of the question. Reports have found that ELLs score the lowest in both English and mathematics compared to other students. Thus, standardized testing for ELLs does not truly test their knowledge but only tests their language skills. 

Another problem is that many ELLs are in bilingual education systems because it is a gentler and often more effective transition to learning English (see first article). In these dual-language classes, ELLs learn topics similar to other students except in a different language. Consequently, although they might have the same grasp on the topic as other students, they perform significantly worse because of the language barrier. 

ELLs who recently arrived in the U.S. from a different country could also struggle with questions on standardized testing that involve aspects of U.S. culture and history. For example, students could be asked to write about a topic concerning the U.S. that they might not have distinctly learned in class. Because of its complexity and continual change, much of the U.S. history and culture must be learned from a long time of living and receiving an education in the country. Accordingly, newcomer ELLs often struggle with these possible parts of standardized testing even though they undergo the same history class as other students.  

So, how do we address these problems? Completely eliminating standardized testing for ELLs would not be a solution, as these tests still provide an important way for students to assess their grasp on the topic. However, how these tests are administered could be changed. 

For one, ELLs could be given extra time during the test to process the questions further and take breaks if needed. The test could be translated into the student’s native language, or the teachers could translate the directions and read them out loud to the students. Then, the students could respond to the questions in their native language. These changes would make the test a model of their skills rather than their ability in English. 

Educators could also modify the test so that it best reflects solely what was taught during the curriculum, avoiding questions requiring students to have lived in the U.S. for multiple years or advanced language that ELLs had never used before in the classroom. Conversely, schools can also modify their curriculum to fit the standardized testing, preparing students with all the content needed for success on the test. To do either of these tasks, there should be representatives from each school that take part in creating the standardized testing at the state level to ensure that the test best reflects what is taught at their school or that their school is well prepared for the test. 

Finally, ELLs should not be held to the standard of other students when looking at the test results, as the test result might not accurately represent the knowledge acquired throughout the year. Instead, the academic achievement of ELLs should be based on the various tests periodically given throughout the school year that test solely what the students have learned so far. Moreover, educators must take into account that when they look at the outcome of the data of a school with more ELLs compared to others, it is natural to have a lower score for that school and that there does not need to be a large change within that school’s curriculum. 

Overall, just as standardized testing should never define a student, the same applies to ELLs, perhaps even more so than others.

Diversity of ELLS: Recognizing Their Different Needs

ELL students are one of the most diverse groups of students, yet they often become grouped into just one or two sections. The resulting impact is that students don’t receive the proper intervention they need and aren’t aided in the skills that they lack. This article will introduce readers to different types of ELLs. However, I recognize that it is nearly impossible to cover every type, so it is important to keep in mind that there are probably other types of ELLs that will not be named in this article. At the same time, they deserve the same amount of attention in the process of classifying them into their respective ELL classes. 

We might think that the majority of ELLs are mostly Spanish-speaking. While around 75% of ELLs speak Spanish, there are a variety of other languages spoken as well. In California alone, there are 67 different languages spoken among ELLs with ten of the languages deemed as the most prominent ones. Following Spanish is Vietnamese with 2%, then Mandarin, Arabic, and Filipino. Some teachers have also found that students may speak languages they have never heard of before, such as Mixtec languages. 

Moreover, a student’s geographic origin is not an exact indicator of their linguistic and cultural backgrounds. For example, not all students who have origins in Mexico speak Spanish or even the same type of Spanish. Thus, we cannot classify students based solely on their country of origin. 

Instead, we should look at a variety of factors such as their skill level, age, and experience. Dual language learners are ELL students from the age of birth to five years old. The majority of ELLS, however, are EL students. As defined by federal law, these are students who speak a different language other than English at home and need support in becoming proficient in English. Within this category of ELLS are multiple subcategories. Newcomer EL students are those who recently arrived in the United States, usually less than a year, and have just begun enrolling in school. Long-term English learner students, otherwise known as LTELs, are students who have been in a U.S. school for over six years but have not yet reached the proficient level. Then there are reclassified fluent English proficient (RFEP) students. These students have met the state standards on the English proficiency assessment, a teacher has reviewed the students’ performance using locally determined evaluation, and a consultation with a parent has been conducted. Although these students differ from most EL students in that they no longer need EL services, schools still monitor them for a few years in case they need academic help. Initially fluent English proficient (IFEP) students are the EL students who demonstrate English proficiency immediately upon enrolling in a school. They participate in the same classrooms and instructions as those who are completely proficient in English.

What level of English teaching ELLs need the most varies from student to student. An example would be the differences between ELLs that are native-born or foreign-born. Maybe surprisingly, around 72% of ELLS are born in the United States and 28% are foreign-born. For students born in the U.S., many of them already have a good grasp of conversational English skills. However, they often lack academic English skills because of factors like insufficient educational programming. Thus, for these students, what they need most is intentional educational programming with a focus on building classroom-setting English. However, most ELLS born in the U.S. have at least one immigrant parent. This means that these students have various cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds. Additionally, 750,000 ELLs have parents who are undocumented, which is a source of immense stress that can impede a student’s learning. The best way to give these students the best learning experience is by creating supportive school environments. 

Immigrant students come from all over the world, and, thus, are all at different stages of their education in English. One group of immigrant students is students who have experienced an interruption in their formal education, called SIFEs. The reasons why they have missed periods of education include circumstances such as fleeing a war in their home country. These students would need more survival English, which are the basic English skills that they can use both in school and at home. They would also benefit from basic content courses and foundational literacy skills. From the comparison between native-born ELLS and foreign-born ELLs, we can see that different experiences can lead to different needs for learning. 

There are many more subcategories within ELL students, such as migratory students and heritage language learners. The list could go on and on, but the important takeaway from this article is that no ELL student is the same. Even if they are in the same subcategory, they can have different ways of learning. For example, one student might prefer lecture-based teaching and another might prefer project-based teaching. To best ensure that ELL students are receiving the education that they need, the classification process needs to be specific. Not only should the classification process be an English proficiency test, but it should also ask the students about their backgrounds and what type of English learning would suit them the best.

Addressing Deficient Funding and Accountability for ELL Education

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 along with the Equal Educational Opportunities Act of 1974 mandated that all public schools are required to provide academic support for ELLs. Thus, the federal government is obligated to fund these programs. Despite these acts, there has yet to be sufficient research on how the federal government should allocate these funds. The main issue that government officials overlook when applying these funds is that the demographic of ELLs is continuously expanding and becoming more diversified. 

One major issue is the lack of funding, specifically for ELL education. The federal funding for public schools can be broken down into five parts. The first provides grants to local educational agencies to help economically disadvantaged students. The second addresses the education of migratory children. The third works toward improving the quality of the instruction by increasing professional development among teachers. The fourth provides grants for school districts with refugees. Finally, the fifth part gears toward ensuring that ELLs attain English proficiency and academic achievement. This last section is the only funding by the federal government that is specific to helping ELLs. 

This lack of funding is extremely hurtful to the education of ELLs. According to an article by Diana Quintero, Former Senior Research Analyst at Brown Center on Education Policy, only 20% of schools enroll almost 75% of all ELLs in the U.S. This study also found that 37% of ELLs live in poverty while 21% of all public school students live in poverty. Thus, we can deduce that many ELLs are found in high-poverty schools. What this data means is that ELLs are often overrepresented in these schools, yet because of the deficient funding, there are not enough teachers to support them. As the population of ELLs grows, federal funding fails to keep up. UnidosUS, a non-profit organization in Washington D.C. for Hispanic civil rights, found that the ELL population has grown by 35% in the last twenty years, yet the funding for ELLs decreased by 24% when taking into account the effects of inflation. 

When schools do not have the appropriate funding, the result is that there is a lack of educational tools, such as textbooks, to support ELL education. A study by the English Learners Success Forum and San Diego State University found that many teachers in California felt a shortage of materials to help teach math and English to ELLs. Even when they had materials, most of them found these materials to be irrelevant to the students. 

The main reason for this deficiency in funding is because of the inadequacy of costing out studies. Costing out studies is one of the four prominent methodologies involving cost study. They rely on student performance data from standardized tests. According to an article by Oscar Jimenez-Castellanos, the Director of P-12 Research at the Education Trust, and Amy Topper, a program evaluation and assessment specialist, the two criteria that are looked at when deeming costing out literature are (a) peer-reviewed journal articles and reports and (b) studies that generate statewide funding for the entire district. Yet, they also found that only 4 out of 70 empirical studies reviewed focused especially on ELLs. Because of the lack of focus on ELLs, a demographic that is always changing, these studies often fail to comprehensively represent their needs.  

When the target demographic is not reached, the problem of accountability arises. As of now, state funding for ELLs has not been based on meeting annual accountability targets. Although some policymakers have expressed their disagreement with this method, proposals for the increasing of funds toward ELLs have yet to specify how they should be spent. Currently, federal and state governments provide funding to schools based on the number of ELLs that they have. However, they do not provide extra funding for former ELLs, who often still need financial support for better outcomes. Thus, this method often leads to disincentives for reclassification. 

Nevertheless, the government has been active in aiding ELLs. For example, when COVID-19 hit and, thus, exacerbated the challenges for ELLs, Congress provided around 190 million dollars to support the most vulnerable students, which included ELLs. These funds, known as the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief, were momentous because they were the first in history to provide such large investments in K-12 education. 

However, there is still much more to be done. One solution to elucidate how funds should be spent is to increase costing out literature specifically geared toward ELLs. Additionally, these studies should recognize that ELLs are diverse and that a “one size fits all” solution is not proficient for each student. One of the ways to ensure that the funds are used for their initial purpose is to set clear annual accountability targets for state funding. These targets compel districts to spend more energy to benefit ELL education. Moreover, instead of completely cutting off funding for former ELLs, state governments should still provide them funding at a lower value. This way, former ELLs, many of whom are living in poverty, still feel supported in their learning.

The English Language in Costa Rica

 According to Nelson Mandela in 1998, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” 

I found on my recent trip to Costa Rica with my school that this statement could not be more true. I went into this trip believing that it would entail learning about the environment and the government’s conservation efforts. While we did cover these topics, I was shocked by one thing, which was how much the locals knew English. It seemed as if everyone there knew English, even if simply on a conversational level. Upon returning home, I began to research why English is so prominent in a country with an official language of Spanish. I learned that there have been significant efforts to increase the knowledge of English in Costa Rica. The intent in doing so is in part to strengthen Costa Rica’s development in tourism, exports, and foreign investment. Another reason is to increase Costa Rica’s globalization. 

In this blog, I will focus on the tourism aspect of Costa Rica and its relevance to English. Previous to the 1960s, Costa Rica was mainly closed off to the rest of the world, having only a few paved roads and one airline to fly in and out. Yet, in the late 1960s, Costa Rica developed a slogan, “The Garden of the Americas,” symbolizing a readiness to allow for ecological tourism, a form of tourism that focuses on protecting the environment while still letting tourists explore the region. In 1955, a law declared areas that are close to volcanic craters to be national parks. In 1977, the government created the National Park Services (SPN). In 1998, all of the natural reservations were placed under the National System of Conservation Areas. Now, around 25% of Costa Rica is all protected national parks. Almost simultaneously, Costa Rica realized that the untouched nature of the country would attract people from all over the world to visit. In the 1990s, the government started promoting tourism on a large scale. In 2019, the Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT) launched its new program “Only the Essentials.” Its main aim is to promote tourism in the United States and Canada, which are its two main tourist markets. On the day of its launch, President Alvarado said, “Tourism is an engine of the Costa Rican economy that this government seeks to promote to continue creating jobs, growth, and wellness in the country.” Tourism makes up 8.2% of the country’s GDP and 13% of the country’s employment. Tourism has even surpassed banana and coffee exportation in its income values. A main source of income for thousands of families, tourism is crucial to Costa Rica. 

Because English-speaking countries make up the majority of tourism there, it is often an invaluable skill for Costa Ricans to know English. Thus, in 2018, President Carlos Alvarado Quesada enacted the Alliance for Bilingualism (ABi). In this alliance, he made progress in universalizing the teaching of English in pre-school, as of now covering 125,000 students. He also implemented English language certification tests to reach approximately 180,000 students. He instated tests of international standards on around 200 INA English teachers followed by a training plan to raise the quality of English language courses. 

There is still more to be done, however. One of the major issues is that there is a lack of teachers trained to teach English. To help, Costa Rica should focus on giving priority to the teachers who have experience in advanced university studies. Additionally, Costa Rica should test all of these teachers before admission using international tests. While these processes are easy to say, they are often costly and arduous to implement. So, what can we do to help? We can donate to schools there to improve their educational system, volunteer as an English tutor abroad, and spread awareness of the importance of the English language in Costa Rica.

CALP Deficiency Solved By CALLA: Overcoming the Gap Between Conversational and Academic Language for ELLs

Two important topics to know about if you are interested in ELL teaching are Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills (BICS) and Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (CALP). BICS is people’s everyday language. This is part of first-language acquisition, which is often developed in the subconscious. As they are learning English, ELLs can develop this skill set through day-to-day interactions, watching TV shows, listening to music, and simply being in an English-speaking environment. On the other hand, CALP is the academic language often found in classroom settings. CALP is the structured part of second-language acquisition, which usually takes ten to twelve years for ELLs to develop. The difficulty that comes with CALP is the number of years students need to participate in formal English education. Sitting in class for years after years, native English speakers naturally develop an understanding of the language. Since most ELLs do not have the same amount of experience with English, they don’t enter the classroom already possessing these skills, which are crucial for their academic achievement. 

The issue that arises from the difference between BICS and CALP is that many ELLs may seem proficient because of their fluency in everyday language even if they are not. Thus, many teachers automatically assume that the students know the language, failing to understand that many ELLs do not actually know the academic terms being used. Consequently, coordinators often place ELLs in the wrong classes, assigning them to classes with predominantly native English speakers. In these classes, proficiency tests are often based on CALP knowledge. As there is usually a direct link between these two sectors, placing ELLs in classes that are not fit for them inadvertently creates an environment where many ELLs do not score well on tests and, thus, feel “behind” or “less than” their peers. 

For ELLs in elementary school, this problem is less pronounced because those classrooms use more basic vocabulary and content. However, by high school, the problem is intensified, leading to significant dropout rates. A researcher in charge of “No Child Left Behind,” a law that requires scientifically-based strategies to address teaching strategies, found that, “many students performed adequately at lower grade levels, but began failing the tests at 5th grade.” By high school, the Office of English Language Acquisition found a graduation rate of only 68.4% for ELLs compared to 87% for the national average. 

From these dropout rates, we know that ELLs may seem fluent in the language during basic conversations but cannot simply “catch up” with their native classmates in an academic setting. Multiple solutions can help ELLs with this problem. One of these solutions is the Cognitive Academic Language Learning Approach (CALLA). This teaching model seeks to help students learn academic language and content so that they can increase their strategies for learning in school. ELLs are exposed to topics encountered in grade-level classrooms, but this new information is introduced gradually so that students can acclimate. In this model, teachers also explicitly demonstrate these learning strategies. According to an article on An Analytical Comparison of Three Models of Reading Strategy Instruction, “Students develop effective learning behaviors by watching teachers and other experts as they perform learning tasks.” Giving extra support to these students during this period ensures that they can practice these behaviors until they can internalize them and find what works best in various situations. Beyond just the academic content, CALLA has a primary objective to increase students’ confidence and motivation to learn, which is essential for improvement. 

There are five steps to CALLA, which include preparation, presentation, practice, evaluation, and expansion. First, the preparation stage consists of teachers engaging with students to evoke what they already know, identifying the objectives for the day and developing the vocabulary that will be used. Second, the presentation stage involves teachers giving new strategies and concepts through demonstrations and visuals, connecting them to previous knowledge. Third, the practice stage involves students trying out these new learning structures and asking questions about these strategies. During this stage, students collaborate with other students to develop skills in working with others. Fourth, the self-evaluation stage encompasses students assessing their learning and strategies used. Finally, the expansion stage consists of students connecting what they learned to their lives and their first language knowledge. 

The full-step implementation of CALLA has proven to be successful in improving students’ communicative skills. In a study about speaking scores conducted by Desi Tri Cahyaningati, a lecturer in language, it was found that the experimental group, or the group that was taught using CALLA, scored higher in the post-test than the control group, even though both started with similar pre-test scores. 

CALLA has also been shown to benefit students’ reading skills and increase their passion for English. Tina Yaser, an English language instructor at Birzeit University, found through her study that “there is a positive correlation between the pre-post reading test and the reading component in the international standardized TOEFL ITP/level 2 test.” Students experienced an increase in language development and reading comprehension. With this model in reading instruction, students affirmed that they felt more ready and satisfied with the objectives of the program. 

For ELLs, developing CALP, which many native-English speakers have been working towards for years, is not an easy and quick task. Often, many ELLs find themselves struggling and needing more motivation in classes that require them to have equal proficiency to understand the academic content. CALLA gives students an in-depth analysis of the language and allows for more creative ways of approaching new information. Thus, students feel more prepared for the lesson and come out of it with a deeper understanding of the material.

The Lack of Bilingual ELL Teachers

There are three different kinds of programs for English language learners (ELLs). English as a second language programs (ESL) mostly focus on immersing students in English as quickly as possible without consideration of their native language. Transitional bilingual programs focus on getting students proficient in English while continuing instruction in their native language. Since Spanish-speaking students make up the majority of ELLs, these classes often teach math, science, and social studies in Spanish while also focusing on English proficiency in reading and writing. Finally, dual-language programs spend half of the day in English and the other half in another language. These classrooms consist of ELLs and native English speakers so that natives can learn a second language and ELLs can learn English. 

Out of these three possible options, bilingual education, which incorporates transitional bilingual and dual-language programs, is better than ESL for most ELLs. Bilingual programs can take longer to be effective, usually taking at least six years compared to the three to five years that ESL programs take. However, research has shown that bilingual programs are the most effective and outperform monolingualism in the long term. The British Vietnamese International School found that through bilingualism, students often have increased cognitive development because they have a higher understanding of language than monolinguals. The Harvard Graduate School of Education also concluded that bilingual individuals have greater control over the executive function of their brains, meaning that they have heightened attention when learning tasks and an overall greater working memory. George Mason University found that bilinguals often have better academic achievement because their minds are challenged to find the meaning of the words and communicate using different languages. They tend to score higher in math, reading, and vocabulary than monolinguals. 

Bilingual education benefits ELLs, and 90% of ELLs are enrolled in programs, yet there is still a lack of bilingual teachers. California Budget and Policy Center researched that 1,802,420 students speak Spanish at home and only 7,518 teachers were authorized to teach in these languages. For Vietnamese, the numbers were 68,150 students to 30 teachers, and for Mandarin, the numbers were 67,712 students to 436 teachers. This disparity can also be seen in a report by a Migration Policy Institute report in 2015, which found that around 50% of California’s early childhood education workers speak only English, and 37% of the workers speak some Spanish. Compared to the 81% of 1.113 million Spanish-speaking ELLs in California, there are simply insufficient bilingual teachers. 

Why the discrepancy? Because of bureaucracy. Right now, it is excessively cumbersome for experienced educators who teach the grades before kindergarten to qualify for teaching K-3. Yet, these educators are often the best fit to teach ELLs at a young age because, on average, they speak more Spanish and other languages than K-12 teachers. In a U.S. Census to determine the linguistic diversity of U.S. teachers, it found that while 21% of U.S. children speak another language at home, only 13% of teachers are bilingual compared to 25% of childcare workers. According to the Center for the Study of Child Care Employment at UC Berkeley, these educators often have many credentials, such as a teacher’s child development permit, a bachelor’s degree, and more than six years of teaching in early childhood education. Yet, the Californian system makes them revert to teaching regular preschool to fill the set amount of hours that they need to become K-3 teachers. This step does virtually nothing to help ELLs because of the large difference between teaching native preschoolers and ELL preschoolers. 

Even though there are more bilingual preschool teachers than bilingual K-12 teachers, there is, nonetheless, still an overall lack of bilingual preschool teachers. In part, this is because many educators who can speak another language work in non-teaching daycare center jobs or as assistant teachers rather than as head preschool teachers or directors. There simply aren’t enough training programs and resources to support workers who want to make the transition to becoming teachers. According to a study by the University of California at Davis, 43% of teachers with a majority of ELLs in their classrooms had not received a training session in the past five years. Additionally, although since 1999, California has required that all new teachers learn how to instruct ELLs, only half reported doing so. 

What can California do to help? It can start by easing the necessary preschool hours required for experienced educators to become K-3 teachers. This change does not mean that teachers should be left to fend for themselves in the classroom; instead, California should enforce the standard of instruction already in place for training new ELL teachers. Moreover, this instruction should be sustained, meaning that teachers should receive instruction periodically. This upskilling ensures that they feel supported and are updated on new teaching forms. 

With the number of ELLs on the rise and with 29% of them in California, these changes would greatly impact these students on their journey to not only become proficient in English but also to retain their native language.