ESOL Students in Middle and High School

DOUBLE the WORK
CHALLENGES AND SOLUTIONS TO ACQUIRINGLANGUAGE AND ACADEMIC LITERACY FORADOLESCENT ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS 
By Deborah J. Short & Shannon Fitzsimmons

Key Points:
English Language Learners in middle and high school are often lagging quite a bit behind their native English speaking peers in academics. Academic literacy is low for many of these students, they are learning English proficiency while being held to the same academic requirements as the rest of the school. Essentially, they have double the work. Many also have low academic literacy in their native language which means they are already behind even without the burden of learning a second language.

This report summarizes many of the challenges for students who are English language learners in middle and high school, including their background, programs, lack of assessment, and more. They also make suggestions for improvement including teacher training, programs, and expectations.

Relevancy:
The number of non-English speaking immigrants is increasing in many areas, including our local schools. It is something all teachers need to be trained for.