March 6, 2015 - 16:44
English Language Learners
According to the National Education Association, English Language Learners enrollment in U.S. schools will reach 10 million this year and by 2025, one out of every four students will be an English Language Learner. Immigrant populations are a big component of America’s population and cultural change. Our nation was built on immigration. In 2013, 41.3 millions of immigrants, 13% of the U.S. population, lived in the United States. The immigrant population is expeditiously growing, however the public education system seems negligent of this. The education system is depriving English language learners of access to useful resources, for they lack availability of resources and academic and personal support from schools and teachers.
Sociodemographics are not artifacts of urban education, for they are still existent in today’s education. It’s a major component of how schools are structured. Two thirds of immigrant students come from a low-income background, which doesn’t allow them or their families to have the freedom of choice to where they will attend schools. They can’t afford elite private schools or have access to special designed programs for English language learners; consequently they must go to their zoned public school.
Public Schools in low-income urban communities are known not to have the adequate resources due to the powerful and leading cause of our education system’s dilemmas, lack of funding. Without enough money, schools are not able to provide a decent classroom environment for all students, let alone be able to afford to have teachers certified to work specifically with English Language Learners. The issues go beyond the curriculum being taught to bilingual students, seeing that politics, school structure, and social insight on cultural capital all are a big component on improving bilingual education for English language learners in urban schools.
As educators, we should be culturally and academically informed about the issues and complications of the fastest growing population in public school education. It is our duty to do as much research and become acquainted with the issue as well as leading and also engaging in the struggle English language learners have to face in urban education. Not being in it would make us a part of the problem.
Effective development is a crucial component of addressing the issue of bilingual students performing academically inadequate. Educators should be able to understand and recognize that there are two types of bilingual students, transitional and inconsistent. Transitional bilingual students are those that have moved from their family’s country origin to the United States and have had some schooling in both countries. Whereas inconsistent bilingual students have received little to no language support and tend to move in and out of bilingual education. Which leads them to have academic gaps in their education. By being able to recognize the two different types of bilingual students, we are able to appropriately design our curriculum and teaching approach to best fit the students.
Teachers teaching English language learners often lack resources and strategies needed to not only adequately teach these students new material, but also nurture them. Communication plays a big factor in improving and providing a safe classroom environment and connecting as well as understanding the students, parents, and community they belong to. Of course we must be attentive to how well our students understand and perform to new academic material, but we must also realize that these students spend most of their time in the classroom. Students roughly spend 7-8 hours of their day, five days a week in schools and the rest of their time back home. Their lives consist of school and home or whatever community they are a part of. The academic environment that we are providing as educators as well as the environment and community they live in, roughly shapes their outlook on life and perspective on life goals. Together we are molding and preparing the next generation of individuals in society and we must be able to realize and acknowledge our impact as educators before its too late.
Schools should also be addressing their structural challenges, like dealing with low student achievement and inexperienced/unqualified teaching staff. A big portion of bilingual students tend to perform poorly on standardized tests as well as not performing at their appropriate grade level. Bilingual students, especially students in 6th grade and higher struggle the most with learning the English language. There is an immense amount of pressure for these students for they have to not only be able to learn new challenging material along with everyone to perform at their adequate grade level, but they also have to play catch up and learn a new language, English. All of the subjects require literacy, whether that be math or science, and if bilingual students aren’t able to speak/understand let alone read the English language, how do expect them to perform at the adequate grade level? English is necessary for integration in our society, especially in our education system, but it shouldn’t have to be one of the major reasons why bilingual students discourage themselves from pursuing higher education or even yet reaching out for help and assistance without feeling fear of not being smart enough.
Schools should also seek teachers who are well qualified to teach bilingual students. These teachers should be bilingual themselves or demonstrate interest in learning a new language not only so that they can reach out to students not only in English, but also so that teachers can reflect on their experience learning a new language and incorporate that experience in the classroom. Teaching bilingual students can be challenging, but if one has had personal experience, it’s helpful to move forward and bring helpful ideas to the table.
It is also essential that teachers work collaboratively with students and their parents and communities. Immigrant families come from different countries and as educators, it is important to become culturally familiar with their communities and their ways. We must not assume or believe that one way works for everyone, but we must be open and realize that true learning happens when we communicate effectively and are open to new strategies and ways to reach out to different communities from which our students come from.
Educators and schools must also realize the importance of activities and programs available for English language learners. It’s crucial that they have a supportive academic setting, but also communities that can mentor and help with personal/ academic development. Participation in after school programs, like mentioned in Lee and Hawkins’ reading of Family is Here: Learning in Community-Based After School Programs, positively affects youth development and adjustment of students identified at risk. As previously mentioned, a large population of English language learners come from low-income backgrounds, where they live in notoriously high crime activity neighborhoods. If students spend most of their time in school and then some time in their homes/ communities, but have no reinforcement of a positive growth home/community environment, then students will find themselves having to choose to either be accepted in their communities or neglected for choosing to pursue school.
Immigrant families make up for a big portion of The U.S. population. If we’re not tackling these issues and implementing a few solutions in predominantly bilingual communities, then the achievement gap for bilingual students will never be closed. As educators, we need to embrace English language learners’ bicultural identity and bilingual development. Rather than push for cultural assimilation such as English only policies and instruction, we should work closely with our students and develop strong bonds/ relationships to work together towards closing the achievement gap between English Language Learners and other students. The aim should be to be more than teachers, but mentors for our students to rely on and seek support and academic guidance.
Works Cited
"Framing Urban School Challenges: The Problems to Examine When Implementing Response to Intervention." Urban School Challenges. Web. 6 Mar. 2015. <http://www.rtinetwork.org/learn/diversity/urban-school-challenges>.
“English Language Learners Face Unique Challenges.”Web. 6 Mar. 2015. <http://www.nea.org/assets/docs/HE/ELL_Policy_Brief_Fall_08_(2).pdf>.
"Membership." Educational Leadership:Supporting English Language Learners:The Difficult Road for Long-Term English Learners. Web. 6 Mar. 2015. <http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational_leadership/apr09/vol66/num07/The_Difficult_Road_for_Long-Term_English_Learners.aspx>.
"Frequently Requested Statistics on Immigrants and Immigration in the United States."Migrationpolicy.org. 25 Feb. 2015. Web. 6 Mar. 2015. <http://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/frequently-requested-statistics-immigrants-and-immigration-united-states#Current and Historical>.