3.2.3 How might instructional programs for English language learners be contributing to the puzzling situation?

Instructional programs for English language learners (ELLs) (including programs specifically designed for ELLs and mainstream programs in which ELLs participate) may not provide sufficient opportunities for ELLs to develop academic skills and knowledge comparable to their native English-speaking peers (Collier, 1989). Programs specifically targeted for ELLs may function as a form of tracking if students in them do not receive a rigorous curriculum (Moll, 1992) or are socially isolated from students in mainstream classes. Valdés' (2001) description of the experiences of four middle school Latino ELLs illustrated the complexities facing ELLs and their English as a Second Language (ESL) and mainstream teachers.

Valenzuela (1999 [see especially Ch. 5]) showed how ESL programs can also lead to "cultural tracking." Separating recently arrived Spanish-speaking immigrants from U.S.-born, English-speaking students of the same heritage for all or almost all of their schooling can be detrimental to Spanish-speaking students, to English-speaking students, and to the relationships between the two groups:

This separation encourages and legitimates, on the one hand, a status hierarchy that relegates immigrant youth to the bottom. On the other, it nurtures in student groups the kind of distinct and distorted identities that sabotage communication and preclude bridge building....Curricular divisions between student populations not only reinforce each group's misperceptions of the other; they also deprive U.S.-born students of potentially positive school experiences, including enhanced social ties [,which could provide important social capital for U.S.-born students]. (pp. 31-32)

The education of ELLs in mainstream classrooms presents some particular challenges for both teachers and students. Meyer (2000), for example, indicated that "teachers who instruct English learners must be skilled at lowering four significant barriers to meaningful instruction: cognitive load, culture load, language load, and learning load" (p.229).

Success Stories & CIP Studies Related to School Culture

Consider next question: 3.3
Gather information on this question: 4.2.3