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The purpose of this chapter is to identify specific instructional strategies to help English language learners develop literacy skills. Potential difficulties in areas of decoding, vocabulary, and fluency are explored along with suggestions to implement effective instruction. The intention of this chapter is not to be a research document, but a pragmatic guide for educators of English language learners. Through reflective practice and backed by research, I walk readers through classroom and professional development scenarios and also present ways to effectively support the emerging literacy skills of English language learners. Readers will be presented with research-based instructional methods shown to enhance crucial early literacy skills for English language learners along with practical suggestions for teachers to put research into practice in the classroom. Scenarios and research-based practices illuminate how to effectively work with English language learners. Research-based evidence is presented, showing that English language learners go through the same developmental milestones as native English-speaking students, but may require some additional modifications along with explicit instruction. The chapter describes how teachers can build foundational reading skills for English language learners, something that is crucial for later academic success.

Increasing student readiness for higher education is an objective and goal for many college-level preparation programs. Within the college-level programs, there is a group of students who will need additional preparation and support to make the successful transition into higher education. Adult English language (AEL) learners have the task of learning the target language with all of the rules and exceptions to the rules, while applying the language in a meaningful, memorable, and useful manner. When AEL learners are engaged in hands-on project-based learning (PBL) activities, the English language becomes more applicable for everyday use inside and outside the classroom. Learners also have the opportunity to develop additional skills such as problem-solving, critical thinking, information gathering, synthesizing, evaluating, and collaborating with a team. All of these skills are critical for success in higher education and transferrable with AEL learners who are completing their college-level preparatory programs.

This chapter discusses the in-class approach of implementing a high-quality PBL activity that integrates English language learning in an authentic real-world manner. Practitioners of AEL programs can draw on their in-class practices and the theories of adult education to utilize PBL in their classroom as a means to facilitate the language acquisition process. Through the PBL process, practitioners become facilitators who help learners meet the challenges of learning English, developing their understanding of American classrooms and improving their readiness for transition into higher education.

Planning and implementing in-service professional development to support teachers’ pedagogical practices for English language learners (ELLs) first considers building upon existing teachers’ knowledge and understanding of practice. Teaching English Learners Academic Content (TELAC) is an in-service professional development model that provides an enriched program curriculum to urban teachers seeking to improve teaching practices for their ELLs. Through an integrative approach of learning coupled with learning experiences, practicum activities, observational feedback, and coaching, teachers initiate refinement to practice that reflect culturally sustaining pedagogy. Funded by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of English Language Acquisition/National Professional Development program, Teaching English Learners Academic Content (TELAC) (2012–2017) is a K-12 program in Arizona designed to build a cadre of teachers adept with implementation of instructional strategies that support ELL academic success. All of the participants in this in-service professional development program are K-12 teachers of English language learners, teach any grade level and subject area in urban school districts with a majority of students who are second language learners of English. Teachers’ shared common concern is the need to improve pedagogical practices for ELLs and to personally develop their knowledge and capability to change teaching practices.

Purpose – To highlight and discuss a framework for promoting effective classroom assessment practice that supports the language and literacy development of English Learners (ELs).

Design/methodology/approach – Though it includes some practical recommendations, it primarily synthesizes the work found in theoretical books on EL assessment.

Findings – Provides information on the main issues teachers need to consider for engagement in effective assessment practices at the classroom levels, with particular attention to classroom-based assessment. It highlights the need for considering a multiliteracies approach.

Research limitations/implications – It focuses on ELs in the U.S. K-12 system, therefore, it does not encompass all the possible types of ELs. It does not focus on high-stakes testing.

Practical implications – A very useful source of information for both preservice and in-service teachers of ELs.

Originality/value – This chapter offers an overview of essential elements involved in the assessment of special populations of students as is the case of ELs in U.S. public schools.

The changing U.S. demographics, characterized by the rapid growth in immigration (Suarez-Orozco, 2003; U.S. Census Bureau, 2000), and the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation are good reasons to prompt all educational stakeholders to seriously examine the practices of educating learners at risk of educational failure. Among at-risk learners, a significant portion is made up of English language learners (ELLs), especially those who are newcomers (i.e., ELLs who are fairly new to the school community in the United States with little or no English proficiency). The last census revealed that immigration accounts for more than “70% of the growth of the American population,” and that “the foreign born-population reached 30 million” (Portes & Hao, 2004, p. 1). Of this group, Hispanic students comprise the fastest growing group, and among Hispanics born outside the United States, 44.2% drop out from the educational system between the ages of 16 and 24 years (National Center for Education Statistics, 2001). For this reason, discussions and debates on the best way to educate ELLs for effective English language acquisition leading to academic achievement in U.S. schools remain at the forefront of educational debates. At the core of this discussion, the question of whether or not to provide bilingual education services to learners for whom English is not their dominant or native language remains as one of the, if not the, greatest long-standing political, ideological, educational battles in the United States.

Purpose – To provide differentiated teaching models and a set of instructional reading strategies and materials for current and future classroom teachers to help them enhance the quality of reading instruction for English Learners (ELs).

Design/methodology/approach – The instructional reading strategies and materials and differentiated teaching models presented in this chapter are drawn from a body of current literature on ELs' English language development and on effective reading instruction for ELs. The instructional reading strategies and materials are categorized into five subcomponents of reading instruction: sight words, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension.

Findings – Provides differentiated teaching models and specific instructional strategies and materials that target each of the five specific subcomponents of reading instruction for ELs (i.e., sight words, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension).

Research limitations/implications – Some publications related to instructional reading strategies and materials may be limited to specific ELs in United States who speak a predominate native language (i.e., Spanish). These instructional reading strategies and materials may not be appropriate for ELs speaking another native language.

Practical implications – A very useful source of differentiated teaching models and practical instructional reading strategies and materials for current and future classroom teachers of ELs.

Originality/value – This chapter provides specific information and resources for current and future classroom teachers of ELs to support them in delivering high quality reading instruction.

In this chapter, the authors provide an introspective account of how teachers in mainstream classrooms can use questioning to more effectively differentiate literacy instruction for English learners across subject areas. The authors offer a rationale for constructively responsive questioning and share tools and strategies for adapting levels of questioning to students’ English proficiency and grade levels with the goal of strengthening instruction and promoting student engagement in learning.

Purpose – The primary purpose of this chapter is to offer classroom teachers, administrators, and program specialists specific “big picture” strategies to support upper grade English learners in comprehending expository content-area texts that offer challenges not present in narrative or story-like texts.Design/methodology/approach – Two separate approaches for helping English learners to identify content topics, text structures, and key ideas that control text selections are described and modeled: the Advance Organizer and PLAN (Predict, Locate, Add, and Note).Findings – When learners engage in specific, step-by-step “big picture” processes to understand text structure, organization, and concepts/vocabulary (not relying simply on decoding, or sounding out words), they attain higher levels of comprehension and retention.Research limitations/implications – “Big picture” strategies are well-documented in research as having advantages for all learners who interact with expository text structures – but are especially effective for English learners who may struggle with unfamiliar text structures and higher levels of academic and technical content-area vocabulary.Practical implications – Specific directions for (and advantages of) implementing two big picture strategies that are adaptable to a wide range of grade levels and content-area topics are presented. Teachers can easily modify the strategies in flexible ways to personalize the use of these strategies for English learners in any content-area context.Originality/value of chapter – With step-by-step directions, templates, and examples of content-area texts to guide them, teachers can easily utilize these strategies with English learners using a whole class, small-group, or one-to-one intervention approach.

Over the course of several decades, the field of bilingual special education has found much support in the reform movement that has become known as multicultural education. Born out of the 1960s civil rights movement (Mclaren & Muñoz, 2000), multicultural education “is a field in education that is dedicated to equal opportunity for all students. Even groups who appear to be monocultural are diverse in regards to class, gender, and language” (Ooka Pang, 2005, p. 213). Multicultural education “assumes that race, ethnicity, culture, and social class are salient parts of U.S. society. It also assumes that ethnic and cultural diversity enriches the nation and increases the ways in which its citizens can perceive and solve personal and public problems” (Banks, 2002, p. 1). Thus, multicultural education supports the call for bilingual special education in teacher preparation and in schools. For special educators, in particular, understanding the link between exceptionalities and cultural diversity is fundamental to their professional role (Hallahan et al., 2009). In the context of a multilingual and multicultural country, such as the United States, bilingual special education is no doubt the best way to ensure that a subgroup of our population (i.e., bilingual exceptional children) has real opportunities to succeed. A major concern for any educator, but especially for bilingual special educators who value and seek to implement multicultural education, is to ensure that bilingual exceptional learners are not placed at a disadvantage because of their linguistic and cultural backgrounds. Here the term culture encompasses all the various aspects (subcultures) that contribute to define an individual. These are race, ethnicity, language, exceptionality, sexual orientation, gender, religion, socioeconomic background, and age.

The American schools are more racially and ethnically diverse and increasing at a faster pace than in the past. The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 [NCLB] defines diversity in terms of group differences, not individual variability. Common groupings are white, African American, Hispanic, Asian, and Native American. However, each state is free to select their own groupings for diversity and several states include limited English proficient students as a subgroup. This chapter examines the fastest growing addition to+ American public schools, immigrant students with limited English proficiency and in need of bilingual education. I examine how the states hope to close the achievement gap for students with Limited English Proficiency under NCLB