ELL Basics

English language learners are a diverse group of students, with different language, academic, and social-emotional needs.  Students who speak the same language or have similar levels of language proficiency may need very different kinds of support to succeed in the classroom.

Learn more about the growing ELL population around the country from these materials, as well as some of the special populations that have unique needs.
 

What You Need to Know About ELLs: Fast Facts

For an overview of the U.S. ELL population, take a look at our Fast Facts article and these ELL infographics compiled by NPR.

Major support provided by our founding partner, the American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO.

What You'll Find in This Section

ELL Glossary

Find out the definitions of many of the terms related to English language learners (ELLs) in our glossary of frequently used words and phrases.

Special Populations: English Language Learners

In your work with English language learners (ELLs), you may meet students who have unique social, emotional, and academic needs based on their prior experiences. Resources for working with special populations such as refugees, migrants, students with interrupted education, newcomer immigrants, unaccompanied children, and internationally adopted students follow below.

ELL Resources by Grade

These resources for English Language Learners (ELLs) from Colorín Colorado are age-specific and are organized by grade. Each section contains a variety of resources, including articles, videos, webcasts, tip sheets, and recommended websites.

ELL Policy & Research

There are a number of laws and guidelines related to the education of English language learners (ELLs) at the federal, state, and local level. This section includes an overview of those laws, as well as topics such as important court cases impacting ELLs and current issues in the news today.

ELL News Headlines

Throughout the week, Colorín Colorado gathers news headlines related to English language learners from around the country. The ELL Headlines are posted Monday through Friday and are available for free!

Resource Library

Books for Professionals

In this section, you will find a number of recommended professional titles for educators of English language learners (ELLs) organized by topics such as reading and content instruction, support for special populations, strategies targeted to specific ages, and ideas for building partnerships with families and community organizations.

Video Library

Colorín Colorado's rich library of video content includes classroom videos from schools around the country, professional development webcasts, and interviews with educators, administrators, researchers, and authors of children's and young adult literature.

Guides & Toolkits

Colorín Colorado is pleased to offer free print guides created for parents, teachers, and anyone who wants to improve the reading achievement of children. You're welcome to download and print these guides for your own use or to distribute to others.

Research & Reports

Here you will find the latest reports and research-based recommendations on reaching, teaching, and assessing ELLs. This section may be especially useful for researchers, graduate students, policymakers, curriculum developers, and school administrators.