American Indian ELL Students
Practical Guidelines for the Education of English Language Learners: Research-based Recommendations for the Instruction and Academic Interventions
Francis, David J., Mabel Rivera, Nonie Lesaux, and Hector Rivera. (2006). Research-Based Recommendations for Instruction and Academic Interventions. Practical Guidelines for the Education of English Language Learners, Retrieved April 11,2008, from http://www.centeroninstruction.org/files/ELL1-Interventions.pdf
After briefly highlighting the characteristics of and how to best identify ELL students the articles attempts to show the importance of effective instruction and intervention not only for academically struggling ELL students, but also for all ELL students including those individuals who are linguistically fluent in English. Before looking into the proposed recommendations the article also briefly looks into the importance of mastering academic language skills as key elements to academic success. The importance of academic language skills is revisited under the recommendations sections for both reading comprehension and mathematics.
Promoting Academic Literacy Among Secondary English Language Learners: A Synthesis of Research and Practice
Maxwell-Jolly, J., Gandara, P. & Benavidez L. M. (2005). Promoting academic literacy among secondary English language learners: A synthesis of research and practice. Davis, CA: UC Davis School of Education.
Provides an overview of issues related to teaching English language learners (ELL), and recommendations for California policy including: challenges secondary ELL students face; needs and limitations of teachers and schools in CA; and best practices cited by researchers and practitioners. The report largely summarizes three days of panel presentations and discussions by ELL experts convened in 2005.
The Growth of the Linguistic Minority Population in the U.S. and California 1980-2005
University of California Linguistic Minority Research Institute. (2006). The Growth of the Linguistic Minority Population in the U.S. and California 1980-2005. University of California Linguistic Minority Research Institute: Santa Barbara, CA.
This short document has a chart and a table detailing population trends in both the United States and California from 1980 to 2005. According to the data here, California has a much higher percentage of linguistic minority (ELL) students than the nation overall does, and in the time period 1980-2005, California's linguistic minority population increased greatly compared to that of the United States.
Urgent but Overlooked: The Literacy Crisis Among Adolescent English Language Learners
(February 2007). Urgent but overlooked: The literacy crisis among adolescent English Language Learners. Retrieved April 11, 2008, from Alliance For Excellent Education Web site: http://www.all4ed.org/files/UrgentOver.pdf
ELL students represent the fastest growing segment of the student population and yet with respect to reading and literacy rates they are among the country's lowest performing students. This article looks at the crisis of low literacy rates among ELL students, what research is currently being done, the findings of that research, addresses key policy questions needing to be addressed by policymakers as well as a brief look into the types of support needed in order to provide ELL students with effective literacy instruction.