Achieving Growth for English Learners

Over five million students in US public schools are learning English as a second language. That’s more than 10% of the public school population overall, and in some states nearly 20% are English learners, or ELs. These percentages are trending upward, leading the National Education Association to anticipate that some states will see their EL student populations rise to 25% of their total students in the 2025-2026 school year.

Strong Leadership Impacts School Outcomes

School principals matter even more to student achievement than researchers previously realized. That’s the conclusion of “How Principals Affect Students and Schools,” a recent meta-analysis of school leadership research. Updating their 2004 literature review, the Wallace Foundation looked at the most current studies and found that effective school principals were nearly as influential as the top classroom teachers.

Keep Students Learning All Summer Long

Summer vacations can be a mixed bag for students and their teachers. On the one hand, children have more freedom to pursue their interests and spend quality time with family and friends. On the other, too much unstructured time can lead to boredom, unhealthy habits, and even the dreaded “summer slide.”

Mastering English can be wonderfully rewarding for non-native speakers. Bilingualism dramatically expands life opportunities as it strengthens memory, abstract thinking, and other executive functions. But for young English learners (ELs), the road to mastery can be so rocky that they lose motivation. How can schools help ELs stay engaged?

Get the essentials for choosing a dual language program

The task of choosing a dual language learning program — or enhancing your current program — can feel overwhelming. After all, your choice could profoundly shape students’ progress and teachers’ work satisfaction! To help district leaders choose wisely, use this checklist to plan and implement a student-centered dual language program that helps students reach their full potential. 

Support dual language learners in the classroom

Last week we explored the three pillars of second-language learning, and we want to continue our conversation on ways to better support dual language learners. Educators can use this list of easy strategies they can implement immediately to promote literacy proficiency.