School Districts Try New Approaches in Teaching Foreign-Language Speakers as Achievement Requirements Get Tougher

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Making English Part of the Fabric
School Districts Try New Approaches in Teaching Foreign-Language Speakers as Achievement Requirements Get Tougher
by Vauhini Vara
August 25, 2012

TRACY, Calif.—For years, students with poor English language skills have lagged behind their fluent classmates. Now, this outer suburb of San Francisco with a large Mexican immigrant population is one of many school districts nationwide overhauling their approach to try to close the language gap.

Starting last year, teachers in all subjects were trained to infuse their classes with literacy lessons. Many English learners still take a daily language-development class, but those classes are giving students more oral practice and using nonfiction texts to teach students to use more academic language in writing and conversations.

The revamp is spurred by changes to standardized testing expected to take effect in states across the country in 2014. The Common Core reading standards were recently adopted by 46 states and the District of Columbia, while math standards were adopted by 45 states. The standards specify what students should know in each grade and are leading to new standardized tests—many of which rely more on language skills, according to experts involved in the process. The changes could be especially tough on English learners.

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