The purpose of this research study was to explore secondary education teachers' perceptions of why they may be underprepared to support English language learners (ELLs) in the mainstream classroom. With the increasing number of ELLs in public schools across the United States, teachers with the background, training, and/or knowledge of how to…

Across the United States, students face increasingly high expectations of what they should know and be able to do upon completing high school. However, too few state policies take into consideration how the pathway to graduation may look different for English Learners (ELs), particularly adolescent newcomers who have limited formal education. Many…

Immigrant and refugee youth who enter the United States during their secondary school years face a daunting set of challenges. In addition to learning a new language and adjusting to U.S. classroom norms, they must quickly fill gaps in their subject-matter knowledge and pass the courses required to graduate high school before aging out of the…

Purpose: English learner (EL) education policy has long directed schools to address EL students' linguistic "and" academic development without furthering inequity or segregation. The recent Every Student Succeeds Act reauthorization expresses a renewed focus on evidence of equity, effectiveness, and opportunity to learn. We propose that…

This article investigates the differences in academic achievement trajectories from elementary through middle school among English Learner (EL) students in four different instructional programs: English Immersion (EI), Transitional Bilingual (TB), Developmental Bilingual (DB), and Dual Immersion (DI). Comparing students with the same parental…

This paper investigates the differences in academic achievement trajectories from elementary through middle school among English Learner students in four different instructional programs: English Immersion, Transitional Bilingual, Developmental Bilingual, and Dual Immersion programs. Comparing students with the same parental preferences but who…

Offering a high-quality education to English language learners (ELLs) is a challenge in schools across the United States. Yet, few studies have been conducted to investigate high school English as a second language (ESL) programs. This study provides insights into how a Kansas urban high school ESL program promotes access to the curriculum for…