This document focuses on the education of secondary level English language learners within mainstream social studies classes. It provides teachers and teacher educators with an understanding of how mainstream social studies instruction can be designed and implemented to enhance academic achievement for these students. Research for this report included an extensive search of various databases and World Wide Web sites; analysis of the national content standards documents for history and three other core areas; site visits to a suburban high school that used a team teaching approach to working with English language learners enrolled in mainstream classes; and personal interviews with education faculty at George Washington University who are responsible for preparing preservice teachers for secondary level mainstream instruction. After an introduction, the first section discusses social studies content standards. The second section describes how to make social studies content accessible to English language learners, including: adopt a flexible, thematic-based curriculum; give students adequate time to learn social studies content; link social studies concepts to prior knowledge; accommodate a variety of learning styles; and use cooperative learning strategies. The third section discusses linking instruction to assessment. The fourth section looks at characteristics of effective mainstream teacher preparation. (Contains 36 references.) (SM)