ae_summer2013

The summer issue of American Educator (from The American Federation Of Teachers) has three very important articles on teaching English Language Learners, and they’ve made all three available in one easy-to-download PDF. If only other journals would be as generous as the AE is! Here are the titles and summaries of the articles:

Unlocking the Research on English Learners
What We Know—and Don’t Yet Know—about Effective Instruction
By Claude Goldenberg

Challenges are bound to arise as the vast majority of states strive to help English learners meet the Common Core State Standards. In calling for students to read complex texts, these new standards place an even greater emphasis on content knowledge and literacy skills than prior state standards. This review of available research will help educators bolster the efforts of English learners to understand more-demanding academic content as they also learn English.


English Language Development

Guidelines for Instruction
By William Saunders, Claude Goldenberg, and David Marcelletti

Having reviewed several bodies of research, the authors provide 14 guidelines for educators to help English learners make greater strides in learning English.

Dual Language Learners
Effective Instruction in Early Childhood
By Claude Goldenberg, Judy Hicks, and Ira Lit

Preschool teachers can best educate youngsters learning their home language and English by using children’s primary language where possible, adopting effective practices for building English language skills, and involving families in supporting children’s learning.