I Ke Alu Like: We Are All in This Together

You may have heard “EL teaching is just good teaching,” and while it is true that some of the strategies used in sheltered instruction will also be helpful for fluent users of English, there is a clear distinction between “good teaching practices” and instruction that is designed to support students with learning the sound/symbol system, rules, intonation, and vocabulary of a new language. Evidence-based practice (EBP) is the objective, balanced, and responsible use of current research and the best available data to guide policy and practice decisions. EBP focuses on approaches demonstrated to be effective through empirical research rather than through anecdotes or professional experience alone (National Institute of Corrections, nicic.gov). For the EBP in this presentation, literature searches were done for each area using PsychInfo, Academic Search Complete, and ERIC using the terms English learns, English language learners, second language learners, and language minority students for each of the three focus areas: academic instruction, progress monitoring, and family-school partnerships.