English learners are the fastest-growing group of students in U.S. schools, with 43 states seeing increases in their English learner (EL) student population between the 2000/01 and 2016/17 school years.¹ The 10 Regional Educational Laboratories (RELs) are committed to supporting EL students and their families so that students can thrive in school and beyond. To this end, RELs have partnered with states and districts to identify and address the needs and priorities of EL students and formed a cross-REL working group to advance this work. Over the past eight years, the group has explored EL issues relevant to REL work, acted as a clearinghouse on key EL news and updates, and shared REL work on EL topics internally and externally.

Who Are English Learner Students? Recognizing Their Strengths and Diversity

To ensure that our RELs are supporting EL students across the U.S., our working group focused on key themes that are foundational to our work. One point the working group kept foremost in mind and shared with our RELs, is recognizing that EL students are not a monolithic group. Rather, they are diverse and complex individuals with differing strengths, cultures, backgrounds, and needs.

For example, EL students may be fluent in several languages, none of which their teachers understand. Their heritage languages may be in danger of extinction, such as indigenous languages in the southwest or Alaska or the primary language of their region or territory, such as Puerto Rico. In addition, EL students may have suffered trauma, be identified or misidentified as having learning disabilities, and be underrepresented in gifted student programs.

REL regions may include EL students who are Native American, Alaskan Native, and Pacific Islander. They may include students who are new to this country and others who have lived in the U.S. all their lives. The percentage of ELs in each district can vary from a large concentration to an emerging few, both of which carry different challenges and benefits.

What has become more evident through research is that multilingualism brings advantages to EL students’ language development, as well as adding knowledge, broader perspectives, and other benefits into our classrooms.²

The Power Dynamics of Language

The working group has also discussed the impact, sometimes unintended, that laws, policies, or even regular curriculum decisions can have. For example, if classroom materials and instruction are only in English, what students (and families) are we not reaching? If service providers speak only English, does this impact the equitability of support we are providing? Conversations like these have broadened our understanding and influenced our REL work.

English Learner Resources from the RELs

With 9 of 10 REL contracts coming to a close, the Cross-REL EL Working Group pulled a sampling of REL resources aligned with these themes to leave as a resource. The first group includes resources to identify EL students and their needs, and the second offers resources on ways to focus support. Formats include infographics, guidance documents, briefs, toolkits, videos, and more—all designed to be accessible, usable, and valuable. Visit the IES English Learner page for a complete list of our EL-related products, including research, briefs, infographics, and webinars.

Identifying English Learner Students and Their Needs

• HOME LANGUAGE SURVEY DATA QUALITY SELF-ASSESSMENT (REL Northeast & Islands). This 15-minute self-assessment tool supports the collection of high-quality home language survey data by gathering information from district EL student coordinators.
• IMPROVING THE IDENTIFICATION OF ENGLISH LEARNER STUDENTS FOR TALENTED AND GIFTED PROGRAMS (REL Northwest). This infographic offers district leaders and principals strategies for increasing disproportionately underrepresented EL students in TAG programs.
• IDENTIFYING ENGLISH LEARNERS WITH DISABILITIES INFOGRAPHIC (REL Northeast & Islands). This infographic features three evidence-based recommendations to help educators identify ELs with disabilities.
• IDENTIFYING AND MEETING THE NEEDS OF ENGLISH LEARNER STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES (REL Southeast). This infographic provides questions and evidence-based practices from research to help teams develop effective procedures for identifying, assessing, and supporting EL students who may have learning disabilities.
• STRATEGIES TO IDENTIFY AND SUPPORT ENGLISH LEARNERS WITH LEARNING DISABILITIES (REL West). This brief summarizes research and practice, based on our 2015 review, with a comparison of 15 guidance manuals for educators and other noteworthy resources for policymakers, administrators, and practitioners.
• IDENTIFYING AND SUPPORTING ENGLISH LEARNER STUDENTS WITH LEARNING DISABILITIES: KEY ISSUES IN THE LITERATURE AND STATE PRACTICE (REL West). This literature and state policy review offers findings that can be used by policymakers interested in developing procedures, guidelines, and protocols for identifying, assessing, and supporting English learner students who are struggling academically.
• RESOURCES FOR DETERMINING SPECIAL EDUCATION ELIGIBILITY OF ENGLISH LEARNERS (REL Northeast & Islands). These resources are designed to help teachers and administrators working with EL students provide high-quality instruction and build practices to better determine special education eligibility.
• GUIDE TO CONDUCTING A NEEDS ASSESSMENT FOR AMERICAN INDIAN STUDENTS (REL Central). This guide is designed to help state and local education agencies conduct needs assessments to better understand the strengths, challenges, and needs unique to schools serving American Indian students.
• THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNER PROGRAM SURVEY FOR PRINCIPALS (REL Northeast & Islands). This tool includes survey questions for state education agencies to use with principals to collect data about policies, practices, professional development strategies, and beliefs regarding the education of EL students.

Focusing Support

• THE RIGHT FIT: SELECTING AN ENGLISH LEARNING PROGRAM FOR YOUR STUDENTS (REL Northwest). This tool walks users through important considerations to assist schools and districts when choosing EL program models.
• WELCOMING, REGISTERING, AND SUPPORTING NEWCOMER STUDENTS: A TOOLKIT FOR EDUCATORS OF IMMIGRANT AND REFUGEE STUDENTS IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS (REL Northwest). This toolkit helps educators and other stakeholders identify and use research-based practices, policies, and procedures for welcoming, registering, and supporting newcomer immigrant and refugee students attending secondary schools in the U.S.
• STARTING SCHOOL IN THE UNITED STATES: A GUIDE FOR NEWCOMER STUDENTS’ FAMILIES (REL Northwest). This guide, which is available in four languages, helps newcomer students’ families navigate the U.S. school system.
• EVIDENCE-BASED INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES FOR ELEMENTARY ENGLISH LEARNER STUDENTS (REL Southeast). This infographic serves as a quick reference to evidence-based practices that can be used daily by elementary classroom teachers to support effective instruction for their EL students.
• SUPPORTING YOUNG ENGLISH LEARNERS AT HOME (RELs West, Northwest, Northeast & Islands). These resources include family and caregiver activities, educator’s guide, and videos designed to provide simple and fun activities that families and caregivers can use with young EL children at home. Available in multiple languages, the activities leverage linguistic and cultural assets to strengthen language development in either the home language or English.
• GUIDANCE FOR NAVIGATING REMOTE LEARNING FOR ENGLISH LEARNER STUDENTS (REL Midwest). This blog addresses the challenge of how best to adapt remote instruction to meet the unique backgrounds and needs of EL students.
• WALKING IN BOTH WORLDS: NATIVE AMERICAN STUDENTS AND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION (REL Southwest). This mini-documentary explores promising research-based strategies that educators, administrators, and community and tribal leaders can use to support Native American students’ language acquisition.
• ALASKA NATIVE STUDENTS AS ENGLISH LEARNER STUDENTS: EXAMINING PATTERNS IN IDENTIFICATION, CLASSIFICATION, SERVICE PROVISION, AND RECLASSIFICATION See also: INFOGRAPHIC (REL Northwest). This report examines the population of Alaska Native students classified as EL students and how EL policies function for these students, focusing on EL identification, classification, service provision, and reclassification as fluent English proficient.
• GETTING TO KNOW PACIFIC ISLAND STUDENTS FROM THE FREELY ASSOCIATED STATES INFOGRAPHIC SERIES (REL Pacific). This infographic series is designed to facilitate greater awareness, understanding, and appreciation of the diversity of cultures and experiences of Pacific Islanders and provide tangible methods for educators to engage with students’ communities inside and outside the classroom.

Other IES Resources

• TEACHING ACADEMIC CONTENT AND LITERACY TO ENGLISH LEARNERS IN ELEMENTARY AND MIDDLE SCHOOL (Institute of Education Sciences). This What Works Clearinghouse Practice Guide provides four recommendations that address what works for EL students during reading and content-area instruction.
• PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COMMUNITIES FACILITATOR’S GUIDE FOR THE WHAT WORKS CLEARINGHOUSE PRACTICE GUIDE TEACHING ACADEMIC CONTENT AND LITERACY TO ENGLISH LEARNERS IN ELEMENTARY AND MIDDLE SCHOOL (Institute of Education Sciences). This facilitator's guide employs a five-step cycle that encourages professional learning communities to debrief, define, explore, experiment, and reflect and helps educators develop a working knowledge of best practices in the EL practice guide.

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¹U.S. Department of Education, Office of English Language Acquisition. (2020, February). English Learners: Demographic Trends. Washington, D.C. Retrieved from https://ncela.ed.gov/files/fast_facts/19-0193_Del4.4_ELDemographicTrends_021220_508.pdf

²Office of English Language Acquisition (OELA). (n.d.) Benefits of Multilingualism. Retrieved from https://ncela.ed.gov/files/announcements/20200805-NCELAInfographic-508.pdf