VEN before the superintendent opened the large, thick envelope containing the standardized test results from the Massachusetts Department of Education, he knew he had a problem. Each year, his mainstream students were scoring just above the state average, but the scores for culturally and linguistically diverse learners lagged far behind. He had no reason to believe this year would be different. This was not a small problem for his district. Approximately 20% of the district's 7,000 students were culturally and linguistically diverse, the Building School Partnerships With Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Families After many efforts to lift the achievement of its high numbers of culturally and linguistically diverse students, a district in Massachusetts realized that the missing link was parent involvement. Ms. Colombo describes a program the district created to improve relationships between teachers and families and the enormous difference it has made in each side' s understanding of the other.
English learners are entitled to participate meaningfully and equally in educational programs. The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) includes provisions to ensure success for all students, including English learners. However, the federal government does not prescribe specifically how states should meet these provisions; instead, it is the responsibility of states to develop respective plans of action. This decentralization means that states play a primary role in setting policy for teacher credentialing. In this paper, we address the following question: Do state education agencies effectively prepare teachers of ELs? We reviewed the teacher credentialing requirements to teach classified English learners in bilingual education, English language development, and sheltered English immersion settings, as well as the professional teaching standards for reference to culturally and linguistically diverse learners across the 50 states and the District of Columbia. We found inconsistencies across the US with regard to the education of classified English learners and document wide variation in teacher certification for working with English learners. We highlight implications for policy and teacher preparation.
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