Educating English Language Learners at the High School Level: A Coherent Approach to District- and School-Level Support

This practitioner issue brief outlines successful strategies and recommendations for state-level policymakers, administrators, schools, and districts that are based on a 5-year evaluation study on the learning environment for English language learners (ELLs) in the state of California. This brief offers four critical building blocks that should be in place to effectively educate ELLs: implementing a well-defined, rigorously structured plan of instruction; ensuring that teachers are skilled in addressing the needs of ELLs; systematically using data to assess teaching and learning; and regularly adjusting instructional planning on the basis of student performance.