The Best Resources On Research About If ELLs Should Be Integrated Into English-Proficient Classes Or Taught In Separate Ones
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There’s often discussion about if English Language Learners are best served through being taught in separate classes or being integrated into predominantly English-proficient classes.
Like many questions in education, there isn’t really one correct answer.
Much of the research suggests that elementary age ELLs should be integrated into English-proficient classes and provided extra support, and that older Newcomers and Intermediates should be supported in separate classes for a year or two, and then transitioned into English-proficient classes.
I can’t speak much to what’s happening in the elementary grades, other than a fair number of teachers tell me their schools don’t provide much extra support.
In my high school experience, since so many of our students had interrupted schooling, staying in ELL classes for two, three, and, sometimes, four years worked best for them (especially since high schools have a legal obligation to provide them with a path to graduation), though they always also had at least some integrated classes (PE, Spanish, Art, Theater).
Of course, with the Trump administration immigration policies, fewer schools are likely to have the critical mass necessary to have separate classes. So I suspect more and more newcomers will be parachuted into English-proficient ones without much support.
Here are some resources sharing what research suggests:
Is Grouping English Learners the Right Approach? What New Research Says is from Ed Week.
How should ELLs be grouped for instruction? is from Colorin Colorado.
No Benefit to Segregating English Learners is from Language Magazine.
Do separate language classes help refugee children succeed in school? is from From Experience To Meaning.
Effects of Heterogeneous Versus Homogeneous Grouping on English Learners’ Language and Literacy Development: Evidence from a Randomized Controlled Trial
What the Research Says About Effective Strategies for ELL Students is from Colorin Colorado.
Secondary Newcomer Programs: Helping Recent Immigrants Prepare for School Success is from CAL.