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State must address challenges in serving English language learners

By Eva Shell | Download as PDFBetween 2000 and 2010, Massachusetts saw a 51% increase in the number of public school students who are not proficient in English, called English Language Learners.  Today, there are nearly 68,000 English-learners in the state.  If Massachusetts is to remain competitive in the national and international market, it must invest in the growing population of English-learners by ensuring that they receive adequate education in public schools.

Prior to 2002, Massachusetts utilized a strategy for teaching English-learners called Transitional Bilingual Education.  Under the transitional teaching model, English-learners were taught substantive material—such as math and science—in their first languages while simultaneously learning English.  English-learners were not moved into English-language substantive classes until they became fluent in English.  In 2002, voters passed a ballot initiative changing the state’s English-learner teaching strategy from the transitional model to a method called Sheltered English Immersion.  Under the new model, students are taught all classes in English.  English immersion requires content teachers to alter their lessons—by using simple language and providing visual learning aids, for example—so that English-learner students can understand them. Continue reading »

The Rappaport Briefing is published by the Rappaport Center for Law and Public Service at Suffolk University Law School in Boston. The Briefing publishes news about Rappaport Center activities as well as student commentaries on issues confronting state and local government in Massachusetts.

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