Realizing Opportunities for English Learners in the Common Core English Language Arts and Disciplinary Literacy Standards

Abstract

As educators across the US prepare for the new Common Core English Language Arts and disciplinary literacy standards, they are being inundated with advice—from policy organizations, curriculum vendors, professional development providers, educational associations, textbook publishers, academics, and the writers of the Standards themselves. It is essential for language and literacy researchers to help articulate fundamental understandings about the development and use of language and literacy relevant to the challenges facing English learners (ELs) in light of the new Standards, and to do so in ways that are accessible and useful for educators and policy makers. This article, a joint effort between two researchers with expertise in the education of ELs and one of the writers of the Standards, represents an attempt to explicate some of the predominant challenges facing ELs in the Standards and to provide guidance and recommendations based on relevant research and theory. The article is envisioned as a starting point for more extended discussions among language and literacy researchers regarding what knowledge and understandings from our field(s) are most relevant to informing the challenges that lie ahead—and how scholars might best engage with educational practitioners and policy makers who will be called upon to act, often quickly and decisively, to implement the Standards. We argue that equitably and effectively educating ELs during the new common standards era requires shared responsibility—between researchers and practitioners, between teachers and other educational personnel, between language arts educators and those in other disciplines, and among academics with different specializations. We conclude with a postscript (written with Aida Walqui) describing an instructional exemplar designed to embody some of the shifts that will be necessary in order to realize opportunities for ELs in light of the new common standards.

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