Preparing English Language Learners to be College- and Career-Ready: Perspectives and Experiences From the Field

Session Type: Symposium

Abstract

Educational policy has intended and unintended consequences. While No Child Left Behind (2001) and Race to the Top (2009) have identified college and career readiness (CCR) as a goal for all students, recent studies have found that educational policy has failed to provide positive educational outcomes for English language learners (ELLs) (Menken, 2008), quality learning opportunities for teachers to better support them (Alfaro, 2008; Bartolomé, 2004), and system-level guidance on how to implement these policies effectively. This symposium builds on the work of critical reviews of the impact of policy on the education of ELLs (Menken, 2011) by presenting research that seeks to define, problematize, and offer considerations to support CCR for ELLs from the perspective of various stakeholders.

Sub Unit

• SIG-Second Language Research

Chair

• Timothy J. Boals, University of Wisconsin

Papers

• Are We There Yet? Opportunities and Limitations of College- and Career-Readiness Policies in the Education of English Language Learners - Mariana Castro, University of Wisconsin - Madison; Alissa Anne Blair, University of Wisconsin - Madison

• Authoritative Specificity: Toward a New Framework for English Language Learner Accountability - Nelson Flores, University of Pennsylvania

• Setting the Groundwork in Elementary Grades: Mainstream Teacher Preparation to Support Bilingual Learners - Maria E. Brisk, Boston College

• Making Do: A Study of Practices of College-Ready Students at Minority-Serving Community Colleges - Todd Carl Lundberg, Cascadia Community College

Discussant

• Amanda Kibler, University of Virginia