Creating Powerful High Schools for Immigrant and English Language Learning Populations: Using past and Present Ideas in Today's Schooling Paradigm

Abstract

The high-stakes testing climate and the growing immigrant and English language-learning population have changed the face of teaching and learning in today's high schools. In the United States, one out of every five students from prekindergarten to 12th grade is from an immigrant family (Capps et al., 2005, p. 5). Of this student population, an estimated 5.4 million students are institutionally identified as "English language learners" (ELLs). These 5.4 million ELLs comprise recent immigrants to the United States and students born in the United States who enter school as ELLs and remain ELLs throughout their entire educational careers. Data from the Office of English Language Acquisition show that the growth of the ELL population has increased 65% since 1993, in comparison to a 9% increase in the general student population (U.S. Department of Education, 2004). The most recent data indicate the immigrant population is 55% Latin American, 25% Asian, and 17%528 National Society for the Study of Education European. As for language-minority students, 31% who spoke English failed to complete high school, while 51% who spoke English with difficulty did not complete high school (U.