Recently a growing number of educators and researchers have argued that all students, including English language learners, benefit from a challenging curriculum. Teachers manage and monitor the multiple and varied schedules of their students. This entails communicating with various staff members that work with their students to make sure that everyone is addressing student needs in an integrated and coherent way. Teachers support the life experiences and languages of all students. For example, the incorporation of home culture and knowledge contributes to a feeling of trust between children and their teachers.
Teachers also use homework assignments to tap students' funds of knowledge.
Teachers engage students in authentic, meaningful activities. Teachers provide opportunities for and encourage interaction between children acquiring a second language and fluent speakers of that language. Teachers use strategies to make content delivered in English comprehensible. A School Assessment System. National Center for Research on Cultural Diversity and Second Language Learning, in press.