Acquiring English is only one of many tasks students have ahead of them in academic, cognitive, linguistic, social, emotional, and physical development during Grades K-12. What most U.S. schools are now doing is not enough, as former ESL students, as a group nationwide, are graduating at the 10th percentile or leaving school without graduating. But some exciting possibilities exist in schools where English language learners' growth is accelerated, leading to long-term equity with native English speakers. How a program is set up and perceived by staff and students can have a powerful influence on students' achievement. New arrivals are assessed based on what's missing.
Teachers water down the curriculum to get across the remedial skills being taught.
With time, ESL students know that they are not receiving age-appropriate schoolwork, and they tune out or act out. Inclusion models tend toward the same pattern, with the ESL specialist or bilingual aide tutoring English language learners in the back of the room, resulting in lowered expectations and less meaningful interaction with native English speakers. In contrast to remediation, enrichment adds to what the students already know. The strengths that English language learners bring to the classroom, including knowledge and life experiences from other cultural contexts as well as a native speaker's knowledge of another language, are used as resources for learning, as essential building blocks. In enrichment classes, students know that they are being challenged and are deeply engaged in the learning process.