The Education Alliance at Brown University

"Teaching Diverse Learners" was developed as part of the National Leadership Area for the 2000-2005 Northeast and Islands Regional Educational Laboratory (LAB), a program of The Education Alliance at Brown University. The goal of this site is to help teachers work effectively and equitably with English language learners (ELLs) by providing access to research-based information, strategies, and resources for addressing the concerns of ELLs in the classroom and beyond.

ELLs -- also referred to as bilingual, culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD), language minority, and Limited English Proficient (LEP) students -- are speakers of languages and dialects other than English and members of ethno-linguistic minority cultures and communities. Many thousands of ELLs continue to be denied opportunities for an excellent and equitable education.

This Web site addresses educators of culturally and linguistically diverse learners, invites the perspectives of teachers and language minority learners, and provides research-based practices at both the classroom and systemic level that promote high achievement for linguistically diverse students.

Practices, strategies, and resources will be highlighted for the areas of:

Culturally Responsive Teaching (CRT)
General Education Classrooms
Bilingual/ESL Classrooms
Special Education
Assessment
In addition, we provide access to publications, educational materials, and the work of national partners and experts in the field.

English Language Learners & Writing
English language learners in U.S. middle and high schools face significant challenges from state writing assessments, and data suggest that they do not fare well. This report looks at writing standards for the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands, and identifies six major topics and themes in the standards. It also reviews research and practice literature focused on adolescents and second language learning and writing; examines key issues in writing instruction for adolescent ELLs; connects the existing knowledge base to the standards; and recommends further research to improve the ability of ELLs to meet writing standards.

http://www.alliance.brown.edu/pubs/writ_instrct/apprchwrtng.pdf