What are diverse learners? Slavin (2012) defines diverse learners as students with different “ethnicity, culture, social class and home language. Some have disabilities, and some are gifted or talented in one or more areas and they vary in performance level, learning rate, and learning style” (p.79). The focus in this paper will be based on English Language Learners (ELL). As indicated by Slavin (2012, p. 95), English Language Learners are students in the U.S. schools who are not native speakers of English. Slavin (2012) stated that in the year 1979, there were a small percentage of families from age 5 to 24 that primary language was not English. This number increased by 17 percent in 1997 and it is said that by 2026, it will raise significantly
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High quality teachers are competent to accommodate diverse learners and treat each child as unique. Morrison (2012) gives an insight about diverse learners. He illustrated the diverse learners as “students with different race and ethnicities; diverse religions and cultural beliefs and background; with different fears, hopes and dreams; with diverse strengths and differences; different health levels and health-specified needs; with different family configurations; with different income levels; and with different learning styles and needs” (p.29). Why is assessing ELL students is such a big deal? There are some concerns assessing them. Lakin &Young (2013) perceive four issues. In the first one, it is important to consider that ELL students are not only a group but they are different. Differences can be seen in ELL students in their “current English proficiency, native language and country of origin, native language literacy when entering U.S. schools and amount of formal education in home country prior to entering U.S. schools” (Lakin & Young, 2013). Orozco, (2015) mentions the English Language Learners that come across the border. She expressed the sad stories these many children experienced when crossing the Southwest …show more content…
Many of them did not go to school for years. There is a gap in their educational experiences that other classmates did not go through. Some of the children did not attend school for years, some went to school that have not the qualities that we find here, and some just did not have the opportunity to go to school before they came to the U.S. Lakin & Young (2013, p.12) expressed that “treating ELL students as a homogeneous group with similar needs is widely considered a critical limitation to improving their instruction through accountability” (as it is cited in (Abedi & Dietel, 2004; Stevens, Butler, & Castellon-Wellington, 2000). A second issue is how accurate and consistent students are identified as ELL. Identification of services and designations varies from state and frequently from school districts. Third, Lakin & Young (2013) mentioned how language proficiency might not reflect what ELL students understand in the educational knowledge and the fourth issue is regarding the low scores that ELL students get. Contrasting with the scores of other groups, ELL students get way
High quality teachers are competent to accommodate diverse learners and treat each child as unique. Morrison (2012) gives an insight about diverse learners. He illustrated the diverse learners as “students with different race and ethnicities; diverse religions and cultural beliefs and background; with different fears, hopes and dreams; with diverse strengths and differences; different health levels and health-specified needs; with different family configurations; with different income levels; and with different learning styles and needs” (p.29). Why is assessing ELL students is such a big deal? There are some concerns assessing them. Lakin &Young (2013) perceive four issues. In the first one, it is important to consider that ELL students are not only a group but they are different. Differences can be seen in ELL students in their “current English proficiency, native language and country of origin, native language literacy when entering U.S. schools and amount of formal education in home country prior to entering U.S. schools” (Lakin & Young, 2013). Orozco, (2015) mentions the English Language Learners that come across the border. She expressed the sad stories these many children experienced when crossing the Southwest …show more content…
Many of them did not go to school for years. There is a gap in their educational experiences that other classmates did not go through. Some of the children did not attend school for years, some went to school that have not the qualities that we find here, and some just did not have the opportunity to go to school before they came to the U.S. Lakin & Young (2013, p.12) expressed that “treating ELL students as a homogeneous group with similar needs is widely considered a critical limitation to improving their instruction through accountability” (as it is cited in (Abedi & Dietel, 2004; Stevens, Butler, & Castellon-Wellington, 2000). A second issue is how accurate and consistent students are identified as ELL. Identification of services and designations varies from state and frequently from school districts. Third, Lakin & Young (2013) mentioned how language proficiency might not reflect what ELL students understand in the educational knowledge and the fourth issue is regarding the low scores that ELL students get. Contrasting with the scores of other groups, ELL students get way