Preparing English Learners for College and Career: Lessons from Successful High Schools (Language and Literacy)

How do school communities create environments that fully prepare both English learners and dual-language learners for colleges and careers? This valuable book profiles six high-performing high schools that had a singular focus on improving the educational outcomes of English learners. The authors use these case studies to identify a comprehensive set of design elements and shared values that were key factors in yielding extraordinary results. These include a school-wide language development framework that integrates content, analytical practices, and language learning; a broad and dynamic view of assessment practices; intensive social-emotional support for students and their families; and mission-driven staff and leadership that maximize learning opportunities across classrooms. The practices employed in these schools are not only essential for English learners’ success but, as the performance data shows, they also benefit all students.

Book Features:

• Provides practical, actionable ideas that schools across the country can adapt to help their own EL students.
• Shows how schools incorporated a language development framework as part of their daily improvement work of teaching and learning.
• Identifies the key school design features and values that enable diverse students, families, and staff to succeed.
• Examines how everyone in the school community works together to accelerate learning opportunities for adolescent English learners.

María Santos is the co-chair and senior advisor for leadership at Understanding Language, Stanford University and the director for school and district services at WestEd. Martha Castellón Palacios served as the former executive director of Understanding Language. Tina Cheuk is a doctoral candidate at Stanford University. Rebecca Greene is a linguistics and education researcher. Diana Mercado-Garcia is a doctoral candidate at Stanford University. Lisa Zerkel was a researcher at Understanding Language. Kenji Hakuta is emeritus professor at the Graduate School of Education at Stanford University and the co-chair of Understanding Language. Renae Skarin is an education researcher and directs the English Learner Success Forum.