Urban Principals’ Facilitation of English Language Learning in Public Schools

As the U.S. population grows more varied, public schools are faced with the challenge of meeting the needs of an increasing population of culturally and linguistically diverse students. Schools in the United States are often the first point of contact for new immigrant students as they work to facilitate their integration and socialization into American society. Aiding these immigrants in learning English has become one of the primary focuses of schools and is a major challenge for principals. The authors discuss programmatic models for ELL students that are currently being used in schools and relate factors that principals need to consider when selecting a model to use to help ELL students. The characteristics of effective ELL models are presented in order to give principals an upper hand in addressing the growing number of students needing English Language Learning support. The authors also point out that for any ELL program to be effective, the school must have a quality professional development program coupled with strong immigrant parent involvement.