Another concern is that the popularity of these programs in white, affluent districts will lead to the schools being less focused on the needs of ELLs. The University of Connecticut, Cardona’s alma mater, has recently been awarded a $179,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Postsecondary Education to address these concerns by promoting a greater focus on sociocultural competence.

“It’s not until they actually get out into the field, and see that they may be working in a place with English language learners, where they may think, ‘Oh, this might be an option for me to be a bilingual teacher or a TESOL teacher’,” Elizabeth Howard said. “And if they don’t land in a place, in a district, where there’s a high incidence of English learners, then it would not occur to them at all necessarily, they wouldn’t see the need for it.”

“As students’ achievement increases, their chance of being identified as gifted increases, but much slower if you are an English-language learner, poor or from a underrepresented minority than if you are non-ELL and white or Asian,” said D. Betsy McCoach, a co-author of the gifted education study and a professor of education measurement and evaluation.

A major challenge is on its way to American education, one that teachers candidly concede they may not be ready to meet. Figures from the Census Bureau show that by 2030, 40% of U.S. students will be raised in homes where English is not the first language. Those startling numbers become even more of a […]