Student Voices: Schools can better serve students learning English. Here’s how

Originally published by The Seattle Times

Last year, I joined an after-school mentoring group at Sammamish High School where bilingual tutors assisted students classified as “MLL,” or multilingual learners. As someone who speaks English and Spanish, I have supported emerging-level students with their homework, conversation skills and by introducing new vocabulary. I have also seen how academically behind some of these students are. Many struggle not only to pass their classes, but are unsure how to open their school email, submit service hours and check grades. 

MLL students possess varying levels of English knowledge, so it’s not fair to place them on the same track as everyone else. It’s unfair that the education system allows these students to sit in multiple classes in a language they don’t fully know yet expects them to pass like their peers. Public school systems should better prioritize providing the resources for MLL students to successfully integrate into school.

According to the Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, schools have to ensure that MLL students receive “access to equal educational opportunities.” This idea stemmed from the 1974 Lau v. Nichols federal Supreme Court ruling that it’s an English-learner’s civil right to receive equal access to the same curriculum and learning opportunities as other students. Bellevue School District has tried to uphold this effort by assigning one or more MLL facilitator(s) to each school to teach English and aid MLL students with their classes. 

This is substantial support, but it’s not reaching all MLLs, since over 40% of BSD’s students (about 20,000 students) identify themselves as multilingual, and largely outnumber the approximately 36 district-hired facilitators. 

Although districts work to match MLL students with services, it’s just not enough. Despite the resources schools provide, it’s evident MLL students are lacking sufficient support to learn English and thrive in a classroom. Teachers also struggle with the shortage of support and guidelines for how classes should be run to best assist MLL students.

Sammamish sophomore and MLL student Jairo Cruz said that a helpful tactic has been when teachers include subtitles during their lessons. During in-person classes, some teachers will project subtitles on the smartboard that directly translate what they say. Unfortunately, not every teacher does this. “Sometimes they’ll put the subtitles on, while other teachers don’t. They still want me to turn in the assignments, but some aren’t giving me the whole correct explanation,” Cruz said in Spanish. 

Sammamish social studies teacher Lindsay Combs said teachers can sometimes feel overwhelmed by the number of strategies they’re asked to use. “But I think it’s reasonable that you can try to make a couple small changes in how you run your classroom,” she said. 

She wishes there was “more guidance around what is best for [MLL students] and finding a more genuine way to get feedback from those kids and from their families as well.” 

A lack of communication among the school, MLL students and their families is another impediment. Although schools attempt to contact families through email and voicemails in their native language, it’s recorded and often confusing. Regarding his attendance, Cruz said, “Sometimes [the school] only calls my guardian and they are just voice messages saying that I was missing class, and they sent us emails to attend a meeting, but all in all, we had no idea what was going on.” 

Because the attendance policy was not clearly explained, Cruz was left confused. “They never told me if I was late certain things would happen.” At Sammamish, students are given detention if they receive five unexcused tardies in a week, and/or have an unexcused absence. 

So how do we ensure MLL students are successful? The first step is improving students’ academic experience and classroom environment. The second is addressing their social and emotional well-being, supporting teacher relationships and students’ sense of belonging. 

Funding more academic support is key. Authors of a 2018 Journal of Education Policy article regarding Sheltered English Instruction programs propose, among other things, “Allocating more money to districts to hire more ESL [MLL] teachers, and more frequent and robust opportunities for professional development for working teachers and principals.”

Sammamish MLL facilitator Ben Jones said that while immersing students and providing comprehensible input in English is a key strategy, supplying more translated documents is also vastly advantageous. Bellevue MLL curriculum developer Jesse Deshayes suggests the implementation of “pedagogy multiliteracies.” Essentially, this approach allows students to show what they’ve learned in ways that make most sense to them, beyond text. This could include demonstrations in oral presentations, graphics or technology. 

Jones also recommends teachers make personal connections and take time to know students to build a relationship. “They’re more disconnected than others because they don’t speak the language.”

Combs is among many teachers already implementing this strategy. “Learning some greeting questions in somebody else’s language and helping someone feel welcome is the main goal.” She also suggests making good eye contact with students and families and asking questions through an interpreter.

With a significant population of MLL students at my school, it’s inevitable that they end up in the same classes as English-speaking students. Isabella Petra, a Sammamish junior and non-MLL student, notices the obstacles MLL students face. “It’s hard to relate or connect with someone if you don’t speak the same language as them,” she said. 

Schools and administrators can bridge this gap by offering programs with additional academic aid, or hosting cultural events to help MLLs feel more included. “It’s really important to grow a welcoming community for people who are still learning English, just so they have support,” Petra said. 

Providing MLLs and all students with equal educational opportunities is an initiative that has seen both progress and setbacks. While Cruz and Combs offer some solutions, these actions need to be implemented for all MLL students in all schools. Collectively, schools must focus more on the academic and emotional needs of MLL’s to provide a more beneficial learning environment. Deshayes believes schools should see linguistic diversity as an asset to be celebrated rather than an obstacle. “I wonder how that might answer the problem if we focus on the strengths that we have,” he said.