Educating Today’s Newcomers

Each year, an increasing number of ELLs enter our schools with limited and/or interrupted formal schooling, not just in English but in their native language. Interrupted formal schooling is the result of immigrants seeking refuge from war, civil unrest, cultural customs, and/or severe economic conditions. Often, these students live in poverty. These students with interrupted formal education (SIFE) struggle with reading and writing or do not read and write at all in their primary language. They sometimes lack basic concepts in the various content areas. SIFE students struggle socially and academically and warrant immediate attention.

But, not all Newcomers have interrupted formal schooling. Some newcomers come to our schools already highly educated and are ready to continue their studies; all they need are language development strategies as they continue to learn math, science, social studies, etc. Both groups have their own unique linguistic and subject-matter needs. All too often these student populations receive the same 'remedy' when clearly the diagnosis is quite different. Schools are too often not equipped to handle our newcomers in any other way than to "cross their fingers" and hope for the best.

Yet there is current research and best practices concerning Newcomers, and my role as founder of A+RISE is to interpret the scholarly articles and research and provide teachers with the practical, relevant, classroom-ready use of that research: the "HOW!"  This summer, I have been hard at work building new modules to the existing A+RISE strategies: Cognates and Newcomer strategies. The response to our initial pilots and training has been exceptional, and in listening to our teachers, there are several frequently asked questions I would like to address here.