Brandon Torres '18, Educational Studies & English Literature Special Major

Secondary School Support for Emergent Bilingual Students

English Language Learners (ELLs) in middle school and high school face the particular challenge of having to master a new language while also learning challenging material through this same language. Despite the Lau v. Nichols Supreme Court decision that promised a meaningful education for all ELL students, research into the educational achievement and success of this student population shows that our educational system is failing to accomplish this. My research into this field seeks to identify the most effective approaches for ELL education, and explore how we can implement strong practices found in bilingual education to other contexts such as ESL and mainstream classrooms.