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As school districts move forward with reopening plans, many questions still remain about the ability to effectively administer in person classroom instruction. Some of the most pressing questions that remain unanswered relate to the most vulnerable and at risk student populations, which include English Language Learners (ELL.)
"Many district reopening plans are prioritizing students who are in at risk populations or students who are in populations that just need extra attention like ELLs to come back in person," said Carmen Diaz, Interim Director of the Regional Bilingual Education Network.
But English as a New Language (ENL) programs are one of the many subject areas in New York that are currently experiencing a teacher shortage. In fact, Diaz, says, ENL has had a teacher shortfall in New York for more than thirty years.
ENL programs often draw the short straw when it comes to development and support, and the disruptions caused by coronavirus have only made the dilemmas these programs face more apparent.
“Everything that existed pre-pandemic just is intensified now. There is nothing new," said Laura Baecher, Professor in the School of Education at Hunter College, CUNY.
That includes no allocated time for ENL teachers and content area teachers to collaborate, growing fears about immigration status and, since vulnerable student populations are often from some of the most economically vulnerable families, access to technology and internet facilitate offsite learning.
ENL programs are for more than just secondary students, and Baecher sees programs for international students in higher education being shut down completely. The instructors, many who are adjuncts, will lose their jobs.
In K-12, state and federal policy mandates that ELLs receive services, but caseloads fluctuate. Students being consolidated under fewer ENL teachers and diminishing immigration numbers could see some ENL instructors be excessed. But that impact may not be fully known until next year.
Baecher says that students who should have been tested and possibly come out of ENL programs in the spring, will remain in those programs this fall when the school year resumes.
Other options for children and adult English Language Learners include ENL programs at public libraries, apps and tutorials online that can help with grammar and pronunciation, but the feedback of in person instruction cannot be replaced, especially when it comes to language acquisition skills.
“Any options that are available to a student in a school need to be open to your English Language Learners as well,” Diaz said. And, she it must be equitable, she said.
New York State United Teachers has released polling information that showed an overwhelming majority of members favoring health and safety as the guiding principles when reopening schools. Fewer believe the educational, social and cultural needs of students are the most important factor that determines reopening for in person instruction.
“Who could ever say anything against health and safety?” Baecher said. “It shouldn’t be an either/or. That doesn’t excuse teachers from delivering instruction, from reaching out to students.”
But education being in crisis, she said, is no need to panic.
“We are in the trenches together,” Baecher said, “which can bring people into more solidarity and it’s a community problem if people aren’t learning, if young people aren’t able to move forward.”
Diaz is hopeful for the new school year and beyond, seeing “a positive change that has the potential to unfold into something even greater.”
The need to find new methods of learning is the same for ENL as it is for all subject areas. Computers and tablets have become the new pencil and paper and it is crucial that all students become comfortable with technology now for college and career readiness.
If New York’s education philosophy is to train students to be the best in the world, teaching ELLs English proficiency while offering them technology training will be useful if quarantine is required again, and in the long run, experts said.
