English learners
(ELs) comprise a diverse and multitalented pool of learners that is
persistently increasing, both in absolute size and as a percentage of the U.S.
school population. ELs span more than 350 language groups, represent diversity
in cultural groups, and reach the full range of social classes within U.S.
society. Such diversity is at once a strength of the EL population and a
complication to finding simple solutions to improving science, technology,
engineering, and mathematics (STEM) outcomes for the group writ large.
Long-held accounting practices in education and U.S. policy complicate the
development of a clear picture of the educational attainment of ELs. Thus, high
school graduation rates, college going, and career choices among ELs are misestimated
in many official statistics and reports because of the failure to consider
those English-proficient students who began school as ELs.
These facts
notwithstanding, ELs are underrepresented in STEM fields in college as well as
in the workforce. These lower participation rates are made more troublesome by
the ever-increasing demand for workers and professionals in STEM fields and by
the disproportionate economic value that these jobs bring to society and, as a
result, to the individuals employed in STEM fields. In general, jobs in STEM
fields have higher earning potential than non-STEM jobs, and the number of jobs
in STEM have outpaced all other fields since 1990.
Opening avenues to success
in STEM for the nation’s ELs offers a path to improved earning potential,
income security, and economic opportunity for these students and their
families. At least as important, increasing the diversity of the STEM workforce
confers benefits to the society as a whole, not only due to the improved
economic circumstances for a substantial segment of society, but also because
diversity in the STEM workforce will bring new ideas and new solutions to STEM
challenges.
Organizing schools and preparing teachers so that all students can
reach their full potential in STEM has the potential to transform the lives of
individual students, as well as the lives of the teachers, the schools, and
society as a whole.
This report attempts to determine what can be learned from the
research literature to help guide improvements in the educational system,
through improved assessments and assessment practices; reporting and
classification; improved instruction that recognizes the central role that
content area instruction plays in children’s language development and content
area achievement; leveraging connections to home, culture, and school; better
preparation of teachers and administrators; and the establishment of federal,
state, and local policies that will build and sustain capacity of school
systems to allow all ELs to reach their full potential as STEM learners.
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