Episode 48

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(February 13, 2009) Recently, Education Week released it’s annual Quality Counts report, Portrait of a Population, with a focus on the status of English language learner education showing significant gaps in achievement between English language learners and non-ELL students. The gap is most striking at the middle school and high school level. Abelardo Villarreal, Ph.D., director of IDRA field services and a national expert on education of English language learners, describes what schools need to do to ensure that ELLs receive educational services that meet the quality and equity standards in order to graduate prepared for college and work. Lalo is interviewed by Bradley Scott, Ph.D., director of the IDRA South Central Collaborative for Equity. Send comments to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or fill out form online at www.idra.org/Podcasts. Sign up to receive free e-mail notices when new episodes are available. 

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Resources

Ten Principles for an Effective Education Plan for English Language Learners at the Secondary Level – Part I
By Abelardo Villarreal, Ph.D., IDRA Newsletter

Good Schools and Classrooms for Children Learning English: A Guide
By María "Cuca" Robledo Montecel, Ph.D.; Josie Cortez, M.A.; Albert Cortez, Ph.D., and Abelardo Villarreal, Ph.D., IDRA

Presenting IDRA’s Framework for Effective Instruction of Secondary English Language Learners
María "Cuca" Robledo Montecel, Ph.D., IDRA Newsletter

Bilingual Education in Texas – Where It is Now, and What is Still Needed
Albert Cortez, Ph.D., and Roy L. Johnson, M.S. , IDRA Newsletter

  Show Notes

* Lalo offers an overview of the achievement gap between English language learners (ELLs) and non-ELL students at the elementary and secondary school levels.

* Lalo is asked to explain why he argued in the January 2009 edition IDRA newsletter that the "failure to address the educational needs of ELLs is vested in schools."

* In his January and February 2009 newsletter contributions, Lalo also outlines a theoretical framework of 10 principles of the fundamentals of evidence-based secondary educational plan for ELLs. Bradley and Lalo discuss three of those principles:

• The role of school boards
• The assessment of students in core content areas (math, science, social studies)
• The importance of accepting and valuing ELL students -- and not looking at them as a "deficit."

* Bradley asks Lalo why teachers are still not being adequately trained in language-acquision issues.

Show length: 24:11