Questions From the Field

different cultures who speak different languages. Some may be English learners, and some might not.

Those of non-English learner status include the following (Gottlieb, 2022; Gottlieb & Calderón, 2023). • Reclassified or exited students

• Dual-language program learners from Englishspeaking backgrounds • Those never identified as English learners but who are from linguistically and culturally diverse backgrounds • Heritage learners

Those who are English learners include the following (Gottlieb, 2022). • Newcomers and recently arrived English learners • Highly schooled newcomers

• Students with limited or interrupted formal education

• Dually identified special education and

English learners • Long-term

English learners • Gifted and talented students

In some cases, these students were called sheltered English learners, but that is not an official category. In fact, many regard the term as condescending. Not all students have been in sheltered classrooms. Besides, sheltered instruction, as mentioned by the Institute of Education Sciences’ WWC (2013), is not an effective instructional model and has not helped long-term English learners. Long-term English learners probably did not receive adequate or quality instruction on academic English, reading, and writing. Perhaps they were “sheltered” too much and were given watered-down curriculum. Perhaps their teachers’ low expectations did not include rigorous instruction that addressed their individual needs. Organizations such as the Carnegie Corporation of New York began to bring panels of researchers together to find existing research on addressing long-term English learners’ needs (Short & Fitzsimmons, 2007). Since no valid studies were found, they funded a study of BCIRC in grades 6 to 12 that was later called ExC-ELL.

Who This Book Is For

After studying and observing the implementation of ExC-ELL in hundreds of classrooms, we realized that the best student outcomes were coming from schools that implemented the program schoolwide. This is the premise behind the instructional and professional development model. A schoolwide program includes all educators, students, and families in the schools.

Therefore, this book is written for:

• General education teachers in K–12 schools

• Instructional coaches for all subjects • ESL or English development (ELD) teachers • ESL administrators and resource specialists • Bilingual or dual-language teachers • Bilingual or dual-language administrators and resource specialists

Home-to-school and family outreach coordinators, social workers, counselors, administrators, coaches, and families can also benefit from content in this book, as some strategies and content directly apply to them. Educators can use the instructional strategies in the book to offer workshops for parents and caregivers.

Base of Research for This Book

The ExC-ELL components mentioned in this book were tested in dozens of schools in various states to compare outcomes for students with students in other programs. In addition to English learners in ExC-ELL making significant academic and language growth, the non-English learners in the same classrooms also achieved more in language, literacy, and subject matter. In fact, the experimental middle and high schools implementing ExC-ELL went from low performing to exemplary in two years.

The control schools had the typical sheltered instruction models or popular ways of teaching vocabulary, reading, and writing. The experimental schools had the ExC-ELL model constructed from solid research by national language and literacy