English Language Development in High School
As EL adolescents enter into and progress through their
high school years, both the content and language demands
they encounter in their coursework becomes increasingly
complex. The key content understandings and instructional
practices described in previous sections of this chapter are
important for all high school students, including culturally
and linguistically diverse adolescents. However, for ELs’
development of content knowledge and academic English,
it is critical for teachers to create the type of learning
environments called for in the CA CCSS for ELA/Literacy and
the CA ELD Standards because school may be the only place
ELs have to develop these advanced content understandings
and linguistic abilities in English.
High schools are responsible for ensuring that all EL students are immersed in intellectually
rich curricula, appropriately scaffolded to ensure their full access to all content areas, while they
continue (or begin) to develop English as an additional language. The needs of individual EL
adolescent students vary widely and depend on a multitude of factors, including age on arrival
to the U.S., immigrant status, prior schooling, primary language and literacy experiences, English
language proficiencies, content knowledge, and many other things. Therefore, districts, schools, and
teachers should learn as much about their EL students as they can in order to provide them with the
educational approaches that best support them to develop English and become college and career
ready in an accelerated time frame.
For some high school students, the journey through U.S. schooling and with English is just
beginning. Schools and districts should be ready to welcome newcomer ELs (those students just
arriving into the U.S. or who have been in the U.S. for very little time). Some newcomer ELs are
literate in their native language and on par with—or even ahead of—their U.S. peers in terms of
rigorous grade-level content knowledge, while others have experienced disruption in their schooling
careers and have gaps in their literacy and content knowledge. Still other newcomer ELs arrive from
regions assailed with extreme life circumstances, such as war or famine, and require specialized
counseling and integration services in addition to academic and linguistic support. Whether one or
one-hundred newcomer ELs arrive at a district at any given time, and whether newcomer ELs have
limited or advanced content knowledge and literacy in their native languages, high school should be a
place where all adolescent ELs can learn and thrive academically, linguistically, and socio-emotionally.
Accordingly, a systematic plan is established at the
district, school, and classroom levels to ensure that
newcomer ELs and their families are welcomed to the school
community, receive guidance on navigating through the U.S.
school system, and are supported to succeed in their new
country. In order to ensure that newcomer ELs maintain
steady academic progress as they are learning English, some
schools provide coursework in core disciplines in students’
primary language(s). Some districts have established
newcomer EL programs within schools (and sometimes entire
newcomer schools) that are specifically designed for recent
immigrants with no or very limited proficiency in English and
often limited formal education. Enrollment in these programs
is intended to be for a limited time (typically six monthsHigh schools are responsible
for ensuring that all EL students
are immersed in intellectually
rich curricula, appropriately
scaffolded to ensure their full
access to all content areas,
while they continue (or begin)
to develop English as an
additional language.... a systematic plan is
established at the district,
school, and classroom levels to
ensure that newcomer ELs and
their families are welcomed to
the school community, receive
guidance on navigating
through the U.S. school system,
and are supported to succeed
in their new country.
718 | Chapter 7 Grades 9 to 12