This week, several of the articles from Google Alert that I received in my inbox mentioned the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) and how it relates to ELs or ESL programs. One of the articles that I found most interesting was "Too Few ELL Students Land in Gifted Classes." In all of my years of teaching, both regular education and ESL, I have never had a student in gifted classes. I’ve certainly had students who were gifted in their home country but they have never met the qualifications for gifted programs in my district. Just because the students don’t speak the language, doesn’t mean they don’t understand the concepts. Some of these students are even placed in lower-level classes because their lack of language is misunderstood for a lack of understanding.
The ESSA “requires states and districts to report the number of their students performing at the advanced academic level, not just those who are academically proficient and below, and to include advanced-achievement data for specific student groups, including English-language learners,” (Harwin & Sparks, 2017). This will help ensure that students are receiving the correct supports and placement. The article mentions that more students will be able to be placed in the gifted program by having better parent outreach and also more diverse testing options, among other things. One thing we run into in my district in Central Pennsylvania is our lack of diverse screening options. Most of the screens are not in any other language, except possibly Spanish. However, we have students speaking Chinese, Korean, Arabic, Russian, Urdu, and many, many more languages. I am excited about the possibility of having more options for these students so that they have the same opportunities as their English speaking peers. Hopefully the ESSA will help ensure every student is in the correct placement.
I found your post very interesting. I teach third grade regular education but receive several gifted students each year. It is fascinating to reflect upon the fact that none of my gifted learners were ESL students or had received ESL services prior. It is also a very sad realization. I have had students highly gifted in the area of math, however, they would never have been able to pass the language portions of the screeners used. It makes me think back to my college days when I worked as a tutor at a center. Many students who were also L2, came to the center to practice their English skills, but received enrichment in math. My school has been blessed with a wonderful gifted teacher. She will push into my classroom about once a week and work with high achieving students, as well as GIEP students on skills. So while they aren't identified as gifted, they do receive some extra enrichment with the gifted teacher. However, as you mentioned I think ESSA will level the playing field a bit for language learners in need of gifted services.
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