Multilingual Learners

Supporting Multilingual/English Learners

English learners contribute greatly to the linguistic diversity and strengths of our schools. They need more targeted and effective support! English learners–ELs, or students whose first language at home is a language other than English–represent almost 1 in every 5 students in California public schools statewide. We also refer to ELs as multilingual learners (MLLs) to affirm the rich cultural and linguistic strengths that students who speak languages other than English bring to their school communities.

The educational needs of ELs are often overlooked and students are frequently underserved in our education system. About one-third of ELs are at risk of becoming or are already “long-term English learners” because they have not become English proficient after six or more years of education in US schools. ELs are more likely to have less prepared teachers, lack access to targeted academic services or extra-curricular activities; and their supplemental English instruction is not always effectively implemented.

Our vision is to ensure MLLs are fully integrated and thriving in our educational programs by building upon their diverse, rich cultures and language skills. We fight to foster more equity in our systems so schools are well-equipped to ensure ELs have access to both the language development support to become English proficient students and the mainstream educational program that includes advanced and elective courses as well as other school programs and activities.

Public Advocates has worked for decades to enforce the legal protections afforded to ELs in Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which were clarified in the Supreme Court case Lau v. Nichols, and later in the Equal Educational Opportunities Act (EEOA). Specifically, we strongly defended the rights of ELs during our Williams lawsuit, and won a number of protections in the settlement that we still lean on today.

Funding and Accountability:

We advocate for increased and equitable funding for schools serving ELs to offer effective and targeted services to support English language development, learning in other core academic areas, and opportunities for social-emotional growth.

We advocate for our state’s accountability system, the California School Dashboard, to improve its tracking of outcomes for ELs and better inform state and local conversations and policy decisions on the continuous improvement of systems that serve MLLs.

State and Local Advocacy

In collaboration with the LCFF Equity Coalition, we analyze funding, demographic, and performance data related to ELs and identify trends or problems to address through legislation, budget and administrative advocacy, and district-level advocacy of Local Control Accountability Plans to increase and improve services for MLLs.

We monitor El access to fully prepared and properly assigned teachers, which includes having the appropriate training and certification(s) to teach ELs. We advocate for policy solutions in areas of severe teacher shortage and to ensure stakeholder access to data that facilitates equity analyses for ELs.

Enforcement

We develop relationships with community-based organizations and together identify districts with severe gaps in the instruction and services offered to MLLs. We issue complaints (Williams complaints, Uniform Complaint Procedure, Office of Civil Rights complaints) to enforce the rights of ELs and bring forth system improvements.