Every year in this nation, hundreds of thousands of children enter kindergarten as "English language learners," coming from homes in which languages other than English are spoken and English skills needed to fully participate in and access the curriculum at school may be lacking. Their young brains are wired to develop language, to use language in order to interact with others, and to learn about and codify the concepts that give the world meaning. Their teachers greet them with a curriculum meant to develop those language and early literacy skills and to set them on the path towards academic success. Yet, for many, it does not work out as it should.

Somewhere between 40%–50% of these young English language learners begin what will be years of struggle to comprehend the instruction they are given in a language they don't know, amassing increasing academic gaps. This journey seldom results in these students achieving the levels of English proficiency they need to be successful in college or the workforce. They become what are called long-term English language learners (L-TELLs).

The majority of English language learners in secondary grades (6–12) are L-TELLs—having been in United States schools for more than 6 years, many born in this country—stuck in the journey towards English proficiency and struggling to overcome academic gaps. Awareness of this group has existed "on the ground" for a while in some schools, but in most places the curriculum, policy, and programs provided to adolescent English language learners are designed either for newcomer English learners or for a general population of struggling native English speakers.

Because their basic social oral fluency in English can mask the very real weaknesses in their grasp of English, long-term English language learners are often overlooked as having language needs. They find themselves placed in mainstream classrooms, without the supports necessary to continue developing the English they need, unable to access grade-level academic content, or in intervention classes that misdiagnose their struggles as reading problems or undisciplined study habits. Years of struggling academically take a toll well beyond the academic deficits that accrue. Discouragement and non-engagement become widespread.

Dawing upon research of effective English language learner practices, an analysis of the specific needs of L-TELLs, and the challenges and opportunities in the standards for Language Arts, it becomes evident that the most effective approaches to meet these students' needs include a very clear and well-defined set of elements:

• A commitment to rigor, acceleration, and possibility
• A pervasive element of empowering pedagogy that ignites (or re-ignites) a sense of connection to literacy and education, excitement about learning, and a sense of personal relevance connecting students to their learning
• A focus on active engagement to break the cycle of non-participation that is so typical among L-TELLs
• Explicit strategies to build a sense of community and support among students
• Establishment of consistent and appropriately scaffolded academic routines and instructional approaches across the curriculum
• An emphasis on oral language development, and the consistent and frequent use of strategies that engage students in actively producing language
• Routine use of high-level texts and academic discourse, which include rigorous academic language and academic vocabulary
• The inclusion of multiple genres of reading and writing—expository, literary, journalistic, etc.
• A focus on how English works in academic contexts and for academic purposes
• A focus on goal setting, mentoring, advising in order to help students clarify their dreams and identify pathways to achieving them
• A focus on study skill

Given the magnitude of the long-term English language learner challenge and the need for curriculum resources, it was both wonderful and not surprising that AVID would step up to develop a new program to address this need. Despite the academic struggles that plague long-term English language learners, the vast majority have high hopes of going to college but lack the pathway or support structures that will make this possible. AVID's history of highly successful college readiness programs that accelerate student learning positioned it well to take on addressing the needs of the middle school English language learners who either were or were becoming L-TELLs.

While other curriculum developers were approaching middle school long-term English language learners primarily through a lens of intervention, AVID's approach was to create AVID Excel, an accelerated pathway into high school AVID and on to college preparation—replete with cohort support, family engagement, an assets-oriented focus on biliteracy, and careful construction of a rigorous and scaffolded curriculum. The AVID Excel curriculum reflects a deep understanding of the full and complex range of L-TELL needs. It is a comprehensive approach that is age-appropriate and gives its students the tools and support to take control of their schooling and plan their pathway to college and careers.

AVID Excel interrupts that trajectory of long-term English language learners, offering students an educational lifeline and a means to fulfill their dreams of achieving English proficiency and preparing for college.

Laurie Olsen, Ph.D.
Researcher and author