Common Core State Standards provide educators with an unprecedented opportunity to reconceptualize how English language learners (ELLs) gain: 

  • Increasingly sophisticated understandings
  • Linguistic resources that enable them to express themselves effectively
  • A sense of productivity and independence
  • Proficiency in the range of language levels, or registers

Cowritten by WestEd’s Aída Walqui, this paper presents five guiding principles for maximizing the immense potential of ELLs in the classroom.

The paper is part of Stanford University’s Understanding Language initiative.