When a Year 7 student physically reacted to a prompt of another student by anxiously drumming the desk with his ruler, exclaiming "uuuuhh", the initial thought of the observing researcher, Laura, was: "this is an interesting account". This started a reflective journey of first applying robust research methodologies to the…

English language learners with special needs require specific cognitive, linguistic, social, emotional, and cultural considerations to be successful in inclusive environments. Educators who teach within the confines of English-only laws have an additional hurdle to overcome when educating culturally and linguistically diverse exceptional (CLDE)…

This paper addresses elements of the bilingual program for English language learners (ELL) in Illinois School District U-46 (U-46). Beginning with the context of bilingual education in the United States, the paper also introduces the current state of bilingual programming in U-46. ELL initiatives in light of the U-46 partnership with the Stupski…

English language learners (ELLs) in today's U.S. middle schools and high schools face significant challenges from state writing assessments, and data suggest that they do not fare well. This paper seeks to uncover some of the reasons by posing the question: What is the available research base and practice literature to help teachers prepare ELLs…