Abstract

How to teach English language learners has been among the most contentious - indeed, most politicized - issues in American education over the past three decades. Meeting the pedagogical needs of these children, the fastest-growing population in U.S. schools, is a formidable challenge in itself. Educators’ mission is further complicated by external factors including the English-only movement, anti-immigrant agitation, resistance to civil-rights laws, attacks on bilingual education, mandates for high-stakes testing and other misguided "reforms", uninformed media coverage, and legislators’ one-size-fits-all responses to diverse students. In the 18 essays collected here, James Crawford analyzes the policies and politics behind these conflicts, critiques the strategies and tactics employed, and suggests ways to improve advocacy on behalf of English language learners.

James Crawford is president of the Institute for Language and Education Policy (www.elladvocates.org), a nonprofit research and advocacy organization. His recent books include English Learners in American Classrooms: 101 Questions, 101 Answers (coauthored with Stephen Krashen); At War with Diversity: US Language Policy in an Age of Anxiety; and Educating English Learners: Language Diversity in the Classroom (5th ed). Previously, he served as Washington editor of Education Week and executive director of the National Association for Bilingual Education.