Alison Yin for EdSource Today

Student at Redwood Heights Elementary School in Oakland

California and Arizona are cited as the only two states that require all teachers and staff to be certified as specialists in English Language Learning (ELL) methods, even if they don't teach students who are learning English as a new linguistic communication, according to a new report by the Education Commission of u.s..

The report recommends that at the very least, all states should require every teacher who is a candidate for a credential to receive some preparation in ELL instruction.The written report states the change is necessary considering students who are learning English are taught past teachers who overwhelmingly lack training in ELL instruction.

The report says that states also demand to brand districts which are recipients of funding for English language learners more accountable for how they're serving those students. Districts should show how they're meeting the needs of those students earlier receiving additional funding, the report states.

Key measures for meeting the needs of English language language learners, the study says, include the level of funding for training teachers, the ability of state programs to place students who need help learning English and the ability of states and school districts to runway those students.

Good advice with parents is an important way for states to get students signed up for programs that serve their language needs, the report says.

New York and New Jersey are amid a few states that require ELL teachers or other schoolhouse staff who speak the "dwelling house language" of the parents to help parents fill out forms virtually their children'southward language needs. The consequence of non using teachers with those qualifications to talk to parents, the report says, is that parents may be hesitantto make full out the forms "advisedly, correctly, or at all."

English language linguistic communication learners, according to the report, benefit from pre-kindergarten services. But only five states — Alaska, Illinois, Michigan, New York and Texas — have policies that require state-subsidized pre-Thou programs to provide educational activity for English language learners.

While most 25 percent of California's public schoolhouse students are English language linguistic communication learners, the state does not require specialized pedagogy for those students. However, it has developed specific guidelines on serving the needs of children in pre-kindergarten programs.

The Education Commission of the States has also created a database of state policies for English language learners.

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