Reframing How We Think About Our Long-Term Learners (LTELs)

By Lauren Bartholomae

Long-term English learners (LTELs) is a label generally used to refer to multilingual learners who have been enrolled in schools in the United States for an extended period of time without being reclassified as proficient in English. While there are no standardized criteria for the length of stay in a language program, most states consider a multilingual learner as an LTEL if they have been receiving English language support services for more than five years. There are myriad reasons why a multilingual student might not reach English proficiency in this time. Although the research community generally estimates that developing English proficiency takes five to seven years, factors such as limited opportunities, a lack of relevant and rigorous learning supports, and intersecting academic considerations for students dually identified as eligible for special education all contribute to multilingual learners remaining in the LTEL category.

Getting to know your students’ individual stories, combating deficit-based assumptions, and ensuring their access to authentic learning opportunities are all ways to support LTELs on their journeys toward English language proficiency.

Important Considerations

You play an essential role in shaping the school experience of LTELs’. Understanding the factors that influence their success is essential to ensuring access to challenging coursework, language and content integration, and appropriate supports.

The following is a brief list of some of these strategies:

Course placements in secondary grades can have significant consequences and pose lasting effects for students’ academic success and postsecondary opportunities. For multilingual learners, this process can be especially harmful. Research has shown that teachers and counselors often limit these students’ access to advanced, college-preparatory courses under the assumption that doing so is in their best interest (Kanno & Kangas, 2014). To avoid stripping students of exposure to new experiences and increased rigor across content and elective areas, partner with the school guidance department to best meet students’ needs and interests. This process should also involve students themselves to ensure their academic paths set them up for success toward their personal and career interests and goals.

To learn more about the impact of course placements on students identified as LTELs, read, “’I’m not going to be, like, for the AP’: English language learners’ limited access to advanced college-preparatory courses in high school,” by Temple University professors Yasuko Kanno and Sara E. N. Kangas (2014).

Language and content are not learned in isolation. Therefore, it is essential to ensure explicit language instruction is embedded into grade-level, subject-area classes. While LTELs are characteristically skilled in social discourse, they often benefit from supports that develop advanced, discipline-specific language. This does not involve an additional curriculum or lesson plan in itself, but rather the intentional planning to identify, emphasize, practice and scaffold the language necessary for students to engage in learning and demonstrate their understanding of the content standard at hand. Consider the differences in purpose, style, vocabulary and academic knowledge necessary for students to be able to report their findings like a scientist, communicate their solution like a mathematician, explain the sequence of events like a historian and recite a haiku like a poet.

Utilize the WIDA English Language Development Standards Framework, 2020 Edition to plan for units that integrate content and language in a collaborative, functional and research-based manner.

Does your student have an Individualized Education Program (IEP)? If so, how does it intersect with their language learning? An initial study from a WIDA research inquiry on LTELs across 15 WIDA Consortium states uncovered a significant overlap between English learners (ELs) identified as LTELs and those receiving a disability status designation through an IEP during their tenure taking WIDA ACCESS (“ever-IEP ELs”) (Sahakyan, 2018). A follow-up report exploring this observation identified important patterns. “Many ELs in the ever-IEP subgroup plateaued at moderate proficiency levels: students who were ever-IEP ELs were about four times more likely to be identified as LTELs compared to students who were never-IEP English learners” (Sahakyan, 2021). However, many of these students can and do reach classification-level proficiency, so it is imperative to explore the context, conditions and factors intersecting their disability and language learning journeys to support their academic success.

To learn more about the nuanced dynamic of multilingual learners with disabilities and gain access to educator resources, such as a student information collection tool and a reflection checklist for instructional planning, check out our Supporting Multilingual Learners With Disabilities webpage.

Moving Forward

How can we reframe our thinking around multilingual learners classified as LTELs and better equip them for success? Many practices have been found to be effective in this effort. Creating professional learning communities that routinely look at LTEL data, engaging in further learning opportunities and making space for solution seeking discussions are all great starting points. From there, modeling exemplary practices and advocating for a shared responsibility and asset-based mindset of LTELs can significantly improve consensus across school and district communities. In the classroom, utilizing the WIDA ELD Standards Framework can support explicit, targeted language development during content area instruction. Lastly, this work should not be done alone. Research supports collaboration, such as structured co-planning and co-teaching routines, to connect multiple areas of expertise for a better, brighter focus on our students.

To learn more about the demographics of LTELs across the country, check out the research brief, Long-term English learners across 15 WIDA states, by WIDA Researcher Narék Sahakyan.

Ready To Learn More?

Visit the WIDA Self-Paced Workshop Reframing Education for Long-Term English Learners (LTELs). This course works with K-12 educators and administrators to examine assumptions and misconceptions that create educational barriers for multilingual learners identified as LTELs and identify practices that address their unique educational needs.

About the Author

Lauren Bartholomae is a professional learning curriculum specialist in WIDA's Educator Learning, Research and Practice team. In this role, she engages in the research, development and facilitation of WIDA's professional learning with educators of multilingual learners across the consortium.

References:

Price, H., Burns, D., Loewe, S., Shields, P., Kaplan, J., & Lee, H. Long-term English learners in California. Learning Policy Institute. https://doi.org/10.54300/496.998

Sahakyan, N., & Poole, G. (2021). Examining growth at the intersection of IEP and (long-term) EL status. [Research report]. WIDA and the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System.

Sahakyan, N., & Ryan, S. (2018). Long-term English learners across 15 WIDA states [Research brief]. WIDA and the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System.