English Learners
in STEM Subjects
TRANSFORMING CLASSROOMS,
SCHOOLS, and LIVES
David Francis and Amy Stephens, Editors
Committee on Supporting English Learners in STEM Subjects
Board on Science Education
Board on Children, Youth, and Families
Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education
A Consensus Study Report of
THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS
Washington, DC
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This activity was supported by a contract between the National Academy of Sciences and the National Science Foundation (#10003038). Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of any organization or agency that provided support for the project.
International Standard Book Number-13: 978-0-309-47908-0
International Standard Book Number-10: 0-309-47908-8
Digital Object Identifier: https://doi.org/10.17226/25182
Library of Congress Control Number: 2018964628
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Suggested citation: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. (2018). English Learners in STEM Subjects: Transforming Classrooms, Schools, and Lives. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: https://doi.org/10.17226/25182.
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COMMITTEE ON SUPPORTING ENGLISH LEARNERS IN STEM SUBJECTS
David J. Francis (Chair), Department of Psychology, University of Houston
Alison Bailey, Department of Education, University of California, Los Angeles
Hyman Bass, School of Education, University of Michigan
Cory Buxton, College of Education, Oregon State University
Kathryn Chval, College of Education, University of Missouri
Marta Civil, Department of Mathematics, University of Arizona
Christine M. Cunningham, Museum of Science, Boston
Rodolfo Dirzo, Department of Biological Sciences, Stanford University*
Leslie Herrenkohl, College of Education, University of Washington; School of Education, University of Michigan
Megan Hopkins, Department of Education Studies, University of California, San Diego
Okhee Lee, Department of Teaching and Learning, New York University
Judit Moschkovich, Department of Education, University of California, Santa Cruz
Kendra Renae Pullen, Caddo Parish Public Schools, LA
Maria Santos, WestEd
Mary Schleppegrell, School of Education, University of Michigan
Guillermo Solano-Flores, Graduate School of Education, Stanford University
Amy Stephens, Study Director
Kenne Dibner, Program Officer
Suzanne Le Menestrel, Senior Program Officer, Board on Children, Youth, and Families
Margaret Kelly, Senior Program Assistant
Tiffany Taylor, Christine Mirzayan Science and Technology Policy Fellow (spring 2017), Research Associate
Heidi Schweingruber, Director, Board on Science Education
___________________
* Resigned from committee June 2017.
BOARD ON SCIENCE EDUCATION
Adam Gamoran (Chair), William T. Grant Foundation
Megan Bang, School of Education and Social Policy, Northwestern University; Spencer Foundation
Sunita V. Cooke, Office of the President, MiraCosta College
Melanie Cooper, Department of Chemistry, Michigan State University
Rush D. Holt, American Association for the Advancement of Science
Matthew Krehbiel, Achieve, Inc.
Lynn Liben, Department of Psychology, The Pennsylvania State University
Cathryn (Cathy) Manduca, Science Education Resource Center, Carleton College
John Mather, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Tonya M. Matthews, Michigan Science Center
William Penuel, Center for Assessment, Design, Research and Evaluation, University of Colorado Boulder
Stephen L. Pruitt, Southern Regional Education Board
Kendra Renae Pullen, Caddo Parish Public Schools, LA
Marshall “Mike” Smith, Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching
Roberta Tanner, Thompson School District (retired), Loveland, CO
Heidi Schweingruber, Director
BOARD ON CHILDREN, YOUTH, AND FAMILIES
Angela Diaz (Chair), Departments of Pediatrics and Preventive Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Shari Barkin, Department of Pediatrics, Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital, Vanderbilt University
Thomas F. Boat, Academic Health Center, College of Medicine, University of Cincinnati
W. Thomas Boyce, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia
David A. Brent, Western Psychiatric Institute and University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
David V.B. Britt, Sesame Workshop (CEO, retired)
Debbie I. Chang, Nemours Health and Prevention Services
Patrick H. Deleon, F. Edward Hebert School of Medicine and the Graduate School of Nursing, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences
Elena Fuentes-Afflick, Department of Pediatrics, University of California, San Francisco, and Chief of Pediatrics, San Francisco General Hospital
Eugene E. Garcia, Mary Lou Fulton Teachers’ College, Arizona State University
J. David Hawkins, School of Social Work, University of Washington
Jeffrey W. Hutchinson, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences
Jacqueline Jones, Foundation for Child Development
Ann S. Masten, Institute of Child Development, University of Minnesota
Bruce S. McEwen, Harold and Margaret Milliken Hatch Laboratory of Neuroendocrinology, The Rockefeller University
Velma McBride Murry, Peabody College, Vanderbilt University
Martin J. Sepulveda, Research Division, IBM Corporation (retired)
Natacha Blain, Director
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Preface
English learners (ELs) comprise a diverse and multitalented pool of learners that is persistently increasing, both in absolute size and as a percentage of the U.S. school population. ELs span more than 350 language groups, represent diversity in cultural groups, and reach the full range of social classes within U.S. society. Such diversity is at once a strength of the EL population and a complication to finding simple solutions to improving science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) outcomes for the group writ large. Long-held accounting practices in education and U.S. policy complicate the development of a clear picture of the educational attainment of ELs. Thus, high school graduation rates, college going, and career choices among ELs are misestimated in many official statistics and reports because of the failure to consider those English-proficient students who began school as ELs.
These facts notwithstanding, ELs are underrepresented in STEM fields in college as well as in the workforce. These lower participation rates are made more troublesome by the ever-increasing demand for workers and professionals in STEM fields and by the disproportionate economic value that these jobs bring to society and, as a result, to the individuals employed in STEM fields. In general, jobs in STEM fields have higher earning potential than non-STEM jobs, and the number of jobs in STEM have outpaced all other fields since 1990. Opening avenues to success in STEM for the nation’s ELs offers a path to improved earning potential, income security, and economic opportunity for these students and their families. At least as important, increasing the diversity of the STEM workforce confers benefits to the society as a whole, not only due to the improved economic circum-
stances for a substantial segment of society, but also because diversity in the STEM workforce will bring new ideas and new solutions to STEM challenges. Organizing schools and preparing teachers so that all students can reach their full potential in STEM has the potential to transform the lives of individual students, as well as the lives of the teachers, the schools, and society as a whole.
In the report that follows, the committee attempts to determine what can be learned from the research literature to help guide improvements in the educational system, through improved assessments and assessment practices; reporting and classification; improved instruction that recognizes the central role that content area instruction plays in children’s language development and content area achievement; leveraging connections to home, culture, and school; better preparation of teachers and administrators; and the establishment of federal, state, and local policies that will build and sustain capacity of school systems to allow all ELs to reach their full potential as STEM learners.
The report is essentially organized into three sections. The first set of chapters were provided by the committee in an effort to detail the essential background that readers must understand to benefit from the reviews of the literature in the subsequent chapters and the resultant conclusions and recommendations that follow from the committee’s deliberations. The committee found throughout its conversations that we shared a patchwork of common understanding about ELs as a population, about the schools and programs that serve these students, about the roles of standards in each of the STEM disciplines, and about the symbiotic central importance of language to the development of content area proficiency and of active engagement in content area learning to the development of language. I believe that it is fair to say that each of us had some understanding of portions of the overlapping patchwork, but none of us had as firm an understanding of the entire patchwork at the outset as we do today. Our objective in providing the early framing chapters was to detail, as best as possible, the essential background knowledge that guided our organization of the literature, and our thinking regarding the pieces and how they fit together. These chapters provide the givens that defined the starting point for the committee, and that we felt must be understood by the reader as the essential context for the chapters that detail our reviews, conclusions, and recommendations.
Throughout its work, the committee kept its focus on the students, teachers, administrators, parents, families, communities, policy makers, and researchers, as well as the specific roles that each plays in the STEM attainment of ELs and the challenges that each faces in effectively fulfilling its role. Our perspective is very much an educational systems perspective, but our focus in individual chapters was necessarily on specific components of the system. I hope that this systems perspective comes through in the
individual chapters albeit in a more limited scope. This perspective is critical to real, substantial, and sustainable improvement. Focusing singularly on assessment, on instruction, on home-school connections, or on teacher preparation will not achieve what is possible through orchestrated, persistent, system-wide efforts. Coordinated effort is more difficult to achieve than concentrated effort by a single individual or type of individual, but ultimately more effective and more sustainable. I hope that each of the groups mentioned above finds specific, actionable steps that it can take to improve STEM outcomes for ELs. More importantly I hope that this report will motivate members of each of these groups to work together to create focused, system-wide effort toward the goal of allowing each child who enters a U.S. school as an EL to reach her or his full potential in STEM and proficiency in English.
This report has been a labor of love for each of the committee members. To a person, the committee worked exceptionally hard to complete its work and produce this consensus report. Each individual’s commitment to working as a part of the team to develop a shared understanding of the students, the teachers, the homes and families, and the components of the educational system and what can be done to improve ELs’ STEM outcomes was remarkable. The committee was beyond fortunate to have Dr. Amy Stephens as the study director. Her steady hand, expert knowledge of the content and process, personal support of each of the committee members, and shear perseverance and hard work down the stretch made the impossible not only possible, but also enjoyable. I cannot thank her enough.
In closing, I hope that readers will find much value in this consensus committee report of the National Academies and that individuals will be personally motivated to do their part in contributing to improved STEM education for ELs. While many questions remain unanswered by the current research literature, the report outlines what can be done now and what steps can be taken to guide future steps through research.
David Francis, Chair
Committee on Supporting English Learners in STEM Subjects
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Acknowledgments
This Consensus Study Report represents the work of many individuals, especially those who served on the committee and participated in the committee’s open sessions. The first thanks are to the committee members for their deep knowledge and contributions to the study.
This report was made possible by the important contributions of the National Science Foundation. We particularly thank Julio Lopez-Ferrao, program director in the Division of Research on Learning in Formal and Informal Settings (EHR/DRL), who advocated for this study.
The committee benefited from presentations by, and discussions with, the many individuals who participated in our fact-finding meetings. We thank Julie Bianchini, University of California, Santa Barbara; Rebecca Callahan, The University of Texas at Austin; Sylvia Celedón-Pattichis, University of New Mexico; Daryl Greenfield, University of Miami; Tom Humphries, University of California, San Diego; Kara Jackson, University of Washington; Bill McCallum, University of Arizona; Kylie Peppler, Indiana University, Bloomington; Nancy Songer, Drexel University; Julie Sugarman, Migration Policy Institute; Ruby Takanishi, New America; Karen Thompson, Oregon State University; Sara Tolbert, University of Arizona; Sultan Turkan, Educational Testing Service; Claudio Vargas, coordinator of science programs K–12 in California’s Oakland Unified School District; Mark Warschauer, University of California, Irvine; and Amelia Wenk Gotwals, Michigan State University.
This Consensus Study Report has been reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical com-
ments that will assist the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in making its published report as sound as possible and to ensure that it meets institutional standards for objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process. We thank the following individuals for their review of this report: Diane L. August, Center for English Language Learners, American Institutes for Research; Filiberto Barajas-López, Mathematics Education, University of Washington; George C. Bunch, Education Department, University of California, Santa Cruz; Ester de Jong, School of Teaching and Learning, University of Florida; Richard P. Duran, Graduate School of Education, University of California, Santa Barbara; Kara Jackson, College of Education, University of Washington; Robert Linquanti, California Comprehensive Center, WestEd; Luciana C. Oliveira, Department of Teaching and Learning, University of Miami; Maria Chiara Simani, California Science Project, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Riverside; and Karen Thompson, College of Education, Oregon State University.
Although the reviewers listed above provided many constructive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the content of the report nor did they see the final draft of the report before its release. The review of this report was overseen by Donna Christian, senior fellow, Center for Applied Linguistics and Douglas S. Massey, Department of Sociology, Princeton University. They were responsible for making certain that an independent examination of this report was carried out in accordance with the standards of the National Academies and that all review comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final content of this report rests entirely with the authoring committee and the National Academies.
Thanks are also due to the project staff: Amy Stephens of the Board on Science Education (BOSE) directed the study. Tiffany Taylor helped with drafting and editing parts of the report (transitioning from a Christine Mirzayan science and technology policy fellow to a research associate during this project). Kenne Dibner, program officer with BOSE, and Suzanne Le Menestrel, senior program officer with the Board on Children, Youth, and Families, were instrumental in thinking through committee dynamics during meetings and about engaging key stakeholder groups. Margaret Kelly managed the study’s logistical and administrative needs, and Leticia Garcilazo Green stepped in at the end to help with study completion. Heidi Schweingruber, director of BOSE, provided thoughtful advice and helpful suggestions throughout the entire process.
Staff of the Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education also provided help: Paula Whitacre edited and substantially improved the readability of the report; Kirsten Sampson Snyder expertly guided the report through the review process, and Yvonne Wise masterfully guided the report through production.
Dedication
We dedicate this book to the memory of Julio López-Ferrao, program director in the Division of Research on Learning in Formal and Informal Settings (EHR/DRL) at the National Science Foundation (NSF), who died on March 25, 2019. Julio served as the NSF program officer overseeing our work on this report.
Julio was a warrior for equity. He was passionate about education, especially for children and adults who had been denied access and opportunity to learning science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. An advocate for people who were learning English in the United States, he realized their incredible potential not only to learn but also to fully participate and bring their rich cultural and linguistic assets into the community. Julio wanted every child and adult to have opportunities to be successful. This project would not have become a reality without his leadership. He leaves a lasting legacy that will impact generations to come.
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Contents
Evolution of Research on Language and STEM Learning
An Asset-Oriented View of English Learners
2 Factors Shaping English Learners’ Access to STEM Education in U.S. Schools
Heterogeneity of English Learners
Program Models for English Learners
English Learner Classification Status and STEM Access
Factors and Challenges Associated with “Achievement Gap” Metrics
English Learner Placement in STEM Coursework
3 Relationship Between Language and STEM Learning for English Learners
Current Context of STEM PreK–12 Education for English Learners
New Opportunities for EL STEM Learning
4 Effective Instructional Strategies for STEM Learning and Language Development in English Learners
Interactions Between STEM Content Teachers and ESL Teachers
Promising Instructional Strategies to Support STEM Content and Language Development
5 School-Family-Community: Contextual Influences on STEM Learning for English Learners
The Positioning of English Learners’ Cultures in STEM
Caregiver and Family Involvement in Schools
Supporting Teachers in Working with Families and Communities
Building Stronger Connections for Mutual Understanding
6 Preparing the Educator Workforce for English Learners in STEM
Preservice Teacher Preparation
In-Service Teacher Professional Development
Cross-Cutting Themes for Supporting Teachers of STEM to ELs
Preparation of Teacher Educators
7 Assessing STEM Learning among English Learners
English Learners in Large-Scale STEM Assessment Programs
Classroom Summative and Formative STEM Assessment with English Learners
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