The School Administrator

November 2008 Number 10, Vol. 65English Language LearnersIn communities everywhere, schools employ range of options

Features

Responding to Linguistic Diversity
by Nancy L. Commins
Second language learners arrive at every grade level with a variety of experiences and differing academic backgrounds. Responding to their learning needs means accommodating the entire range of students from monolingual English speakers to monolingual speakers of other languages and a variety of bilingual profiles in between.
Similar Reading: Diep Nguyen: From English learner to school leader and Additional resources
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Options for English Language Learners
by Liana Minaya-Rowe
While two major models for English language learners are bilingual and monolingual programs, schools today use several variations, organized around five instructional strategies, according to a leading Johns Hopkins University researcher.
Similar Reading: Minneapolis's newcomer program and Changing initiatives in Lincoln, Neb. and Myths and misconceptions
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Keeping Pace in Suburbia and Rural America
by Rebecca Freeman Field
No longer strictly an urban phenomenon, English language learners are settling in areas that have never before seen such diversity. How are schools in some unlikely places coping with this new challenge?
Similar Reading: Serving ELLs when the district's numbers are few and A North Carolina district responds to ELL growth
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Using Leadership Teams to Elevate English Learning
by Jane D. Hill and Anne M. Lundquist
McREL works with administrators and teachers to build their skills in research-based ELL strategies that can be implemented in general education settings.
Similar Reading: and
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Cultural Competency
by Stan Paz
Before connecting academically with English language learners, educators must connect with their students’ hearts and minds, according to a former superintendent.
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Profile

Concentric Thinking in Cincinnati by Paul Riede

The hallmark of Patti Brenneman’s management style in the Oak Hills schools of suburban Cincinnati, Ohio, is public engagement.

Departments

Board-Savvy Superintendent

Getting Your Board Out of Micromanagement by Donald R. McAdams

All superintendents have to cope with the natural tendency of board members to micromanage. So a little education of the board may be in order.

Focus

Cultivating Women Leaders Through a Network by Marilou Ryder

When a superintendent in California found she was the only female leader of an organization in her community, she put in motion a way to influence the long-established patriarchal environment.

Guest Column

A Bargaining Table Lesson from Baseball's Mitchell Report by Joseph J. Matula

The recent study of steroid use in professional baseball has particular relevance to an unattended crisis confronting those in school system governance.

People

People

The latest career moves in the school system leadership ranks.

Tech Leadership

The Superintendent as Chief Technology Modeler by Keith Krueger

As the world becomes ever more technology intensive, superintendents should be able to do more than handle a cell phone, says the chief executive officer of the Consortium for School Networking.

President's Corner

What About Our Children? by Randall H. Collins

AASA’s president shares the lament he hears expressed by many others: What No Child Left Behind mistakenly overlooks is … the child.

Executive Perspective

A Voice for Bilingual Education by Daniel A. Domenech

His own experiences as a young Spanish-speaking immigrant inform contemporary views on how to treat the growing population of English language learners.

Federal Dateline

And the Survey Says... by Noelle, M. Ellerson

Reconciling how two national public opinion polls using similar questions could reach such disparate conclusions about the state of public schools today.

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