This course is designed for early career teachers (0-3 years of experience) to build a solid foundation of knowledge and skills to work with English learners, no matter the age or subject taught. We’ll start off by learning about the importance of specialized instruction for ELs and principles that teachers should follow to set the stage for their academic. Next, we’ll expand on the concepts from module 1 and explore practical steps for teachers in the classroom, including how to make linguistic and instructional accommodations for ELs. We take a deeper dive into techniques for teachers and present strategies for students to bolster their own academic success in module 3. The course wraps up with module 4, which is all about facilitating academic success for special groups of English learners, including gifted students, long-term English learners, and ELs with disabilities.
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Academic Success for English Learners
This course is part of Introduction to Teaching English Learners Specialization
Instructors: Rachel Kraut, Ph.D.
Included with 
Recommended experience
What you'll learn
Learn how to support academic success for English learners through sheltered instruction and other proven teaching methods.
Fill your teacher toolbox with pre-made lesson plans and practical strategies for working with English learners.
Discover characteristics of special groups of English learners, the challenges they face, and how to help students overcome them.
Skills you'll gain
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There are 4 modules in this course
In Module 1, you will learn how to set the stage for academic success for English Learners. You’ll be introduced to the fundamentals of sheltered instruction. We'll explore factors that may affect the foundation of an EL’s academic success such as the classroom affective filter, engaging ELs’ families in their education and teacher expectations. You will be able identify the key components of a quality lesson plan within a sheltered instruction model. We wrap up the module by reflecting on your own experiences writing lesson plans for ELs and engaging their families. Learners will be required to evaluated a sheltered instruction lesson plan for best practices.
What's included
7 videos11 readings4 assignments1 discussion prompt
Module 2 is all about putting the principles of sheltered instruction into action. We'll learn a number of different strategies to make linguistic and instructional accommodations for ELs in the classroom. You’ll discover the importance of output for ELs and different ways to encourage it. We'll introduce the five principles of assessment. You will gain awareness of different factors affecting the assessment of ELs such as language barriers and the need for ongoing informal assessment. We wrap up the module by reflecting on your experiences with accommodating instruction and designing assessment tools for ELs. Learners will be required to analyze teaching videos for appropriate use of linguistic and instructional accommodations in a sheltered instruction environment.
What's included
6 videos14 readings4 assignments1 discussion prompt
In module 3, we introduce a number of techniques for teachers to use with ELs, including Complex Instruction, Universal Design for Learning, multimodal materials, and more. We will learn about the characteristics of a reflective teacher. You'll discover different tools and data sources to help you reflect on your teaching practices. You'll understand the benefits of teaching students to use metacognitive and language learning strategies. We wrap up the module by reflecting on your experience with the techniques and tools discussed in the lessons. Learners will be required to identify metacognitive and language learning strategies in action.
What's included
3 videos13 readings4 assignments1 discussion prompt
The final module in the course aims to educate course participants about working with three special groups of ELs: gifted ELs, long-term English learners, and ELs with disabilities. We will share common characteristics from research about each group as well as best practices for supporting them in the classroom. You will learn about some of the unique challenges involved in the identification process, instruction, and assessment for these special groups as well. The module wraps up by reflecting on your experience working with gifted ELs and ELs with disabilities. Learners will be required to create a lesson plan to effectively engage LTELs in the classroom.
What's included
3 videos12 readings3 assignments1 peer review1 discussion prompt
Offered by
Recommended if you're interested in Learning English
Tsinghua University
University of California, Irvine
American Psychological Association
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