Beyond Teaching English - Embracing a Holistic Approach to Supporting English Learner Students and Their Families

Oct 15, 2026

Beyond Teaching English presents a holistic, multipronged school approach for meeting the needs of English learner students and their Latinx families within a Title I elementary setting. The study analyzes classroom and school event observations, separate student and parent focus groups, stakeholder interviews, questionnaires from school personnel and parents, and school-level public data. It highlights targeted academic instruction, schoolwide values and behavioral expectations, a major family-community outreach program, and teacher professional development in trauma-sensitive practice.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages18

Reading Time45 min

AccessFree to download

Theoretical Framework

Central Research Questions

Research Methodology

Beyond Teaching English: Embracing a Holistic Approach to Supporting English Learner Students and Their Families This study describes the ways 1 elementary school is attempting to address the needs of its English learner students and their families, the majority of whom are Latinx, through a multipronged approach that includes targeted academic instruction, the adoption of schoolwide values and behavioral expectations, a significant family-community outreach program, and teacher professional development in trauma-sensitive schooling and instruction. The authors share analyses and findings from data gathered through classroom and school event observations, separate focus groups of students and parents, interviews with key stakeholders, questionnaires from school personnel and parents, and publicly available school-level data. Implications for educators are shared with the goal of creating spaces and contexts where English learner students and their families succeed and indeed thrive. Latinxs are now the largest minority group in the United States, com prising 25% of the school-aged population, a significant increase from approximately 8% in 1980 (Good, Masewicz, & Vogel, 2010; Murphy, Guzman, & Torres, 2014), and are expected to comprise more than one third of the PK-12 population by 2050 (Murphy et al., 2014; Wildsmith, AlviraHammond, & Guzman, 2016) . As a group, the academic performance of Latinx students, especially those who are also English learners (ELs), consistently falls far below that of white and Asian students (Murphy et al., 2014; National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, & Medicine/NASEM, 2017), and the achievement gap between Latinx ELs and their peers continues to grow (Good et al., 2010; NASEM, 2017) . Although “measures of school achievement are generally social constructs that can marginalize non-dominant communities”(Salas, Jones, Perez, Fitchett, & Kissau, 2013, p. 19), such findings are troubling and must be considered in order to sensitively address The CATESOL Journal 30.2 • 2018 • 1 and break the cycle of persistent underachievement of Latinxs. Because the US’s school population comprises students from a rich array of countries and languages, school teachers, administrators, and teacher educators must be better equipped to establish healthy and supportive school environments where students’ diverse assets are embraced and where challenges can be addressed in culturally responsive ways. In this study we describe support efforts designed to better meet the needs of EL students and their families at a Title I elementary school that is taking a holistic and multipronged approach to addressing the perceived and identified needs of its primarily Latinx students and families. Theoretical Framework We draw upon the ever-expanding research base on the effective and equitable instruction of immigrant students and English learners (Gándara, 2017; Good et al., 2010; Moschkovich, 2017; Murphy et al., 2014; NASEM, 2017; Quinn, Lee, & Valdés, 2017; Salas et al., 2013; Suárez-Orozco & Suárez-Orozco, 2009; Thomas & Collier, 1996; Valdés, Menken, & Castro, 2015) . We situate our work within a theoretical frame in which schooling is seen as part of a larger social construction, where success and failure for individual students and groups of students are the result of specific policies and practices enacted at various levels—from the most micro interactions of the classroom—to the more macro factors at the school, in the community, and at the school district, state, national, and international levels. This study is further framed by the literature on academic achievement, specifically as it relates to and intersects with students of color. The work of Boykin and Noguera (2011) on the “achievement/opportunity to learn gap” and that of Ladson-Billings (2006) on the “educational debt” owed to students placed at risk within our educational systems are of particular relevance. Our work is further infor

FAQs

What holistic supports does the focal school implement for Latinx English learners and their families?

The school uses targeted academic instruction, schoolwide values and behavioral expectations, a family-community outreach program, and teacher professional development focused on trauma-sensitive schooling and instruction.

How does the study collect data to examine these support efforts?

Data come from classroom and school event observations, separate student and parent focus groups, stakeholder interviews, questionnaires for school personnel and parents, and publicly available school-level data.

What central challenges and support needs does the research investigate?

It examines the greatest challenges to Latinx ELs’ success, the types of support the focal school provides, and what school personnel, students, and families wish were provided to improve outcomes for ELs.

Oct 15, 2026

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