Education Excellence

Kristina chats with Helene Becker, director of English Learner Education in the Norwalk, CN, Public Schools, who has taught ESL to all ages in Connecticut, New York, and Hawaii. When students come from a different country or culture or speak another language at home, it’s always a challenge to learn English, Becker notes. However, many K-12 students come from countries in Central America and have faced trauma and violence in their home countries and have enormous additional challenges. Other challenges: many of the students are over age and behind grade level; have to work; and are undocumented. Overlaying these challenges is the current national debate about immigrants in general. Many of the teachers involved in English language learning need additional training, according to Becker. Becker was part of the TESOL International Association writing team that wrote the TESOL Press best-seller The 6 Principles for Exemplary Teaching of English Learners. Among the principles: Know Your Learners, Create Conditions