Supporting English Learners
Tallmadge City Schools EL program is an instructional program to help English Learners (ELs) do just that—learn English. It comprises a variety of instructional strategies and techniques to develop proficiency in Listening, Speaking, Reading, Writing and Comprehension. Our goal is to provide high-quality instruction in the English language, as well as appropriate modifications and accommodations in the mainstream classroom, so that English Learners may develop the second language skills necessary to successfully achieve academically and socially.
Kathleen Gallagher and Mirjana Tolj serve as the District EL Teachers. They work directly with students who are identified as English Learners throughout the district and work hand in hand with classroom teachers and administrators to support and serve these students in and out of the classroom. They also assist the district in monitoring compliance with state and federal law regarding EL's and help to develop educational strategies and approaches to serve our students.
Research shows that it takes second language learners two to three years to learn basic interpersonal communication skills (BICS) and five to seven years to achieve cognitive academic language proficiency (CALP) if they have had two to three years of first language schooling in their native country (Jim Cummins, 1981). If the student has not had schooling in his/her first language, CALP will take seven to ten years or more (Virginia Collier, 1995).