ESL Programs Face Shortages, Learning Loss during Pandemic

 

Students in English as a Second Language (ESL) programs are a large and growing population in American schools. The U.S. Department of Education says that the number of ESL learners increased by more than 1 million from 2000 to 2020. That is about 10 percent of all students in the country.

In states like California and Texas, nearly 20 percent of students are English learners. But "English learners are everywhere" in the country, notes Leslie Villegas. She is an education researcher with the New America Foundation¹ in Washington, D.C. Her recent study looked at the percentage of ESL students within each state, as well as the most common languages spoken at home for those students.

As the number of English learners grow, there is a need for more ESL teachers. But the U.S. is dealing² with a nationwide teacher shortage³ across all grade and subject areas. And in the next few years, experts expect the shortage to get worse among English language educators, Villegas said.

Josie Gutierrez is the assistant superintendent⁴ of the Waco Independent School District in Texas. She said the teacher shortage has slowed down the growth of the district's bilingual program.

There has been an increase in state and federal⁵ pandemic aid to schools. So money is not the problem, Gutierrez noted⁶. But the supply of teachers has not increased. And schools are "vying⁷ for the same supply," she said.

School districts know that ESL teachers are often in short supply. District leaders often try to improve and increase their recruiting⁹ efforts.

Grace¹⁰ Benson is the director of ESL and bilingual education of Waco schools.

She said, "Being in ESL and bilingual education I am always recruiting, even when we're not in a pandemic — just because bilingual education as a whole is under a shortage."

Benson said she has been able to fill almost all ESL positions for this school year.

In Austin, Texas, the city school district requires all elementary school teachers, as well as middle and high school English teachers to be trained in ESL instruction. Assistant Superintendent Dessynie Edwards said that is a large reason why there is currently¹¹ no shortage of ESL teachers in Austin, where more than 27 percent of the city's 75,000 students are learning¹² English.

Jackie Leroy is head of ESL programs for Syracuse City School District in New York. She said when she started working there 22 years ago, 5 percent of students were ESL learners. Now, more than 18 percent of the city's students are English learners. She said that even though job applications have slowed lately, the city has been "very active" in recruiting teachers. She also said many students that have gone through Syracuse's ESL program later return as teachers.

Academic struggles

English learners are among the students who have struggled the most during the pandemic, school district officials say.

Edwards, with Austin schools, said a large percentage of the city's ESL students were "not faring well" during the early part of the pandemic. "A larger percent had failing grades," she said.

Learning and studying in a home where English was not the main language spoken proved to be very hard for many students. Some parents of ESL students had difficulty communicating with teachers and understanding what learning materials their children needed.

"If they're in their home the whole time, and there's no one that speaks English and all their assignments are in English, how do they get that extra support?" Leroy said.

Edwards said ESL students in Austin have greatly benefited from the return to in-person classes. Students are now able to have a full day of classes and the district has started providing small group instruction.

But it is largely¹³ unknown how many students are behind in their English and academic progress, said the researcher Villegas. There is not enough data to know for sure. In Texas, for example, there was a statewide test to measure performance, but the test was not required for all students.

English learners, many of whom come from immigrant¹⁴ families, also faced difficulties at home. In Texas, some immigrant families were unable to receive pandemic aid and feared looking for health insurance because they are undocumented, Benson said. Some students needed to get jobs to provide extra money for their families.

"The pandemic as a whole has added so many challenges," Benson said. "But they face additional¹⁵ challenges that are out of their control."

Words in This Story

bilingual — adj. able to speak and understand two languages

vie — v. to compete with others in an attempt to get or win something

district — n. an area established by a government for official government business

recruit⁸ — v. to find suitable people and get them to join a company, an organization, the armed forces, etc.

fare — v. to do something well or badly

benefit — n. a good or helpful result or effect

undocumented — n. not having the official documents that are needed to enter, live in, or work in a country legally

challenge — n. a difficult task or problem : something that is hard to do

1 foundation   

n.[pl.]地基；基础；基金会；建立，创办

参考例句：

• The foundation of the university took place 600 years ago.这所大学是600年前创办的。
• The Foundation gives money to help artists.那家基金会捐款帮助艺术家。

2 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

3 shortage   

n.缺少，缺乏，不足

参考例句：

• The city is suffering a desperate shortage of water.这个城市严重缺水。
• The heart of the problem is a shortage of funds.问题的关键是缺乏经费。

4 superintendent   

n.监督人，主管，总监；(英国)警务长

参考例句：

• He was soon promoted to the post of superintendent of Foreign Trade.他很快就被擢升为对外贸易总监。
• He decided to call the superintendent of the building.他决定给楼房管理员打电话。

5 federal   

adj.联盟的；联邦的；(美国)联邦政府的

参考例句：

• Switzerland is a federal republic.瑞士是一个联邦共和国。
• The schools are screaming for federal aid.那些学校强烈要求联邦政府的援助。

6 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

7 vying   

adj.竞争的；比赛的

参考例句：

• California is vying with other states to capture a piece of the growing communications market.为了在日渐扩大的通讯市场分得一杯羹，加利福尼亚正在和其他州展开竞争。
• Four rescue plans are vying to save the zoo.4个拯救动物园的方案正争得不可开交。

8 recruit   

n.招聘，新兵，新成员；v.恢复，补充，招募

参考例句：

• The country's first act would be to recruit for the navy.国家的第一个行动是为海军征募新兵。
• This is a nationwide campaign to recruit women into trade unions.这是一次吸收妇女参加工会的全国性运动。

9 recruiting   

招聘( recruit的现在分词 )； 吸收某人为新成员； 动员…（提供帮助）； 雇用

参考例句：

• We are recruiting a sales manager with responsibility for the European market. 我们正在招聘负责欧洲市场的销售经理。
• "Hoist the recruiting flag and hungry men will come. “插起招军旗，就有吃粮人。”

10 grace   

n.优雅，雅致，魅力，恩惠，慈悲

参考例句：

• She is a beautiful girl with the grace and poise.她是一位仪态优雅的佳丽。
• I hope the grace of God would descend on me.我期望上帝的恩惠。

11 currently   

adv.通常地，普遍地，当前

参考例句：

• Currently it is not possible to reconcile this conflicting evidence.当前还未有可能去解释这一矛盾的例证。
• Our contracts are currently under review.我们的合同正在复查。

12 learning   

n.学问，学识，学习；动词learn的现在分词

参考例句：

• When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时，常会从车上掉下来。
• Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。

13 largely   

adv.大部分，主要地

参考例句：

• It is largely dependent on the weather.这多半取决于天气情况。
• Their conclusions were largely founded on guesswork.他们的结论大部份基于猜测。

14 immigrant   

adj.(从国外)移来的，移民的；n.移民，侨民

参考例句：

• Life in the USA was very hard for almost every new immigrant.美国的生活几乎对每一个新移民都很艰难。
• I'd like to obtain some information about applying for an immigrant visa.我想取一些申请移民签证的资料。

15 additional   

adj.添加的，额外的，另外的

参考例句：

• It is necessary to set down these additional rules.有必要制定这些补充规则。
• I think we can fit in an additional room.我想我们可以再加建一间房子。