Seizing the Opportunity to Narrow the Achievement Gap for English Learners: Research-based Recommendations for the Use of LCFF Funds
This guidance report, published by the Civil Rights Project at UCLA, provides recommendations for schools and districts in California to spend funds in ways that best benefit English learners (ELs) and all other students. These recommendations are based on research on ELs and are organized around eight priority areas, such as Implementation of State Standards and ELD Standards, Pupil Achievement, and Pupil Engagement. The report includes expanded descriptions of the recommendations, related research summaries with citations, and metrics for tracking the implementation of these recommendations. The authors state: “Clearly no school or district can adopt all or probably even most of the recommendations with current funding and in the short run, rather this should be seen as a menu of research-based options but the research tells us that, on balance, the options recommended here provide the best odds of making a significant difference for the education of EL student” (p. 1).
This resource provides a great, research-based set of recommendations for closing the achievement gap for ELs. Its recommendations are helpful in both their breadth and depth, from considering nutrition and health care for students, to standards-aligned and needs-based teacher professional development.