Addressing the needs of English Learners in the U.S. has become at the forefront of education debates as fast changing population demographics and the recent waves of education reforms have exposed the lagging needs in some sectors of the student population. This course provides analysis of “language” as a tool for learning. The focus for this analysis will be “English Learners” (ELs), their background, conditions, and the environments in which they learn. Policies pertaining to enhancing the education of ELs, as well as the impact of major education policies in the US on English Learners will be analyzed. The course focuses on the complexity and characteristics of the conditions in which English Learner related policies have been adopted and implemented and the intended and unintended consequences of their application. As an example, this course considers the complexity of questions such as those presented below within the context of: (1) ELs specific policies; (2) general education policies; (3) language policies; and, (4) second language education policies:
Invited Speakers:
Instructor: Joel Gómez, Associate Professor – Department of Education Leadership. Gómez’s research interests focus on language and education equity and has contributed to publications, professional development and international evaluations in this area. He has served as the Director of GW’s Center for the Study of Language and Education, and Institute for Education Studies. His areas of expertise include bilingual and bicultural education, higher education, web-based information services, and federal funding of education research and development. Through his leadership in the Center for the Study of Language Education, Dr. Gómez won funding from the U.S. Department of Education to operate the National Clearinghouse on Bilingual Education (NCBE), and the National Clearinghouse for Comprehensive School Reform (NCCSR). Subsequently NCBE was replaced with the National Clearinghouse for English Language Acquisition, (NCELA). These clearinghouses have served as nationwide resources on education reform, bilingual and bicultural education and English language acquisition for scholars, policy makers, school administrators, teachers, and parents.
Office: 2134 G Street NW, Rm. 118