A qualitative study: Elementary teachers' experiences educating English language learners in the mainstream classroom

Educational reforms have put great demands on school districts around the nation to raise academic achievement for all students particularly with English language learners (ELLs). Statistics reveal the population of ELLs will continue to grow and every teacher will be responsible for teaching these language minority students within the mainstream classroom. ELLs spend the majority of their academic day in the mainstream classroom with teachers who may have received little or no training to support these students' academic language. Teachers must be provided with sufficient professional development to effectively increase academic success for ELLs. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the experiences of elementary school teachers that have or has had ELLs in their classroom. Second, the study explored if professional development was needed in schools with a low density population of ELLs. The participants included 9 elementary mainstream teachers who are teaching or who have taught ELLs. The data collection focused on the perceptions, experiences, and instructional practices of the participants and was collected through interviews and classroom observations. The data analysis identified 3 themes: (a) a lack of professional development in teaching strategies for ELLs, (b) English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) teacher was the major contributor in ability to teach ELLs, and (c) a need for more professional development on courses related specifically to ELL strategies. The recommendations for this study are to include more schools in the study instead of a single site, implementation of the Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol model to train teachers and principals, and the development of consistent collaboration time for the mainstream teacher and the ESOL teacher.