Aligning Instructional Practices to Promote Emergent Bilingual Student Success in Third through Fifth Grade

Wendy Miller • Cahn Fellow 2021

To ensure academic success for Emergent Bilingual students in our dual language program, educators must be flexible and innovative. Withers Elementary has historically been a top-rated campus.  We pride ourselves on academic success for all students. However, a pattern of achievement gaps with our Emergent Bilingual (EB) students has been a concern for several years. After the initial impact of COVID, we were mindful about a widening in this achievement gap. After analyzing midyear benchmark reading data, we felt a renewed sense of urgency in our desire to focus upon these students. We assembled a range of stakeholders to develop a strategic plan to address student needs. Our journey did not happen overnight, but our students are demonstrating reading growth. We will reflect on our successes and challenges in aligning instruction and best practices to meet the needs of our students.