Research essay on U.S. public school reformation solutions to close achievement gaps for language minority students taking into account best global models for language instruction and overall education of students.

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Closing Achievement Gaps in U.S. Public Schools:
Exploring Global Models of Language Education
Meghan J. Lee
Kennesaw State University
July 2014

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Closing Achievement Gaps in U.S. Public Schools:
Exploring Global Models of Language Education
The U.S. public education system is experiencing a significant increase in the population
of students that are identified as English Language Learners (ELL) referred to in this essay as
language minority students. The U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education
Statistics’ Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS) from the 1999-2000 school year showed that
0.31% of all students enrolled in public schools nationwide were identified as ELL. The 2011-
2012 school year’s SASS results indicated the language minority student population had
increased to 9.2% of the entire student population enrolled in the U.S. public school system.
With such a significant increase in language minority students, the achievement gap in public
education in the United States has widened not only between ELL and native speakers, but also
between the United States and many other countries that participate in the Organization for
Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Program for International Student
Assessment (PISA).
It is common knowledge in the education field that the Latino population is the least
educated of all the U.S. minorities; moreover, Latino learners hold the place as the second largest
group of students served in U.S. public school. This widening achievement gap in U.S. public
education requires a reformation of current policies and instructional practices to emulate the
proven success of other nations that have focused on increased investment in their own public
education systems with equitable division of funding for schools and wraparound social
programs and improved instructional practices that offer culturally and linguistically sustaining

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pedagogy with an emphasis on open-ended performance-based assessment rather than restrictive
accountability measures.
Examination of U.S. Instructional Models for Language Minority Students
The United States has a history of viewing the languages and cultures of students of color
as being undesirable. All prior U.S. educational models “fell in line with White, middle-class
norms” (Paris, 2012, p. 93). Cultural and linguistic experiences of students of color were
replaced by whatever the educating body deemed to be the desired norm. This deficit model for
minority students continued until the 1970s and 1980s when the deficit viewpoint relented to the
difference approach that posited minority experiences were equal to, but different from the
dominant culture and language of policymakers. Both models focused on the loss of the
heritages, cultures, and languages of minority students to ensure that they would “succeed in
American schooling” (Paris, 2012, p. 94).
Ladson-Billings introduced the concept of culturally relevant pedagogy (CRP) in 1995 as
a step in the right direction towards the celebration of diversity within education in the United
States. Recent research has offered updated viewpoints on the terminology of CRP and
additional insights into the theory of culturally sustaining pedagogy that supports a “multiethnic
and multilingual present and future” for learners (Paris, 2012). In fact, Ladson-Billings (2014)
has even offered a “re-mix” of her original theory of CRP after reading Django Paris’ modern
reflection on her culturally relevant pedagogy theory.
Prior to the implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act, some urban public schools
in the United States were utilizing bilingual education programs with their students quite
successfully; however, a recent research study titled “No Child Left Bilingual: Accountability
and the Elimination of Bilingual Education in New York City Schools” conducted by Kate

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Menken and Cristian Solorza (2012) found a “causal link between the pressures of test-based
accountability imposed [by the] No Child Left Behind Act” and a rapid transition to “English-
only policies in city schools” (p. 1). Many New York City schools feared being labeled as low
performing and did not want to risk sanctions such as closure by enrolling and educating
language minority students. Thus, the schools transitioned to shortsighted ESL programs as they
struggled to meet the strict accountability measures such as annual yearly progress (AYP) on
state exams and graduation rates that were required for funding through NCLB and the
subsequent “Race to the Top” federal program that provides grants to selected states.
Unfortunately, the schools that serve language minority students often ended up on the “Schools
In Need of Improvement” lists due to these students’ poor results on required standardized tests
that the state administered for strict accountability purposes (Merken & Solorza, 2012, p. 11).
Accordingly, the lack of instruction in the students’ native languages and the negative
attention placed on them by inappropriate accountability measures, blatantly contradicted
extensive research that indicates that many bilingual students are able to successfully “engage in
hybrid language practices” that guides them in the cultivation of “bilingual/bicultural academic
identities that would support their continuing success in school” (Palmer & Martinez, 2013, p.
269). Furthermore, this extensive research indicates that language minority students that have
had the opportunity to “develop their home languages in school are likely to outperform their
peers in English-only programming and succeed academically” (Menken & Solorza, 2012, p. 6).
Unfortunately, many U.S. school districts lack qualified teachers for bilingual and ESL
programs and as a result, turn to the Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP) model as
a possible solution to address the learning needs of an ever-increasing population of language
minority students in their communities with mediocre results. Short & Echevarria (1999) stated

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that the SIOP offered a “venue for learning about second language acquisition and for
understanding the challenge English language learners face each day as they study multiple
subjects through their non-native language” (p. 18). Thus, Walters (2013) concluded that the
paucity of research on the effectiveness of the SIOP model should not prevent school districts
from using it as a professional development tool; however, it must be noted that this research
study resulted in non-SIOP trained teachers outperforming those that were trained in the SIOP
model and thus, suggested that the strategies assessed may simply be only effective instructional
practices known as “Just Good Teaching” rather than being unique to SIOP (Walters, 2013, p. 8).
Consequently, while the SIOP model offers teachers a proven set of strategies for
instructing language minority students as well as monolingual learners, it falls short of
encouraging teachers to “find ways to develop students’ primary language skills” and
additionally, overlooks the “dynamics of interaction in bilingual classrooms” (Palmer &
Martinez, 2013, p. 273).
With diverse cultural and linguistic educational experiences being the norm worldwide,
the fact remains that many U.S. public schools are relying on instructional models that do not
value multiethnic and multilingual student experiences and seldom offer student-directed
learning opportunities in schools that serve low-income students. This has a negative outcome on
the academic achievements of most language minority students since they make up a large
population in schools that serve low-income families. Current practices in U.S. public schools
demonstrated that student-centered learning often occurred more in schools that serve affluent
and middle-class students than in schools that serve low-income families (Darling-Hammond,
Friedlaender, & Snyder, 2014, p. 2). The restrictive federal policies such as NCLB and the Race
to the Top prevent schools that serve low-income students from engaging in these successful

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models for learning because they are too busy focusing on increasing students’ test scores on the
mandated exams.
The recent adoption of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and associated
assessments are creating even greater challenges for schools that serve students from low-income
families. In order to close the opportunity gap that arises from the disparities between the
educational practices of schools in high-SES and low-SES communities, there must be support
for student learning, extensive professional development, and collaboration at multiple levels
(Darling-Hammond, Friedlaender, & Snyder, 2014, p. 5).
A recent OECD report on international education achievement noted that the nations that
had improved the most had invested a higher portion of “education resources in schools that
serving the most disadvantaged students” (Darling-Hammond, Friedlaender, & Snyder, 2014, p.
6). Accordingly, U.S. schools provided as examples in the research study of student-centered
instruction were forced to rely on outside funding to accomplish their learning goals (Darling-
Hammond, Friedlaender, & Snyder, 2014, p. 6).
The following sections synthesize various international examples of language minority
education in South Korea, the United Arab Emirates, and Norway to gain alternative insights into
possible reformation strategies that could be implemented to close the achievement gaps in U.S.
public education for language minority learners.
Investigating Global Language Education Models
The following research on language education in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and
Norway demonstrated that while the two nations are vastly different in language, culture, and
climate, they reflected a shared vision of equal education for all students, a track record of
increased education and social program funding, an emphasis on performance-based open-ended

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assessment, and a focus on preparing students to join the expansive global economy of the
future. South Korea shared similar goals of investment in education and preparation of students
to join a global economy, but differed from the UAE and Norway by placing too much
prominence overall on the acquisition of the English language to the detriment of students’
unique culture, language, and national identity (Kim, 2006).
Analyzing South Korea’s Penchant for English Language Instruction
The South Korean government believes that education is the pathway to success in the
global economy (Kim, 2006). Yanghee Kim’s research study titled “English Fever in Korea:
Impacts on the Teaching of English and Social Issues That Arise” stated that many Koreans
consider learning English to be a “major concern in all areas of government, business, and
education” as students prepare to master the communication skills needed to compete in the
“emerging Korean global economy and society” (p. 1). In fact, many universities and employers
in South Korea and abroad require students to take the Test of English for International
Communication and the Test of English as a Foreign Language and attain a high proficiency
score to be admitted or employed. With such high achieving cultural expectations and resulting
high-stakes testing, it is no surprise that South Koreans are heavily invested in gaining English
language proficiency.
The research study cited above examined the social impact of English language
acquisition in South Korea. Apparently, the English language accounts for at least 80% of the
available content on the Internet (Kim, 2006, p. 2). The Communicative Language Teaching
(CLT) method for language instruction is becoming popular in South Korea; however, it may
prove to be “inappropriate to the local culture of learning [that] tends to promote mechanical
learning and a lack of individualism and creative thinking” (Kim, 2006, p. 3). The eagerness of

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many Koreans to achieve English proficiency for themselves and their children has resulted in a
somewhat shortsighted approach to learning and a costly endeavor as Korean families on average
devote “one-third of their income to private lessons in English, art, and music” (Kim, 2006, p.
10). The national curriculum even provides access to English language instruction through native
speakers through the Ministry of Education’s English Program in Korea (EPIK) that was
implemented in 1995 and hires teachers from English-speaking countries to teach the language in
Korean public schools, but the program has a low teacher retention rate.
The Korean government utilizes a national examination that emphasizes English, math,
and science as the most important subjects in the global economy. In general, students are only
recognized as successful in the labor market when they attend prestigious universities, and these
institutions of higher learning require excellent examination scores and high GPAs. Kim (2006)
stated that students that fail to enter universities at all are condemned to low-income and low-
status occupations (p. 13).
As a result of the national examination process, public schools are required to follow the
national curriculum, and teachers are “forced to teach to the test (Kim, 2006, p. 13). This high-
stakes national testing and admission process places negative social pressure on parents to push
their children to academic extremes with the heaviest burden on the students themselves to gain
admission to respected universities in South Korea.
Unequal access to quality English language education caused extreme gaps between
Korean students’ English proficiency levels. The EPIK model is insufficient to meet the English
learning needs of the students by failing to retain high quality native English-speaking teachers,
and the reliance on the CLT model is not suited to the cultural norms of South Korean students.
Thus, South Korean English language education offers a glimpse of the realities of putting

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money in the right places, but failing to conduct critical research on the best instructional
practices for language education.
In summary, while South Korea has succeeded in promoting a globalized mindset and
sizeable investment in public education, the national climate towards language education in
English was implemented in a negligent manner that did not take into account the unique
cultural, linguistic, and socioeconomic levels of Korean students and their families.
Examining Compulsory Bilingual Education in the United Arab Emirates
The Emirate of Abu Dhabi within the confederation of emirates known as the United
Arab Emirates in the Arabian Gulf region recently implemented an extensive public education
reformation plan for kindergarten and early primary grades dubbed the “New School Model”
(NSM). Enacted in 2010 with the intention to extend the plan each year to cover all of the grade
levels, the NSM (ADEC, 2010) was designed and is currently supervised by the Abu Dhabi
Education Council (ADEC), a “supra-government education body” that operates under the
guidance of the Ministry of Education in the emirate (Gallagher, 2011, p. 62). The NSM (ADEC,
2010) extended ongoing reforms in pedagogy, curriculum, and school leadership, but also
introduced the English language as a mandatory instructional medium that would run parallel to
Arabic language instruction. This mandatory parallel bilingual learning model was declared a
“monumental step” towards achieving an internationally recognized education model in the Gulf.
Kay Gallagher’s research paper cited above, titled “Bilingual Education in the UAE:
Factors, Variables, and Critical Questions” explored the “macro-factors and contextual
variables” inherent in compulsory bilingual schooling in the Abu Dhabi emirate (2011, p. 62).
Gallagher’s focus on the wide-scale factors and indispensable inquiries regarding the side-by-

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side simultaneous bilingual model proved invaluable in the examination of the effectiveness of
the educational reform taking place in the emirate.
The Director-General of the Abu Dhabi Education Council stated that the goal of the
New School Model is to focus on creating “bi-literate students” that can “understand, speak,
read, and write in both English and Arabic” (ADEC, 2010). This mandatory bilingual education
is unprecedented in the Gulf region that historically viewed English as a language of the
“colonizing and bellicose west” (Gallagher, 2011, p. 63). While language education is often
politicized, it is explicitly so in the Gulf region because the country was previously a
“protectorate” of Great Britain before gaining independence; however, with the local population
representing the minority group among a majority of expatriate workers and their families from
all over the world, the Abu Dhabi emirate’s educational reform and significant investment in
equitable education can be interpreted as a step towards a “multifaceted contemporary identity”
for the United Arab Emirates on the world stage as a leader in progressive education reform
(Gallagher, 2011, p. 73).
Similar to South Korea’s universities, English dominates the Arabic language in post-
secondary education in the UAE; in fact, in the nearby emirate of Dubai, it is actually impossible
find tertiary education in Arabic at all (Gallagher, 2011, p. 66). It can be postulated that this
emphasis on English in universities could have been a deciding factor in the implementation of
compulsory English language instruction in Abu Dhabi. As Gallagher (2011) explained, the
“high failure levels in English are endemic,” with diploma-level students in the UAE earning the
“lowest overall scores out of twenty countries” on international benchmark exams for English
proficiency levels (p. 68).

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Bilingual education in Arabic and English presents a significant burden on students’ first
language acquisition because Arabic is actually a triglossic language that encompasses three
varieties: colloquially spoken Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic for schools and written media,
and classical Arabic necessary for Quran study. Thus, the early side-by-side partial immersion
model in Abu Dhabi is a difficult undertaking. Students that lack home support for basic Arabic
and/or English will need ongoing remediation.
The NSM (ADEC, 2010) offers a unique opportunity to examine the outcomes of parallel
bilingual education in two completely different languages. Moreover, with many teachers in the
emirate not possessing high levels of bilingual proficiency in either Arabic for native English
speakers, nor English for native Arabic speakers, the critical factors of professional development
for faculty, inclusion of all stakeholders in the education process, the retention of high quality
teachers, and a great deal of patience and flexibility will be paramount to the success of the
education reform (Gallagher, 2011, p. 69).
In summary, it is certainly feasible that the bilingual education model in the Abu Dhabi
emirate will eventually demonstrate that multiple language literacy results in cognitive
advantages, and cultivates an attitude of “open mindedness and appreciation of diversity” as long
as the crucial variables that bring about such outcomes are available to all students (Gallagher,
2006, p. 71). The Ministry of Education has undertaken a bold stance in the emirate. With the
assistance of the Abu Dhabi Education Council, as well as continued significant equitable
funding for education and implementation of culturally and linguistically sustaining pedagogy,
the education reform will be a successful one.

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Exploring Norway’s Equal Education Policies & Practices for Immigrant Students
Between 1980 and 2006, Norway’s immigrant population more than tripled, according to
Oystein Djupedal, the former Minister of Education and Research’s foreword written in 2007 for
the “Equal Education in Practice Strategic Plan.” Djupedal’s statement further elaborated on
Norway’s vision for language minority immigrant pupils. Based on the Declaration of Soria
Moria developed by the Red-Green political coalition, the following five overall goals are clearly
outlined in the “Equal Education in Practice Strategic Plan” for education reform in Norway:
! Improving language skills for pre-school children of linguistic minorities
! Improve learning outcomes of linguistic minority students in primary and secondary
! Increase amount of linguistic minority pupils in academic track or vocational training
! Increase the number of linguistic minority pupils enrolled & completing university
! Improve Norwegian language proficiency of language minority adults
The introductory paragraphs of the strategic plan emphasize proven strategies for
successful education of language minority students, as well as all types of learners. Culturally
and linguistically sustaining instructional practices are mentioned along with the critical
cooperation between home and school, as well as all stakeholders (Equal Education in Practice,
Norwegian Ministry of Education & Research, 2007, p. 9).
Thirty-eight lengthy measures are outlined in the strategic plan to assess goal
achievements. One interesting measure was the free core time for pre-school linguistic minority
children that provides subsidies for 15 hours per week for 8 months per child to attend local
nurseries for important early learning, language, and social support. Additionally, another
measure stated that individually tailored Norwegian language instructional support will be
provided for language minority students, and linguistic minority teachers will be heavily

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recruited and scholarships for high quality teacher training will be awarded with more than two
hundred already dispersed to candidates.
Norwegian language instruction is provided in addition to home language support for
primary and middle school students in hopes of promoting dual language outcomes over time.
Assessment tests in seven different languages were developed to gauge whether language
minority students were in need of further testing for learning disability interventions. Overall, the
thirty-eight measures included benchmarks and pilot projects for every major and minor goal that
was outlined in the “Equal Education in Practice Strategic Plan.”
With such a large increase in language minority populations within the last approximately
35 years in Norway, it is refreshing to see that the country is embracing the multicultural realities
and adopting an outlook of enrichment towards its immigrants. With such a focus on not only on
schools, but also wraparound social programs to benefit the families that the schools serve,
Norway is positioning itself as a leader in the successful education of language minority students
by utilizing the best practices for cultural and linguistically sustaining pedagogy. Though the
country is not as populous, or as economically prosperous as the United States, Norway provides
an excellent example of education reform that addresses the individual needs of all students
including their ever-increasing language minority immigrant population.
Recommended Solutions to Close U.S. Achievement Gaps
The United States would greatly benefit from following the best practices that can be
found in these nations’ education models. While South Korea has neglected certain elements
needed for successful language instruction, the nation demonstrates a desire to be top contenders
in an increasingly global economy and a readiness to make education the first priority for future
generations. Abu Dhabi’s compulsory bilingual education model and top to bottom reformation

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of their lackluster public education system offers a courageous example of investing ever-
increasing amounts of money in the education of public school students in their country and a
willingness to take risks in pursuing unknown outcomes for parallel bilingual teaching. Norway
provides an extensively researched strategic plan for addressing the needs of their language
minority population from early childhood to adulthood taking into account the nuances of such a
widespread reformation.
In conclusion, the widening achievement gaps in U.S. public education can be closed
through the adoption of policies and instructional practices that emulate successful example
nations, such as the ones discussed above, that have invested heavily in their nation’s public
education systems with equal funding for schools and wraparound social programs to address the
multifaceted needs of families, and revising their instructional practices to reflect culturally and
linguistically sustaining pedagogy with a focus on open-ended performance-based assessment
rather than an unfair system of accountability.

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