Excerpt: The National Clearinghouse for English Language Acquisition reported that today 11% of K-12 students in the USA are English language learners (ELLs). In 20 years, 25% of students in public schools will be ELLs (in Goldenberg, 2008). The growing number of ELLs creates a need for teachers who can implement culturally responsive teaching (Lucas & Villegas, 2007) and develop strong language and literacy skills among their students (Goldenberg, 2008). While veteran teachers adjust to the changing demographic and its demands, new teachers must be equipped with the right mindset and strategies to promote both language and literacy development simultaneously. ELLs need additional support to be successful in mainstream classes due to their language proficiency (Goldenberg, 2008)
