ABSTRACT
One of the most dramatic demographic shifts in the United States (U.S.) population over the past 200 years has been the influx of immigrants in the last 35 years, the vast majority of whom do not speak English as their first language. Although since 2008, immigration has slowed, it is unclear whether this deceleration will continue as the economy recovers. Regardless, the English learner school population is substantial and represents a significant challenge for schools across the country for two reasons. First, the slowdown in first generation immigration has shed light on the fact that now many English learners (ELs) in the country are second-and third-generation immigrants (i.e., they were born in the U.S.), who speak primarily a language other than English at home. For example, a recent survey indicates that 73% of Hispanics aged five and older speak Spanish at home (Krogstad & Gonzalez-Barrera, 2015).
