ABSTRACT
California must prepare pre-service teachers to work with the most diverse K-12 student population in the United States. Currently, 75 percent of the state’s student population is from minority groups: African American (6 percent), American Indian (1 percent), Asian (9 percent), Filipino (3 percent), Latino (53 percent), White (25 percent), and Other (3 percent) (CalEd Facts, 2015). The fastest growing student group in California and across the United States is students who do not speak English as a first language – English Language Learners (ELLs). While the overall K-12 school-aged population increased by only 7.2 percent between the 1998/1999 and 2008/2009 school years, the K-12 ELL population grew from 3.5 to 5.3 million, an increase of 51 percent (National Clearinghouse for English Language Acquisition [NCELA], 2011). Language minority students often have limited access to the core academic curriculum and are typically taught by the least prepared and experienced teachers (National Center for Education Statistics [NCES], 2006a; U.S. Census Bureau, 2010; Wong-Fillmore & Snow, 2002). It is not surprising, therefore, that for 30 years the achievement of ELLs has lagged behind that of native English speakers in science and literacy (Lee & Luyxk, 2006; NCES, 2006b, 2011; Rodriguez, 2004, 2010).
