ABSTRACT
We know that all students—including CLD students—benefit from high-quality teaching. Fundamental principles of good teaching are a starting point for supporting academic achievement of all students. The literature consistently emphasizes, however, that quality pedagogy for CLD students has specific characteristics that focus on these students’ needs (Lara-Alecio, Tong, Irby, & Mathes, 2009). In their examination of effective instructional practices for CLD students, Gersten and Baker (2000) explain this nuance:
Principles of effective instruction for native English speakers need to be modulated for English-language learners if the simultaneous goals of English-language development and content acquisition are to be met. In other words, effective instruction for English language learners is more than just “good teaching.” It is teaching that is tempered, tuned, and otherwise adjusted, as a musical score is adjusted, to the correct “pitch” at which English language learners will best “hear” the content (i.e., find it most meaningful).
(p. 461)