By Amy Woods

Student “A”: 10 years old Fifth grade Female, adopted from Russia at age 4 Academically challenged in reading, writing, Language, and speech Home language is English

Funds of Knowledge Linguistically, she has only known the English language, but she struggles with her pronunciation of the R sound. She goes to speech. Her culture is not a major part of her life, as she was adopted as an infant and does not know much about traditions in her culture. Her adopted mother is a single mom, and has her hands full with two other adopted children. She did not make Student A’s culture a priority in her life.

Funds of Knowledge cont… Student A has some specialized knowledge due to her experiences and interests. She takes piano lessons and plays the flute in the school’s beginners band. Her piano playing is excelled, as she has taken lessons since she was four years old. She also has a specialized interest in fashion, and takes pride in the way she dresses and puts outfits together. These practical experiences and accomplishments have given her self- confidence and a feeling of empowerment.

Strengths of Student A in Relation to CCSS All students should be held to the expectations aligned in the Common Core State Standards (Colorin colorado!, 2011). Though Student A is not an ELL, she does require additional time, appropriate instructional support, and aligned assessments because of her speech impediment and limited efficiency in English. Student A has an instructional background knowledge and English language proficiency. She has an array of talents and perspectives

Strengths cont… Student A started schooling in the US, so she is proficient in English. She has many talents and brings numerous resources which enhance her education (Colorin colorado!, 2011).

Weaknesses of Student A in Relation to CCSS All students should be held to the expectations aligned in the Common Core State Standards (Colorin colorado!, 2011). Though Student A is not an ELL, she does require additional time, appropriate instructional support, and aligned assessments because of her speech impediment and limited proficiency in English, not because it was not her first Language, but because she severely struggles to learn the rules of English and apply them in her speech and writing. This limited proficiency, according to Dowdy, Dever, DiStefano, & Chin (2011), should be considered when validating measurement tools. Language status may directly contribute to behavioral difficulties. When I read this article, it made me realize and recognize some behavioral issues I have witnessed in Student A, causing me to believe that she has some emotional and behavior problems. Identifying the precursors of these emotional and behavioral problems is critical to prevention, and can be done through the screening process.

Addressing the Strengths and Challenges of Diverse Students How should schools provide a curriculum that promotes the language development of English Language Learners as well as their general academic needs? A viable curriculum must include a detailed developmental sequence for learning the English language in social and academic contexts (Rance- Roney, 2009). This curriculum must also address the additional time it will take for these students to master academic content and literacy.

In order for students to receive a language- development curriculum, school districts should consult a team of educators, including classroom ELL teachers, university linguistics specialists, ELL coaches, and English-language arts and content-area teachers (Rance-Roney, 2009). The curriculum should address the full range of English language competencies while focusing on social integration and academic achievement.

The language curriculum should also include academic cohesion words and phrases and specialized process words (Rance-Roney, 2009). Challenged diverse learners should have safe-space opportunities to read and write the English language, and practice the spoken language of academic conversations so they can participate with confidence in teacher to student interactions and in collaborative learning groups.

References Colorin colorado! (2011). Common Core State Standards for English language learners. Retrieved from Dowdy, E., Dever, B.V., DiStefano, C., & Chin, J.K. (2011). Screening for emotional and behavioral risk among students with limited English proficiency. School Psychology Quarterly, 26(1). Retrieved from the Walden Library Databases. Rance-Roney, J. (2009). Best practices for adolescent. Educational Leadership, 66(7). Retrieved from the Walden Library Databases.