A group of students, including K-12 English learners, walk hand-in-hand with their teacher.
District Management

Survey shows SEL is critical for K-12 English learners


Here's what teachers and administrators say about K-12 English learners in their districts

Both teachers (51 percent) and administrators (55 percent) agree that they have seen an increase in English learner resources made available to them over the past five years, indicating that English learner instruction is becoming an increasing priority.

Teachers and administrators say adaptive tools and interactive instructional approaches seem most effective for teaching English learners.

Interactive classroom games and collaborative group work as the most effective approach to instruction, they said, and both teachers and administrators say they find adaptive learning technologies to be the most effective resources when they teach English learners.

The most prominent obstacles for K-12 English learners

According to the survey, educators see a clear link between K-12 English learners’ social and emotional well-being and their ability to succeed academically.

Seventy-seven percent of teachers and 81 percent of administrators agree that social and emotional learning challenges, such as trauma or the inability to communicate with other students, present a somewhat or extremely significant obstacle to effective English learner instruction.

Both teachers (70 percent) and administrators (67 percent) say a lack of family and community support is the second biggest obstacle to effective English learner instruction.

Read more: Supporting English learners with social and emotional learning

While teachers call out “anxiety surrounding the political climate” as the third-most important obstacle to effectively teaching K-12 English learners (66 percent), administrators identify “student reluctance to participate” (60 percent).

Sixty-nine percent of administrators and 65 percent of teachers report that conversations about immigration affect their school/classroom environment, and noted that discussions around immigration were more prevalent than those about other social issues, including healthcare, climate change, and gun violence.

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Laura Ascione
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