Setting up a self-contained classroom for English language learners bolsters academics and helps students reach fluency faster.

At P.S. 249 in Brooklyn, NY, over 20 percent of the students are English as a new language (ENL) learners, many of them newcomers to the U.S. The principal implemented New York state’s English as a New Language program, content is taught in English using specific instructional strategies by a teacher who is certified to teach English to speakers of other languages (ESOL). This way, students receive a full day of instruction in the regular curriculum, but with support from a teacher who is specially trained to work with language learners. The switch to the ENL model has paid off—the school says the majority of kindergarteners who start at the school with little or no English reach proficiency by the third or fourth grade and “test out” of language learner status.