SPECIAL SECTION EDUCATING ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS Newcomer Programs for Linguistically Diverse Students

The population of limited English proficient students is growing. Some of these students also lack core academic skills and knowledge in their first lan-guage. To assist recent immigrant students, newcomer programs have been implemented. This article describes the rationale for such programs, types of programs available, and their various features. Many school districts face increasing numbers of middle- and high-school-aged immigrant students with limited proficiency in English. Many of these students also have limited literacy skills in their primary lan-guage, often as a result of limited formal schooling. Newcomer programs are designed to address the unique needs of these students. The goals of new-comer programs are to help students acquire beginning English language skills along with core academic skills and knowledge, and to acculturate these students to the U.S. school system. Some programs have additional goals, such as developing students ’ primary language skills and preparing students for their new communities. This article focuses on newcomer pro-grams at the middle school and high school levels. Newcomer programs that have been identified to date vary in their defi-nition of newcomers. Most include students who are recent arrivals to the United States and have limited proficiency in English (Short and Boyson 1998). Some programs select students who are below grade level or have had limited formal education. Others rely on a definition that is linked to federal Note. This article is an adaptation of a chapter on secondary-level newcomer programs, written b