Middle school teacher attitudes toward the achievement of English language learners

The purpose of this study was to explore the attitudes of teachers who are responsible for teaching ELLs in an inclusion setting. In this study, inclusion refers to the integration of ELL students into mainstream classes with no ESL teacher to assist in the classroom. ELL students participate in traditional middle school language arts classes, but may be pulled out for ESL services. A survey developed by Reeves (2002) was modified and used to determine attitudes of middle school language arts teachers in North Carolina. This study occurred in one school district with a large ELL population in each of the eight regions. There were 740 teachers invited to participate in 68 schools, with a 51% response rate. Teachers indicated positive attitudes toward the inclusion of ELL students, however 89.6% expressed that ELL students needed to attain a minimum level of English proficiency prior to entering the mainstream classroom. A large percentage of teachers (89.3%) reported that ELL students require longer than two years to acquire English with 82.4% supporting legislation to make English the official language of the U.S. Responses on the Likert portion of the survey indicated that teachers felt they were supported, yet indicated support was a challenge when asked to write in their response. Recommendations for future research and implications for practice and policy include exploring the relationship between mainstream teachers and the ESL teacher, examining the role culture plays in the school setting and conducting qualitative research. Future policies should reflect research and best practice