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N.M. School Builds Bridge to Standards for ELLs

Andrew Archuleta, a 4th grader at Emerson Elementary School in Albuquerque, N.M., raises his hand to ask a question about a writing assignment. Teachers at his school are piloting ways to help English learners master new reading and writing standards.

—Kitty Clark for Education Week

A New Mexico school focuses on making standards accessible to everyone—including English-learners

By Lesli A. Maxwell

Albuquerque, N.M.

In Yolanda Medrano's class here at Emerson Elementary School, hands shoot into the air to answer questions she is asking about women and professional baseball.

These 4th grade students—most of them still learning English—have just finished reading and listening to a story about Jackie Mitchell, a 17-year-old girl who struck out baseball legends Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig when she pitched in an exhibition game against the New York Yankees in 1931.

Noting one expression in the story, Ms. Medrano asks the students to tell her what "throws...