Supporting English Language Learners in Grades 1 to 8

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Working together to support
English language learners
School boards will design programs and services for English language learners so that
they are flexible in response to changing needs and reflective of the needs of the students.
English Language Learners/ESL and ELD Programs and Services: Policies and Procedures for Ontario
Elementary and Secondary Schools, Kindergarten to Grade 12, 2007, 2.5.3.
Every day, more than one million English language learners attend Ontario’s
publicly funded schools. They come from every country and every circumstance.
They bring with them a valuable world perspective needed by all students to
operate successfully in a global community. Their parents come with the hopes
that their children will achieve what they could not have achieved elsewhere.
Through shared responsibility, our schools need to optimize the synergies within
themselves, the parent community, and supporting community partners in order
to ensure that all English language learners achieve their fullest potential.
The goal of reaching every student, inclusive of personal circumstances,
through a commitment to higher achievement and reduced gaps in performance,
recognizes that everyone in a school community has an important role to play in
supporting English language learners. All teachers work collaboratively to plan
student learning and to evaluate and improve their own instructional strategies.
Principals ensure teachers and support staff (including office staff) have what
they need to be successful. In addition, parents and community partners are
welcome in schools and are given opportunities to be active in school life.
Experts tell us
Shared responsibility incorporates a set of principles and techniques that give members of
the school community the authority and responsibility to create what is needed, based on
the data and culture of their particular school …
Collaboration … is about creating an environment – through structures, systems, processes,
and policies – where everyone contributes skills, knowledge, and experience to continuously
improve student learning. Collaboration also extends beyond the school’s walls …
Anne Conzemius and Jan O’Neill, Building Shared Responsibility for Student Learning,
Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 2001, p. 2
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