This post kicks off a new series: Practical Systems for Multilingual Learner Growth .Every week, we’ll highlight one area where schools can create meaningful English growth for students — especially Experienced Multilingual Learners — without adding heavy new programs or burning out teachers. Why experienced multilingual learners? Because they’re often the students who “plateau” — sitting in U.S. schools for years, passing classes, but never breaking through to advanced Engl

If you could focus on just one area to boost your multilingual learners’ test scores this year, it should be Tier 2 vocabulary . These are high-utility academic words— analyze, contrast, establish, infer —that show up in every subject area. They’re the “middle tier” between basic conversational words (Tier 1) and content-specific terms (Tier 3). Often, they are the hidden key to unlocking test success. The problem? Many districts unintentionally put Tier 2 vocabulary on the b

Every summer, administrators and teachers sit down with stacks of state testing data, hoping to find clear answers about how to support their multilingual learners next year. But there’s a problem—these tests aren’t giving them the data they need. The results are vague, outdated, and often misleading. How can teachers plan targeted instruction when the only data available is five or six months old? Worse yet, the tests don’t break down which specific skills students need to d