English Language Learners: Developing Literacy in Second-Language Learners—Report of the National Literacy Panel on Language-Minority Children and Youth

Abstract

Based on concerns about the increasing numbers of English Language Learners in U.S. schools and the documented academic underperformance of this group, particularly in the domain of literacy, the federal government provided funding for a panel of experts to synthesize the knowledge base in the field and provide recommendations for future research. In 2006, the long awaited and much heralded Report of the National Literacy Panel on Language-Minority Children and Youth was published in a book entitled Developing Literacy in Second Language Learners (August & Shanahan, 2006). The purpose of this essay review is to describe the contents of this volume, and to examine it through the dual lenses of theory and policy.