The Academic and Social-Emotional Needs of Secondary Latino English Learners: Implications for Screening, Identification, and Instructional Planning

Abstract

Nationwide statistics show that English Learners in grades 6–12 are often among the lowest performing students in all academic areas and have some of the highest rates of dropout. Their academic deficiencies are usually attributed to their limited English language proficiency, often ignoring the social-emotional, behavioral, and cognitive problems they might be experiencing. The purpose of this article is to illustrate specific needs of Latino English Learners that often go unmet. Social-emotional resiliency scores (as measured by the Behavior Emotional Resiliency Scale) and academic outcomes of 62 middle school Latino English Learners were analyzed for this study. The results revealed that social-emotional resiliency correlated positively with academic progress and negatively with time spent in English Language Development programs. Students who spent more time in English Language Development programs showed poorer social emotional resiliency. These findings have specific implications for identifying and serving Latino English Learners who might be at risk for or have from emotional disabilities.

Notes

*p < .05;

**p < .01.