Improving Health Education for ELL Students in the Mainstream Classroom

Abstract

Culturally diverse students, as a collective group, are a sizable and growing population. Large numbers of students with language and cultural experiences different from the mainstream population will continue to enter schools in growing numbers throughout the next decades. Historically, their level of academic achievement has lagged significantly behind that of their English language-dominant peers. If schools are to meet the challenge of educating culturally diverse student populations, teachers must embrace instruction and curricula that engage and encourage all students. This article gleans from the discussed research ten strategies that all school health education teachers should utilize in their language-and learning-diverse classrooms that can increase the learning, achievement and success of English Language Learners (ELL) and other low-literacy students. Some of these strategies include: linking health concepts with the students' backgrounds, providing appropriate speech for ELL students, incorporating scaffolding techniques, using hands-on materials and/or manipulative for practice, clearly defining the language objectives, and providing multiple avenues for assessing learning. Many mainstream health education teachers who utilize these specific strategies report that all of their students experience a higher level of performance.