Abstract
Improving the learning opportunities of English language learners in mainstream settings will require advancing the conversation on Specially Designed Academic Instruction in English (SDAIE). SDAIE offers an opportunity for educators to explore varied instructional strategies for educating English Language Learners (ELLs) in mainstream settings under a variety of circumstances. This article describes an exploratory SDAIE conceptual model that discusses 8 components that can enhance the instructional program and provide access to the core curriculum to ELLs. Capitalizing on the knowledge base available to bilingual and English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers, mainstream teachers of ELLs can begin to employ effective strategies and techniques that have been a part of effective pedagogy for many years.
As the conversation on educating ELLs in English-only settings moves forward, it is hoped that SDAIE will help transform school systems to include the children and the neighborhoods that have not been well served by public education in the past.