“More than ever, educators are facing large numbers of English Learners (ELs), each coming with specific needs. The authors present a comprehensive text of how educators can and should work with these students and their families. Many of the strategies presented can be applied to other students as well. This book will be a valuable asset to every educator who wants each of his or her students to succeed.”

Glen Ishiwata, Former Superintendent, Moreland School District, San Jose, CA

“This book provides a wonderful look at the complexities of providing newcomers with a welcoming school environment and appropriate instruction. The book clearly reveals that the needs of these students requires more than ‘just good teaching.’”

Michelle DaCosta, Bilingual Resource Teacher, Framingham Public Schools, Framingham, MA

“This book will be of great interest to all educators of English learners because we all have beginners who arrive at any time during the school year, in our various schools and districts. The authors skillfully use scenarios to connect the theory to the practice and helps create a framework in which to plan for programming as well as classroom instruction.”

Katherine Lobo, ESL Teacher and Teacher Trainer, Belmont Public Schools, Belmont, MA

“The Essential Guide for Educating Beginning English Learners isn’t your run-of-the-mill, boring professional development book for educators. With accurate portrayals of real-world situations that will make readers shake their fists in anger and smile at successes, this book is a must-have for improving EL identification and curriculum in any district.”

Jennifer Paul, ELL Assessment Consultant, Michigan Department of Education, Lansing, MI

"The Essential Guide for Educating Beginning English Learners gets at the heart of what is key for working with beginning ELs and helps educators gain a complete understanding of these students’ needs and the factors that influence them."

Yvonne S. Freeman, Professor of Bilingual Education, The University of Texas at Brownsville

"Debbie Zacarian and Judie Haynes joined forces again and created a much needed, comprehensive text in The Essential Guide for Educating Beginning English Learners. Students who are new to the English language and often new to the United States and the US school system frequently encounter complex challenges, so their teachers need to be prepared and ready to help. This book will serve as an indispensable resource for teachers to tackle this task, and to do so with knowledge, skills, confidence, and advocacy for new English Learners!"

Andrea Honigsfeld, Professor, Molloy College

"The Essential Guide for Educating Beginning English Learners is a direct, concise and straight-forward volume for practitioners serving newly arrived English Language Learners. It captures the assets and resources beginning ELLs bring into the classroom and focuses on effective educational responses for each group of beginning English learners, built around a solid understanding of key learner characteristics, including literacy levels, cultural characteristics and other important learner factors that may come into play such as poverty and/or trauma experienced. The authors have created a useful working guide, supported by plenty of helpful examples and tools, which schools can use to facilitate Professional Development Communities, following a structured book study process."

Nancy Cloud, Professor and Director of the M.Ed. in TESL Program, Rhode Island College, Providence, RI

"At a time when the U.S. is experiencing record number of English learners, many of whom enter the country not only as beginners in English language, but with a wide range of other needs as well, this carefully researched, practical guide will serve as the primary support for both teachers and administrators seeking to do a more comprehensive job of responding to what is arguably their most vulnerable student population. Zacarian and Haynes provide a close examination of the diversity within the group of beginner ELs, who are often lumped together based on language proficiency alone."

Helaine W. Marshall, Associate Professor of Education, Director of Language Education Programs, LIU-Hudson, Purchase, NY