Multilingual learner education has evolved significantly since the dominance of the “sink or swim” English immersion method in the mid-20th Century. But that doesn’t mean we’ve perfected the craft. Though there have been significant improvements in training teachers and service providers with best practices to support multilingual learners (MLLs), there are still significant gaps in MLL instruction to fill—particularly in English Language Arts.
Let's start with what doesn't work.
Pulling multilingual learners out for separate instruction with simplified texts. Waiting until they're "ready" for grade-level content. Treating language support as something that happens outside the real curriculum.
We know these things don't work. And yet they’re still prevalent in instruction.
Here's what does work: integrating multilingual learners into grade-level literacy experiences from Day 1, with strategic supports that amplify rather than limit.
Not someday. Not when they're ready. Now.
Here are seven best practices to help your MLLs succeed in ELA.
The first move is the hardest one for a lot of teachers: don't simplify the text.
I know the instinct. A student is still learning English, so we give them an easier version of the story. A leveled reader. A translated text. Something "at their level."
But here's the problem: when we consistently give multilingual learners less complex texts, we're not helping them access grade-level content—we're creating a parallel track that keeps them behind.
What to do instead:
Keep the anchor or focal text as written. Use it as the north star that all students are working toward. Build knowledge and language through strategic scaffolding, not text replacement.Yes, there are moments when leveled texts make sense—specifically when you're building background knowledge to support comprehension of the anchor text. A student might read a more accessible article about the historical context before diving into the complex primary source. That's strategic scaffolding.
But the anchor text itself? That stays intact.
Multilingual learners benefit from knowing what's coming. Not in a "here's a summary so you don't actually have to read it" way, but in a "here's what you need to know to make sense of this" way.
The goal isn't to eliminate challenge. It's to remove barriers that aren't actually about the content itself.
Here's a shift that matters: stop thinking of students' home languages as something to work around. Start thinking of them as cognitive tools that enhance learning.
When a student drafts their initial thinking in their home language before moving to English, they're not avoiding the work—they're accessing more sophisticated thinking than they could if we forced them to start in English.
When students compare how expressions shift across languages, they're doing real linguistic analysis. When they identify cognates between English and their home language, they're building vocabulary in both languages simultaneously.
This isn't about making things easier. It's about leveraging every resource students bring to the table.
One read-through isn't enough for anyone. It's definitely not enough for students who are simultaneously processing content and language.
The trick is making sure each read has a different purpose so students aren't just slogging through the same text multiple times for no reason.
Each read builds confidence and deepens understanding. By the time multilingual learners hit that analysis stage, they're not struggling to figure out what's happening—they can actually examine how it's happening.
There's a difference between scaffolding that helps students reach grade-level expectations and scaffolding that lowers the bar.
Scaffolding up means: same complex text, same rigorous task, with strategic supports that help students get there.
Scaffolding down means: easier text, simpler task, lower expectations.
The end goal stays the same. The pathway to get there includes more supports.
Multilingual learners benefit from explicit instruction about the language demands of academic tasks. Not just "here's the content," but "here's the language you need to discuss and write about this content."
Language development doesn't happen by osmosis. It happens through explicit instruction combined with meaningful practice.
Here's the key: the level of support a student receives should be flexible and responsive to their needs. The expectation for what they're working toward should remain constant.
The crucial point: even with intensive support, students are still engaging with the same anchor text and working toward the same learning goals as their peers. The supports help them access it—they don't change the destination.
None of these practices happen by accident. They require:
That last one matters most. Because if we don't actually believe multilingual students can engage with complex texts and complete rigorous tasks, we'll find reasons to lower the bar. We'll create separate tracks. We'll wait for them to be "ready."
But if we believe they're capable—and they are—then we do the harder work of providing genuine support while maintaining high expectations.
That's what equity looks like.
These practices aren't theoretical. They're the practical moves that make a difference in real classrooms with real students.
If you want to see how these practices show up in a fully realized curriculum, we've put together a detailed resource that walks through exactly how it works in Lenses on Literature, our standards-driven ELA curriculum for grades 6-12.
You'll learn about the philosophy, the structures, the teacher supports, and the student-facing scaffolds that make these best practices possible.
Because multilingual learners don't need separate. They don't need simplified. They don't need to wait.
Instead, they need access. They need support. They need to be right in the middle of grade-level learning. And they need these things now.