Teachers of English language learners (ELLs) will often discover that they are Students with Interrupted Formal Education (SIFE). SIFE is a severe academic issue for many ELLs, school district administrators, schools, and classroom teachers. Consequently, these students usually require special attention and assistance to assimilate into the classroom. This section will discuss these issues and reflect on my experiences working with these often at-risk students.
Ideally, the school district or administrators will have information or documentation about the new ELLs’ educational history, which is often the case. In many instances, the new ELL has a significant gap in their education that is obvious from information provided by a school or immigration records or their family.
This gap can be a complicated problem for grade or school placement. For example, if an ELL comes to a school district at age 16 but hasn’t attended school since the 5th grade, where do you place him? If you put him in 6th grade, he would likely share a classroom with 11-year-old girls. If you put him with the age-appropriate 11th graders, he would be unable to follow the advanced curriculum, especially if he doesn’t have basic English proficiency. This common situation is the conundrum school administrators must address daily nationwide. What to do when the school district admits students into schools without knowing they are SIFE?
Investigating Academic History
The first thing teachers must do is investigate the academic background of the newcomer ELLs in their classrooms. This investigation is critical for discovering gaps in the student’s education. Typically, every student should have their formal academic history documents in their cumulative folder located in the school’s front office, accessible for teachers. If the folders do not provide enough information or the documents are in an unfamiliar foreign language, teachers can contact the school or district English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher for assistance. Once the teacher has the necessary information to determine whether the ELL has experienced significant interrupted formal education, they should take steps to address the situation.
Understanding the SIFE
Why do ELLs experience gaps in their formal education?
Educators must understand the reasons for gaps in English language learners’ formal education. I do not know of an ELL who dropped out of elementary school due to laziness or a lack of parents wanting their child to acquire an education. Some of these students come from high-crime areas of their countries where traveling to school is risky. In these areas, preteens and teenagers are often kidnapped, sex-trafficked, or forced to join dangerous gangs at gunpoint. Another reason may be due to a long journey through rugged and treacherous terrain. This trip may take many months or years before settling in a local school district.
The ELLs Journey
English language learner students’ journey to the United States is often long, arduous, and perilous. Although many ELLs come to our country through airports with well-educated parents with high-paying jobs, this is not always the case. Over the years of teaching ELLs, I have listened to the stories of their trip to our country with awe. I could not imagine walking with strangers for months in the Central American heat through several countries as an adult, unaware of the dangers in my path. To think that many of my students make this journey alone as a child is hard to comprehend. Yet, this is precisely what many of my students have experienced. And on this passage, while most American students live at home with their families and attend safe schools with plenty to eat, these traveling students are missing essential segments of their education.
