English-language-learner services are designed to prevent educational inequity, but for some students, the specialized services may be reinforcing it, argues Peggy Estrada, an associate research scientist in the Latin American and Latino Studies department at the University of California, Santa Cruz. The diminished expectations and social stigma tied to the ELL status often means that middle- and high school-age English-learners are linguistically and academically isolated with less access to a school’s full curriculum and English-speaking peers. Estrada argues that developing a common definition and exit criteria for English-learners could help solve the problem.
