Support teachers to support emergent bilingual students

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OPINION – The voices of 26 ninth graders hummed with energy, some wrestling with math problems, others simply goofing off. But amid the buzz, eight voices remained silent. These were my emergent bilingual students (often called EBs), newcomers who arrived in the U.S. less than a year ago.

I asked one of them, “Do you understand?” Javier looked at me cautiously before slowly shaking his head: “No sé.” Frustrated, I turned to one of his peers. “Elena, can you help translate? We talked about how ‘pattern’ is patrón in Spanish, right?” With a heavy sigh and a side-eye, Elena began to translate, stumbling over the technical terms like exponential and growth factor.

I watched as Javier’s initial focus dissolved, eventually putting his head down in defeat. I had done everything the “experts” suggested, including seating newcomers with bilingual peers, highlighting the bridge words between our language, and using math language routines. Yet I was still watching the spark of learning dissipate. Why wasn’t it working?

This is an experience all too common for California’s teachers, from early career to veteran. About 20% of our students are emergent bilinguals, with their language diversity on the rise –Spanish is most common, followed by Mandarin, Vietnamese, Russian, and Persian.

While future teachers who receive their teaching credential in California are required to take specific courses on how to support language learners, the actual content varies widely.

And when it comes to math, research shows that teachers in the field need strategies to help their students explain their reasoning and participate in complex problem-solving even while they are still mastering English. For students like Javier, making sense of mathematics requires communication, and teachers need the skills and tools to create those opportunities.

To close this gap, schools must provide sustained, culturally relevant and consistent professional development for all aspiring and current teachers in California so EB students are set up for success in school and beyond.

Since 2017, California’s English Learner (EL) Roadmap has provided a framework for school districts to better welcome and educate diverse language learners, a mission furthered by the 2024 mandate of AB 2074 to develop a formal state implementation plan.

While this state-level progress is underway, we must now take additional steps to ensure that the actual training teachers receive is enough to support EBs.

To help teachers bridge the gap for students in math and other content areas, the state should invest in sustained, professional development for teachers in implementing the EL Roadmap. The Legislature and governor have the opportunity to do that by including $20 million for a third round of Educator Workforce Investment Grants.

While previous funding rounds established best practices and built capacity at the county and district levels, the resulting tools and training must now be extended directly to teachers. This sustained support will replace ineffective, “one-size-fits-all” workshops with practical strategies that honor a student’s home language and culture while building their English skills in every subject.

For students like Javier, it would mean that his teachers have the tools to integrate his language skills and experiences into his coursework, leveraging his learning of the academic content and English language.

This additional investment should also raise awareness surrounding the EL Roadmap and provide tools to successfully use the framework in every classroom, including mine. This matters because too many districts, schools and teachers – including myself until recently – are not aware of the EL Roadmap and the potential benefits it could offer EBs like Javier.

Eventually, my school paired a bilingual support teacher with a specific group of EBs during math instruction as a temporary fix. While Javier gained access to learning math, his English language development was put on the back burner.

Short-term solutions are not enough to help EB students strengthen their English development. That’s why it’s critical California provide renewed funding for teacher training and ensure every school district is held accountable for following the state’s roadmap for success.

We must do better for our EBs.

Michelle Lo is a mathematics teacher at Skyline High School in Oakland and a 2025-26 Teach Plus California Policy Fellow.