Foreword

This booklet is one in a series of "hot topics" reports produced by the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory. These reports briefly address current educational concerns and issues as indicated by requests for information that come to the Laboratory from the Northwest region and beyond. Each booklet contains a discussion of research and literature pertinent to the issue, a sampling of how Northwest schools and programs are addressing the issue, selected resources, and contact information.

One objective of the series is to foster a sense of community and connection among educators. Another is to increase awareness of current education-related themes and concerns. Each booklet gives practitioners a glimpse of how fellow educators from around the Northwest are addressing issues, overcoming obstacles, and attaining success. The goal of the series is to give educators current, reliable, and useful information on topics that are important to them.

This By Request has been compiled from existing research in the field of second language acquisition and education of English language learners, including works by acknowledged experts in ELL. Several researchers have noted (e.g., August & Hakuta, 1997; Costantino, 1999; Thomas & Collier, 2003), that the reader should keep in mind the limitations of many research studies. Without randomized trial and control-group studies focused on the effects of an individual strategy, it is difficult to speak unequivocally of a strategy as scientifically based. See the Appendix of this publication for forthcoming research that may address ELL issues and programs using scientific or quasi-experimental research methods.