[MUSIC] Hi, and welcome back. In order to maximize impact it's important that we have a deep understanding of the responsibility we have to ELLs in our community, and in our schools. According to the US department of education, in the school year of 2012, 2013, 9.2% of the students enrolled in public schools across the country were identified as English Language Learners. That is just over 4.3 million students. California recorded the highest ELL population with 22.8% of its students identified as English Language Learners. While some places, such as California, are home to high populations of ELLs, these students can be found in every state in both large urban cities and small rural towns. The state and quality of ELL programs vary from city to city, district to district, and even school to school. This discrepancy is the result of a lacking national standard and improper or inadequate training. Of course, we know that you are committed to making sure your ELLs are cared for and educated at your school. Our ELLs represent countries and languages from all around the world. According to the US Census Bureau's 2013 American Community Survey, and the US Department of Education, Spanish is the most commonly spoken home language of ELLs, making up 71%. The second-most commonly spoken home language of ELLs is Chinese at 4%, followed by Vietnamese and Haitian/Creole. Other home languages include Arabic, Hmong, Tagalog, Portuguese, and Nepali to list a few. ELL students find themselves in our classrooms for a wide variety of reasons and from a bounty of rich experiences. It is essential for you to get to know each and every student that enters your class and make yourself knowledgeable as much as possible to their cultures, background, and personal story. Be aware that some stories are difficult to share, and be open to any amount or lack of, that students and families want to share. ELL students can be refugees, internationally adopted children, unaccompanied children coming into the United States without an adult, or Students with Interrupted Formal Education, also known as SIFE. Students with Interrupted Formal Education typically come from countries where education is not mandated or is of very low quality due to the availability of trained teachers, high cost of schools, and even frequent weather events that keep students from coming to school on a regular basis. This can affect students' literacy in their first language, and can contribute to the lack of general common knowledge. Students with Interrupted Formal Education may come from migrant families that move regularly in order to find work. Therefore, students either change schools frequently or have long absences from the classroom. Each of these scenarios contributes to a unique background and student story. Remember that sometimes ELLs may come to our classrooms with trauma in their history. Due to war, natural disasters, or dramatic poverty. When a child experiences some kind of trauma, his or her learning and social and emotional development can be affected greatly. According to the Department of Education, about 70% of all ELLs in the United States live well below the poverty level. Like native English-speaking students in the same situation, poverty can add another layer of complexity to learning. It means that teachers have to deliver lessons rich in knowledge, information and draw from student's resources when planning and delivering lessons. With this rich diversity and increasing variety of student stories, educators and administrators must actively work to make ELL students and their families successful members of our communities. This course engaging ELL's and their families in the school and community highlight success stories in different schools across the country. The course will look at how they engage ELLs in the classroom and at school. In addition we will see how they engage parent of ELLs in the school and in the community. It is our hope that you will be able to implement many of these ideas and engagement strategies in your school.