California’s policy refers to multilingual learners as “English learners.” In some districts, through the work of families, students and advocates, the term “English learners” has been replaced with “multilingual learners.” The latter reflects a more asset-based approach to describing these students, their families and their experiences.
In these tools and resources, CSLX uses "multilingual learners" (MLs) whenever possible, but still uses "English Learner" when citing state policy, formal designation, and state materials.
The California English Learner Roadmap Policy embraces linguistic diversity as an asset while providing the support necessary to allow multilingual learners meaningful access to an intellectually rich and engaging education. It also gives schools and districts practical guidance around and proven strategies for supporting dual language learners and English learners.
In California public schools, 40 percent of students have a home language other than English. These students come to school with rich linguistic and cultural assets, and some of them are newcomer students. Bilingualism and cultural diversity are important assets that improve ML outcomes and strengthen our public education system.
The community school strategy transforms schools into places of belongingness through partnerships between educators, community members, families, and students. As partners, they align resources, supports, and opportunities as a foundation of equitable education. This strategy creates schools where all students can thrive, and is especially important for multilingual learner and newcomer students.
Focusing on coherence-making helps align people, teams and projects around a shared vision and shared goals. Rooting strategies and initiatives in one coherent approach can combat “initiative fatigue.” The community school strategy presents one way to organize people and systems around students and families and to build coherent and sustainable systems.
Coherence is a way to make meaning and carve out direction in complex systems. Click to learn more.
Get tips for leaders to establish a shared purpose by first engaging interest holders in articulating their personal reason for doing the work they do.
Teaming for coherence making is the practice of building the structures and habits that let a school's shared purpose, collaborative work, improvement efforts, and accountability practices pull in the same direction instead of competing for the same time. Most schools already have pieces of this: a mission statement, a few peer learning community blocks on the calendar, a school improvement plan, a data review cycle. What's often missing is the connective tissue — the teaming structures where staff actually turn a shared goal into shared work, test out changes together, and hold each other to what they agreed mattered. Without that connective tissue, collaboration becomes another meeting, improvement becomes another initiative, and accountability becomes another compliance exercise.
This metacognitive guide helps cross-functional teams pause and examine their own thinking as they build a shared agenda.
This resource helps teams launch their work with coherence by connecting each member's individual sense of purpose to the group’s broader goals. It's designed for that first conversation teams often skip: not just who’s on the team, but why this team matters to each of us and to the whole.
This crosswalk of Community School Essentials and CA EL Roadmap policy was developed through a partnership between CSLX and Californians Together, and funded by the California Community Foundation.
Professional Learning Specialist
Professional Learning Specialist
Director of Professional Learning
