Our text defines long-term English learners (LTELs) as " learners who have been enrolled for more than six years and are not making substantial academic progress" (Piper, 2015). Using information introduced in Chapter 1 and the Menken and Kleyn (2009) article, "The Difficult Road for Long-Term English Learners", address the following:

1. Describe the characteristics of an LTEL.

2. Provide suggestions on how teachers can address the challenges of LTELs to move them to a proficient level of English learning.

3. Share your opinion on how much accountability should be placed on administrators, teachers, students, and parents respectively.

4. Refer to and properly cite the sources from which you are basing your position.

As you learn more about English language learners, you'll discover one particular sub-group which provides its own unique challenges: long termers. Many were actually born in the United States, but are still "in program." Why is this so? What can teachers do about these students? What affect does this status have on these ELLs? "One dismal statistic that has emerged from examining the characteristics of LTELs in New York City schools found that the average grade for this group of students was 69.20 percent. This type of feedback begins to slowly wear away at a student's motivation and desire to learn" (Syrja, 2011, p.17). Have you heard of effort optimism? Feel free to discuss in a reply to these tips!