No Matter Our Role, Multilingual Students Are Our Students

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No matter our role, multilingual students are our students

By Suzanne Bouffard

Vol. 40 No. 2

More than 4.8 million students come to U.S. schools with a home language other than English. These students speak over 400 different languages and contribute an astounding diversity of life experiences to our classrooms. Although California, Alaska, and the southwestern states are home to the most English learners, the five U.S. districts with the highest percentage of multilingual students include two in New Jersey. A Learning Forward member recently told us that 74 different languages are spoken in her Connecticut district. No matter where we live or what role we play in education, multilingual students are our students. This is the case not just in the U.S., but also in Canada, Europe, and many other countries. In this issue of The Learning Professional, experts call

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Authors

Suzanne Bouffard ([email protected]) is editor of The Learning Professional.

Suzanne Bouffard

Senior Vice President, Communications & Publications | + posts

Suzanne Bouffard is senior vice president of communications and publications at Learning Forward. She is the editor of The Learning Professional, Learning Forward’s flagship publication. She also contributes to the Learning Forward blog and webinars. With a background in child development, she has a passion for making research and best practices accessible to educators, policymakers, and families. She has written for many national publications including The New York Times and the Atlantic, and previously worked as a writer and researcher at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She has a Ph.D. in developmental psychology from Duke University and a B.A. from Wesleyan University. She loves working with authors to help them develop their ideas and voices for publication.