Analysis of a U.S. Summer School Program and Implications for Remedial English Education

Abstract

Disadvantaged students such as English language learners (ELLs) need additional education and support to help them keep up with their English speaking peers. A summer school program was designed and provided for ELLs in a school district in a US northwest city in 2010 and aimed to bridge the achievement gap.

This study focuses on the implementation and instruction of a summer school program in a school district in a city in the US northwest. Based on the data analysis of interviews, documents, and classroom observations, three major findings were made: the unclear goals of the summer school, the limited information the teachers had about the ELLs, and varying teaching activities and language foci. Three suggestions about how to effectively implement summer school classes as elementary school remedial English education are provided.