California Pathways: The Second Language Student in Public High Schools, Colleges, and Universities

California Pathways: The Second Language Student in Public High Schools, Colleges, and Universities brings together greatly needed collective professional insights about second language students in our schools and about the programs designed to serve those students. The white pages of the document are intended to provide educators, advisors, counselors, and others who assist the second language population a description of English as a Second Language (ESL) and insights into the diverse situations and linguistic differences of California's second language population. These pages also offer descriptions of current general practices, as well as explain effective ways of meeting second language students' particular educational requirements. Most importantly, the background information contained in the white pages provides a context for the green pages, "Second Language Proficiency Descriptors," and guidance for their fair and meaningful application. The descriptors characterize the second language continuum in the four skill areas: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. They give ESL specialists and others in contact with this population a way to connect the language education paths of a significant portion of California's students.