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From https://www.edsurge.com/news/2019-02-14-seven-steps-to-ensure-english-learners-aren-t-left-out-of-stem

Seven Steps to Ensure English Learners Aren’t Left Out of STEM
By Emily Tate
February 14, 2019

As demand for professionals in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields continues to surge, a significant population of potential workers is being left out of these career opportunities: English learners.

This population is large and fast-growing, representing 4.6 million students, or about 9.4 percent of the school-aged population, according to a report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine.

Obstacles to English learners participating in STEM subjects and careers do not include lack of interest or ability, according to the report, “English Learners in STEM Subjects: Transforming Classrooms, Schools and Lives.” Rather, it stems from a lack of access to rigorous, age-appropriate instruction in the field. The problem can be attributed to a variety of reasons; one is that many schools assume English learners cannot participate in rigorous STEM content learning before reaching a certain level of English proficiency—an assumption that research has disproven, according to the authors.

Read the full article, which includes steps that educators and policymakers can take to ensure more opportunities and representation in STEM fields for English learners, at https://www.edsurge.com/news/2019-02-14-seven-steps-to-ensure-english-learners-aren-t-left-out-of-stem

The full report is available at https://www.nap.edu/read/25182/chapter/1