I would love to think that ELA teachers would turn to their teacher librarians for assistance with these expectations.  But years of experience temper my hopes.  I can count on the fingers of both hands the number of ELL teachers who admitted to me that they genuinely did not know how to help students whom they suspected were using research or presentation tools less than correctly. (Several of those times were in the context of senior classes using databases for research; the students were required to use databases, but were getting either too many or no hits with the search terms they were using; I eventually led them to advanced searches and experimenting with a variety of related search terms, strategies even the recent graduates among the teachers were unfamiliar with.) My adult students preparing to become teacher librarians tell me similar stories.  

Are administrators conveying the same goal of collaboration to all their teachers that they are to their teacher librarians?  Are they encouraging ELL teachers to ask for or accept proferred assistance from colleagues--like teacher librarians!!--especially in this case where we have been teaching precisely these skills for a long time?  What is the expectation in regards to ELL teachers building up their skills in these areas?  Coursework?  Professional development seminars?  Or . . . asking their school's librarian for help?

Thank you for this post!  I will be looking forward to watching how it plays out in the classroom.

Cathy Andronik

(Retired, Brien McMahon HS, Norwalk)