The ESL Logjam: waiting times for ESL classes and the impact on English learners

Adapted from J. T Tucker, The ESL Logjam: Waiting Times for ESL Classes and the Impact on English Learners. Los Angeles: NALEO Educational Fund, 2006. Policymakers, community and civic leaders, and social scientists -- and especially non-English speakers themselves -- agree that English language proficiency is the gateway to full participation in U.S. society and its many rewards. Yet learning a language is difficult and the primary tool to achieve this consensus goal -- English as a second language (ESL) instruction -- is in crisis. ESL courses are few, overbooked, and often overcrowded, and students can face a long wait for a spot on the class roster. Congress has recognized that inadequate funding of these courses has significantly narrowed the bottleneck and constitutes a key barrier to the ability of many adults to learn English. Adapted from the source document.