Next year, San Jose Unified is adding an English course to class selections. This English course is Academic Language Development, and is offered to only freshmen and sophomores as an English Language Development option. 

This new English course will serve as the core English course for English learners, but English learners who are new to the country will continue to take English Language Development and their English course.

“For the 2022-2023 school year, we will have this course offered to 9th and 10th graders. The courses are English Language Arts 1-2 with ALD and English Language Arts 3-4 with (ALD),” Assistant Principal of Instruction Allison Crawford said.

“Currently [SJUSD] high schools offer Academic Language Skills as an elective course to support some of our English learners,” Crawford said.

The courses have been approved through UC doorways for English Credits. This course will help students meet area “B” of the A-G requirements.

“The new ELA with ALD course will replace that course and be able to serve more of our English learners and give English credits for the course to help support student’s path towards graduation and post-secondary options,” Crawford said.

“The students will use grade-level texts (Springboard) along with designated ELD supports to deepen their academic language development,” Crawford said “These courses will be offered at each SJUSD high school.” 

Crawford explains that English Language Development (ELD) students will further their academic language development through this new course.

Freshmen and sophomores who are learning English and who are struggling academically are suggested to take this course. This does not count as a credit recovery class, instead it’s an English course class.

“I [previously] taught English Language Development in my time as a student teacher, so I’ve wanted to do this for some time,” English teacher Saam Khanzadeh said. “I am starting now because the position has opened up.”

Mr.Khanzadeh teaches ninth and eleventh grade English and teaching this new course will provide a challenge for him because the last time he taught this course, it was as a student-teacher.

The English development class would benefit English language learners because they need the most help learning the mechanisms of the English language.

“This course is closely aligned with English 1-2 and English 3-4 with an added focus on academic language development,” Crawford said.

There have been no challenges coming to plan this course but they are excited to offer this opportunity to support their students’ needs and they’ll continue to develop and learn the needs of the course as they begin to implement it into the next school year.

“The overall goal is to help equip English language learners with the skills they need to succeed in the language arts courses and academia in general,” Khanzadeh said.

Crawford and Khanzadeh’s goal is to offer an English course for English learners that can deepen their academic language while earning English “B” credits.

This course offers 2 important things when it comes to English language learners: it provides the help they will need academically and Khanzadeh and Crawford will do their best to implement the students’ needs throughout the year while taking this course.