Routinely engaging all students in the practices of science and engineering is a crucial fixture of the new vision for K-12 science education. The practices can be seen as a barrier to participation for English Learners (ELs), or they can be viewed as an opportunity to provide rich instruction that builds science-related competencies and identities.

The number of English language learners in schools across the nation has increased dramatically over the past decade. At the same time the gap in science proficiency between English language learners and non-English language learners has widened.