Cuba talks with Maine Morning Star about challenges for multilingual learners
Assistant Professor of Special Education Melissa Cuba spoke with the Maine Morning Star for an article about multilingual students in Maine struggling academically. Cuba described the growing challenges for multilingual learners in the state, noting that their exit rates from English language support have decreased even as enrollment has increased to over 7,200 students. “Seeing a decrease like this is kind of like a red flag,” Cuba said. “You want to see your students exiting services within an appropriate amount of time. This is indicating to me that students aren’t making language gains or meeting those objectives.” She said that inadequate language services and the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic are widening the achievement gap.