In California, Latino students face many challenges to succeed academically at the same level as their white or Asian counterparts, but it’s even tougher for Latino English learners, according to "The Majority Report" from Education Trust — West, which details ways they can be supported and lists examples of school districts and organizations that are doing it right.

Here are three key ways to support English learners, according to the report:

Reclassification. The main goal for English learners is to be reclassified as fluent in English as soon as possible, even though experts have agreed that mastering a new language takes an average of five years. But the sooner they are integrated into mainstream classes, the more access they have to rigorous coursework, including college-preparatory opportunities. The issue now is that some are being reclassified too fast and others stay too long in the EL category.

Access to a rigorous curriculum. Some districts are thinking strategically about how to provide English learners broader access to a rigorous curriculum. In Alhambra — which serves 17,000 students, of whom 41 percent are Latinos and 22 percent are English learners — all ninth-graders are enrolled in an A-G–approved integrated math course.

Valuing their bilingual skills. Latino English learners who have Spanish as their first language make up 80 percent of all English learners in California. In LA Unified, English learners are a quarter of the student population and 92.5 percent of them are Latino, with Spanish as their primary language. The passage of Proposition 58, which removed restrictions for bilingual and multilingual programs, has allowed English learners to value their primary language and use it as an asset.

Read the full article about how to help California's Latino English learners achieve by Esmeralda Romera at The 74.