For a number of years, Arizona educators have been working to figure out the best—and swiftest—ways to get young English Language Learners, or ELL, up to speed. A two-year pilot program was recently launched by the Arizona Department of Education in tandem with the State Board of Education focusing on a tech-based language development program. 

We spoke with Steve Gardner, senior vice president of sales and marketing for Scientific Learning Corp., the maker of Build English Fast—the program at the center of the pilot project.

We also got a broader view of ELL from Robert Linquanti, a project director at WestEd. He specializes in English learner assessment evaluation and accountability policies and practices.