In the St. Paul public schools, "pullout" teaching is frowned upon. Instead, "collaboration" is the favored method when it comes to teaching English-language learners.

The approach-a mandate from the central office-seems to be working. For three of the past four years, the district has made adequate yearly progress for its English-language learners under the federal No Child Left Behind Act. And it has done so with a population that is primarily Hmong, a Laotian ethnic group that was firs...