The United States has seen the population of English language learners in the elementary classroom more than double in the last ten years. These students need support not only to learn the content in the classroom, but they are also in need of support to develop their English language skills. An important first step in providing them with this supportive instruction is knowing what factors influence their education. I dug into the English as New Language programs in two countries where I have some experience with the education system: the United States and Australia. By looking at two countries, I was able to identify several factors that both countries' programs had in common: a history of language and education policy, student standards, teacher standards, and best practices for teaching English learners. This paper gives a brief overview of these factors and their impact on teaching English learners.