In response to the call for research on integrating best general practices in teaching with those that promote equity and access, we present a two-part study focused on instructional strategies that may remove learning barriers for English Language Learners. We theoretical developed and empirically explored supplemental components for traditional quality of instruction measures (MQI, Hill, 2014, Math Habits Tool, Melhuish & Thanheiser, 2017). We share results from a quantitative study empirically verifying the effect of suggested ELL-focused instructional strategies (Chval & Chávez, 2011) on ELL learning via the creation of an additional MQI dimension. Based on these results, we then provide theoretical operationalizations of these strategies to integrate into the student-and-teacher interaction tool: the Math Habits Tool (Melhuish & Thanheiser, 2017) as means to concretize these strategies for researchers and practitioners. [For the complete proceedings, see ED606556.]