Improving Instruction for English Language Learners

1. Improving Instruction for English Language Learners From the Pull-out Model to Research-Based Alternatives September 15, 2006

2. English Language Learners

3. Nationally… • U.S. public schools serve about 5.1 million English language learners (ELLs); • 145 different languages are spoken among our ELL population; • 80% of ELLs are Spanish speakers • By 2030, an estimated 40% of the school age population will be ELL. • -U.S. Dept. of Education – Title III Biennial Evaluation Report, FY 2002-2004

4. In Georgia… • nearly one out of every 10 residents ages 5 and older speaks a language other than English at home with Spanish having the greatest representation. • Census 2000 • over 68,000 K-12 students are English language learners SR 2006 • ELLs represent over 100 different languages with Spanish outnumbering all

6. U.S. Department of Education Guidelines for ELLs Under NCLB Title I Title III English language proficiency standards Academic content standards Increase English proficiency and academic achievement Academic content assessments English language proficiency assessments AYP AMAOs

7. How Proficient Are ELLs in GA? ACCESS for ELLs Spring 2006 Administration Listening, Speaking, Reading, Writing Social and Academic Language

8. Proficiency Indicators What school-based tasks are students able to accomplish in English? How well can they read?

9. ACCESS Reading Results Spring 2006 In Percents by Proficiency Level 5 N =4628 in Grade 3 N = 3681 in Grade 5 N = 2807 in Grade 8 N = 1563 in Grade 11 BRIDGING 4 EXPANDING Gr. 3 2.4 Gr. 5 15.7 Gr. 8 8.9 Gr.11 24.1 3 DEVELOPING Gr. 3 5.1 Gr. 5 14.3 Gr. 8 12.1 Gr.11 7.9 2 BEGINNING Gr. 3 17.7 Gr. 5 23.8 Gr. 8 13.0 Gr.11 10.9 1 ENTERING Gr. 3 41.4 Gr. 5 26.0 Gr. 8 42.0 Gr.11 29.2 6 REACHING Gr. 3 32.8 Gr. 5 16.1 Gr. 8 18.6 Gr.11 18.7 Gr. 3 .6 Gr. 5 4.2 Gr. 8 5.3 Gr.11 9.1

10. Proficiency and Academic Achievement The Dual Challenge: How to develop proficiency while bridging a moving target better AKS the academic achievement gap between ELLs and their English-speaking peers?

11. What Does The Research Tell Us?National Study of School Effectiveness for Language Minority Students’ Long Term Achievement (1996-2001) Role of the first language • Formal primary language schooling is the strongest predictor of second language student achievement Instructional focus • Intensive instruction in aural/oral tasks transfers to improved reading/writing. • Students must first learn to read before they can read to learn.

12. What Does Research Tell Us?National Study of School Effectiveness for Language Minority Students’ Long Term Achievement (1996-2001) • In order to close the achievement gap between ELLs and native English speakers, language support programs must be well implemented, not segregated, sustained for 5-6 years, and demonstrate achievement gains of more than the average yearly progress of the non-ELL group each year until the gap is closed. Even the most effective language support programs can only close half of the achievement gap in 2-3 years.

13. What Does The Research Tell Us?National Study of School Effectiveness for Language Minority Students’ Long Term Achievement (1996-2001) Research indicates that Two-Way ImmersionPrograms assist students in fully achieving the 50th percentile in English across all subject areas. Significantly, students maintain that level of high achievement or higher through the end of their schooling. The fewest number of dropouts come from Two- Way ImmersionPrograms.

14. What Does the Research Tell Us?Report of the National Literacy Panel on Language-Minority Children and Youth 2006 Findings • Enhanced teaching of phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and text comprehension has clear benefits or ELLs. • Teachers can learn how to deliver innovative instruction with effective professional development. • Collaboration with special education teachers and resource specialists improves the quality of instruction. • Literacy programs that provide instructional support of oral language development in English, aligned with high qualityliteracy construction are the most successful. • Oral proficiency and literacy in the first language can be used to facilitate literacy development in English.

15. What Does the Research Tell Us?IDRA Newsletter, 2004 Word power is critical to acquiring knowledge in all content areas. Each has its technical terms that must be mastered. The average high school senior knows between 17,000 to 50,000 words. This translates to learning 3,000 to4,000 new words a year for English language learners. Students from low-income backgrounds also tend to have limited vocabularies. Researchers estimate a 30-million word gap by age three between the average number of words heard by children of parents on welfare and those whose parents are professionals.

16. Instructional Strategies Effective instruction for ELLs shares major characteristics with effective instruction for native English speakers. However, ELLs need the additional support of instructional accommodations. Every lesson must target a language objective and a content objective.

17. Some Alternatives to the Pull-Out Model • Collaborative or Team-Teaching in the content areas • Reduced class model taught by ESOL endorsed teacher • Sheltered instruction in the content areas • Two-way developmental model • Coaching for mainstream teachers of ELLs • K-1 placement in language-rich classrooms with accommodations.