Differentiating Instruction and Assessment for ELLs

1. Differentiating Instruction and Assessment for ELLs Rebecca Freeman Field Director, Language Education Division Caslon Publishing and Consulting rdfield@casloninc.com

2. Session Description • This session is for general education and ESL teachers who have ELLs in their classes, and for the ESL/bilingual coordinators who are responsible for the professional development of all educators who work with ELLs. • It draws on the WIDA ELD Standards, and shows teachers how to select appropriate instructional and assessment strategies for their ELLs at different English language proficiency levels. • We also consider how other important factors (e.g., literacy in the first language, prior education, cultural differences) inform a teachers’ efforts to differentiate instruction for the ELLs in their classes. • We highlight the importance of collaboration among ESL and mainstream educators so that ALL teachers who have ELLs in their classes have the knowledge and skills they need to ensure that ALL students, particularly ELLs, can participate and achieve.

3. AGENDABeforeContent and language objectivesDuring Essential questions for reflective practitioners Student can-do descriptors Student profiles Strategies for differentiating instruction and assessmentAfter Taking it to your classrooms What stood out? What did you learn? What can you use?

4. Content Objectives Participants will… • Describe what students at different English language development levels can be expected to do with reading, writing, listening, and speaking in English • Identify factors beyond English language development level that influence an ELL’s participation and achievement in class • Explain how to use essential questions for reflective practitioners to guide selection of instructional and assessment strategies • Identify appropriate instructional and assessment strategies for different ELLs that we find in our classrooms • Articulate ways to use our role as leaders in ELL education to facilitate mainstream educators’ efforts to address the needs of their ELLs. Note: Content objectives are about the big ideas and should be more or less the same for all students.

5. Language Objectives Participants will… • Use content-obligatory and content-compatible vocabulary orally and in writing • WIDA standards • Student can-do descriptors • ELD levels: Entering, Beginning, Developing, Expanding, Bridging • Conversational fluency/BICS; Academic language proficiency/CALP • Differentiated instruction • Differentiated assessment • Use oral and written language to identify, describe and explain. Note: Language objectives should be differentiated to address the language and literacy needs of students in the classroom.

6. Essential Questions for Reflective Practitioners • Who are my ELLs? • What are my goals and objectives? • What is challenging about this unit/lesson/activity for the ELLs in my class? • What instructional strategies can I use to enable my ELLs to participate and achieve in this activity/lesson/unit/class/program? • What assessment strategies can I use to collect evidence of my ELLs’ learning? • How can we use evidence of student learning to a) drive instruction; b) foster collaboration among ESL/bilingual and mainstream teachers (drawing on expertise of ESL/bilingual staff); c) structure PD; and d) inform the development of authentic accountability for ELLs (i.e., document student growth over time)?

7. 1. Who are the students? • Working in groups of three or four who teach at the same grade level (K-3, 4-5, 6-8, 9-12), look at the profiles of ELLs. You can change their grade levels to match the grade level your grade group teaches, but adapt the profile accordingly. • Using the student descriptors on the poster, discuss what these students can be expected to do with reading, writing, listening, and speaking in English. • Identify any other factors that may contribute to their participation and achievement in school, and explain how those factors might matter.

8. Profiles of the ELLs in one fifth grade class • Marco is a Level 1 ELL from Brazil who speaks Brazilian Portuguese. Marco arrived in the United States earlier this year. The ESL teacher determined informally that Marco can read and write in Portuguese, but probably below grade level. According to the district’s ESL placement test, Marco is a Level 1 Listening, Level 1 Speaking, Level 1 Reading, and Level 1 Writing. His levels are indicated on the Can-do descriptors in Figure 1 in blue. • Julia is a Level 3 ELL who was born in the United States into a Mexican family that speaks mostly Spanish at home and in the neighborhood. Julia has attended school in the US since kindergarten, and she has been in pull-out ESL each year. There is no bilingual program at the school, and Julia has not learned to read and write in Spanish. According to the ACCESS for ELLs, Julia is a Level 5 Listening, Level 4 Speaking, Level 3 Reading, and Level 2 Writing. Her levels are indicated on the Can-do descriptors in Figure 1 in green. • Hassan is a Level 3 ELL from Sudan who speaks Arabic. Hassan is a refugee and has been in the United States for two years. He had no formal schooling before coming to the United States, nor had he learned to read or write. When Hassan arrived, he was placed in a newcomer/port of entry class that focused on literacy and numeracy development, with attention to the cultural norms of US schools and society. According to the ACCESS for ELLs, Hassan is a Level 4 Listening and Speaking, and a Level 2 Reading and Writing. His levels are indicated on the Can-do descriptors in Figure 1 in purple. • Amitabh is a Level 3 ELL from India who speaks Gujarati. Amitabh arrived in the United States in the middle of last year. He has a strong educational background which included English instruction every year in India. However, Amitabh’s English instruction gave him little opportunity to speak English at school, and he has had little exposure to American English prior to his arrival. According to the ACCESS for ELLs, Amitabh is a Level 2 Listening, Level 1 Speaking, Level 5 Reading, and Level 4 Writing. His levels are indicated on the Can-do descriptors in Figure 1 in red.

9. 2. What are the goals and objectives? Aligned with content standards, ELP standards, the curriculum, and any other goals From the curriculum Students will describe features of the rain forest before and after deforestation in writing.

10. Figure 1: Focal ELLs placed on WIDA Can-do Descriptors for ELD Levels, PreK-12

11. Content Objectives Students will be able to… • Describe features of the rainforest before deforestation • Describe features of the rainforest after deforestation • Compare and contrast features of the rainforest before and after deforestation • Prepare a persuasive argument for or against deforestation to present orally to the town council and in writing for the local newspaper NOTE: Content objectives are the same for all students

12. Language Objectives Students will be able to… • Use key vocabulary orally and in writing Rainforest, deforestation, erosion/erode, habitat, destruction/destroy, ecosystem • Use oral and written language to describe, compare, contrast, and persuade NOTE: Language objectives are differentiated according to ELLs’ ELP level and other important background factors.

13. A Useful Tool: The Differentiation Template Fairbairn & Jones-Vo (2010) GOAL: To move students from their current ELD level (i.e., what they can do independently) to the next ELD level (i.e., their instructional level) using scaffolds and supports to get there.

14. Figure 2: Differentiating Assignment/Assessment Template for a fifth grade writing assignment differentiated by English language proficiency levels.

15. Specific Activities for All Students ORAL LANGUAGE DEMANDS • Comprehend a short video in class • Answer teacher questions about the video • Ask questions and comprehend answers at the botanical center • Listen to books on tape • Work in pairs and small groups to describe, compare, and persuade WRITTEN LANGUAGE DEMANDS • Read stories/narrative text in little books • Read expository text in grade-level science book • Read informational texts at botanical center • Read and respond to persuasive essays on op-ed pages of newspapers

16. 3. What is likely tobechallenging about this assignment for these students? • Be specific • Identify the concrete content, language, literacy, and/or cultural challenges the assignment is likely to present.

17. 4. What instructional strategies can we use to address those challenges? • Look at the instructional strategies on the poster. • Select strategies that your group believes are appropriate for your learners.

18. Figure 3: Scaffolding and support for focal activity differentiated according to English language development levels (row 3 of differentiation template).

19. What other kinds of scaffolding and support might we provide our focal ELLs? • Use of L1: Preview-view-review • Cognates • Language experience approach • Other strategies

20. 5. What assessments can we use to collect evidence of student learning? • Performance-based assessments of what students can do in each of the activities you have organized, with attention to what they can do with support and in collaboration with their more capable peers, and what they can do independently (observations, samples of student work). • In some cases, the assessments that you use might be common assessments that all teachers use to generate common evidence of what their students know and can do with content and language relative to common goals, objectives, and benchmarks. These common assessments might be included in the students’ pivotal portfolio (Gottlieb & Nguyen, 2007)

21. A Sample of Julia’s Writing Before deforestation. The rainforest is very beautiful and there are many trees and birds and animals. The habitat is very beautiful. After deforestation. They cut the trees and they make money but they kill the bird habitat and they kill the animal habitat and there are too many death. The habitat is destroy. They must not kill too many trees. Step 1: Identify student strengths Step 2: Identify instructional needs Step 3: Identify instructional strategies

22. Taking it to Your Classes Activity Structure for Longer PD 1. Who are the ELLs in YOUR class? • Language backgrounds, L1 literacy, prior schooling, ELP levels, other factors  can-do descriptors, special education considerations… 2. What are your goals and objectives? • Give assignments for elementary, middle school, high school teachers Use sample assignments in Fairbairn and Jones-Vo (2010), and/or actual assignments teachers use in their classes. • Identify the language-based expectations for English speakers and work backwards through the template with attention to what your focal students can do. 3. What is likely to be challenging about these goals and objectives for your students? • Identify the concrete (content, language, literacy, cultural) challenges your students are likely to face Chapter 8 in Fairbairn and Jones-Vo (2010) also attends to special education considerations for ELL s (Hamayan, Marler, Sanchez-Lopez, & Damico, 2007). 4. What instructional strategies can you use?  Use the differentiation template, poster, your knowledge of “best practices” for your students to support your work. 5. What evidence of student performance can you collect?  Classroom-specific and/or common assessments Step Identify the scaffolding and support that YOUR ELLs would need to succeed in this assignment. Prepare to share your work Step 5: Strategies to promote collaboration • ELL Differentiation Communique for Teachers • Cumulative Folder; Pivotal Portfolio

23. Basic Steps for Differentiation Know the ELD level of your ELLs and other important background factors (language background, L1 literacy, prior schooling, special ed considerations) Know your curriculum/content standards Design outcomes by applying relevant assignment/assessment strategies to student ELP level while addressing same content standards Support student success with instruction differentiated according to students’ ELD levels. Collect performance-based evidence to demonstrate student learning (growth and achievement).

24. 6. How can we use this strategic approach to… • Encourage collaboration among collaboration among general education and ESL teachers • Drive professional development • Inform conversation about authentic assessment of ELL growth and achievement Think-pair-share.

25. Clarifying the Roles of the Content and Language Teachers • LANGUAGE TEACHER • Language objectives • Language assessments • Differentiated according to ELD , L1 literacy,ed background • CONTENT TEACHER • Content objectives • Same for all students • Content assessments • Language objectives • Differentiated according to ELD level, L1 literacy, ed background • Points of Collaboration • ELD Standards • Language of the content areas • Language objectives • Differentiation strategies for ELLs • Common formative assessments • (e.g., rubrics, pivotal portfolios)

26. Three overarching factors that contribute to collaboration • Training: the entire school must “speak the same language” • Sustaining high academic expectations • All teachers use sheltered instruction strategies • All lessons in content areas have both language development objectives and content goals • Time: how to provide time in which to collaborate • Relationships: territoriality often impedes effective collaboration • Creating a school environment where all cultures and all kinds of expertise are valued Echevarria, 2012 and Diaz-Rico, 2012

27. Taking it to our Classrooms • What stood out? • What did you learn? • What can you use? • What questions do you have?