Helping English Learners Meet High Standards

1. Helping English Learners Meet High Standards Diane August Managing Research Scientist June 2012

2. Presentation Overview • The need to improve educational outcomes for English learners (ELs) • Guiding principles for helping ELs meet high standards • Examples based on a model EL lesson: Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address This work was partially supported by DSF Consulting LLC with funds from the NY State Board of Regents.

3. The Need to Improve Educational Outcomes for English Learners • There is a large gap between ELs and native English speaking students in all subjects. • Average 8th grade scale scores for the 2009 National Assessment for Educational Progress assessment:

4. 1. Select Grade Appropriate Standards and Text • Collaboration between content area teachers and ESL specialist to select grade appropriate standards • From the beginning, expose ELs to text at grade-appropriate levels. • For ELLs, text at instructional/independent reading levels can also be used to teach grade appropriate skills.

5. 1. Select Grade Appropriate Standards and Text Quantitative: word length or frequency; sentence length; and text cohesion Qualitative: levels of meaning or purpose; structure; language conventionality and clarity; and knowledge demands Reader and Task: specific to particular readers (e.g., motivation, knowledge, and experiences) and to particular tasks (e.g., purpose and the complexity of the task) From: National Governors Association Center for Best Practices & Council of Chief State School Officers (2010, p. 4)

6. 1. Select Grade Appropriate Standards and Text • Quantitative: Lexile Bands • https://lexile.com/

7. 1. Select Grade Appropriate Standards and Text • Example: The Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln

8. 1. Select Grade Appropriate Standards and Text • Quantitative: Coh-Metrix (University of Memphis) • http://cohmetrix.memphis.edu/ Type in the text title Choose the text genre Note the source of the text Name the job (for later look-up) Select a discourse type Paste the text into the box Click on “submit”

9. 1. Select Grade Appropriate Standards and Text • Important Quantitative Output File Measures

10. 1. Select Grade Appropriate Standards and Text • Qualitative Measures of Text Complexity* • Text with multiple levels of meaning • Distortions in organization of text (e.g. time sequences) • Sophisticated figurative language • Significant use of variations to standard English • Specialized or technical content knowledge assumed/required • Limited use of text features and graphics to cue the reader • Extensive and unfamiliar general and domain-specific vocabulary • Use of language that is archaic *From: Fisher, D., Frey, N., & Lapp, D. (2012) Text complexity: Raising rigor in reading. Newark, DE: International Reading Association.

11. 2. Provide Additional Support for ELs • ELs need additional support because they are learning language and content at the same time. • Additional support is a legal obligation (Lau v. Nichols). • Methods: • Scaffold instruction so it is comprehensible. • Develop academic language associated with key subject areas.

12. 2. Provide Additional Support for ELs Scaffolding Example–Students engage in activities to build background knowledge about the Gettysburg Address prior to reading it. • Watch a video clip of an actor playing Abraham Lincoln deliver the Gettysburg Address • Read about the Gettysburg Address • Watch a video clip about Abraham Lincoln • Do an interactive reading about the Civil War • Do an interactive reading about the Declaration of Independence (a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal).

13. 2. Provide Additional Support for ELs Scaffolding Example –Students engage in interactive reading of the Gettysburg Address and have access to glossed vocabulary; students answer questions with sentence frames that can be adapted for different levels of language proficiency. • 1. What does Lincoln mean by “four score and seven years ago’? Four score and seven years ago means______ years ago. 87

14. 2. Provide Additional Support for ELs • 2. What does Lincoln mean by “our fathers”? • By “our fathers” Lincoln means ___________________________. • 3. What nation was brought forth or created four score and seven years before the Gettysburg address? • _________________was brought forth or created. the men who founded the United States The United States

15. 2. Provide Additional Support for ELs • 4. The new nation was conceived in liberty. What does the phrase “conceived in liberty” mean? • “Conceived in liberty” means that _____________________. • 5. The nation was “dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal” What does the proposition or idea “all men are created equal” mean? • “All men are created equal” means that ______________________. it was created to be free everyone has the same rights and freedoms.

16. 2. Provide Additional Support for ELs Academic Language Example –Students receive direct instruction in key/high frequency vocabulary

17. 2. Provide Additional Support for ELs Academic Language Example –Students engage in a functional analysis of the text to help them unpackcomplex sentences

18. 2. Provide Additional Support for ELs

19. 2. Provide Additional Support for ELs

20. 2. Provide Additional Support for ELs

21. 2. Provide Additional Support for ELs

22. 2. Provide Additional Support for ELs

23. 2. Provide Additional Support for ELs

24. 2. Provide Additional Support for ELs

25. 2. Provide Additional Support for ELs

26. 3. Develop ELs’ Foundational Skills • ELs have varied levels of first and second language proficiency and content area knowledge. • It is crucial to ensure that ELs acquire skills and knowledge that are precursor to those at grade-level. • Methods include: • Assessing ELs’ first and second language proficiency and content area knowledge. • Vertically aligning skills and knowledge for each anchor standard to determine what precursor skills and knowledge might need development. • Developing these skills and knowledge along with grade level skills and knowledge.

27. 3. Develop ELs’ Foundational Skills Example –CCSS Writing Standards • W. 2.7 Participate in shared research and writing projects. • W. 3.7 Conduct short research projects that build knowledge about a topic. • W. 4.7 Conduct short research projects that use several sources to build knowledge through investigation of different aspects of a topic. • W. 5.7 Same as Grade 4 • W. 6.7 Conduct short research projects to answer a question, drawing on several sources and refocusing the inquiry when appropriate. • W. 7.7 Conduct short research projects to answer a question, drawing on several sources and generating additional related, focused questions for further research and investigation.

28. 4. Recognize that First Language Skills and Knowledge Are a Resource • Bilingualism is a valuable asset in itself. • Students transfer knowledge and skills from one language to another and as such it is a valuable resource for learning a second language. • Develop programs that promote bilingualism • To help students acquire English, craft lessons that build on these skills and this knowledge. • Help students acquire strategies that enable them to bootstrap on their previous knowledge and skills.

29. 4. Recognize that First Language Skills and Knowledge Are a Resource L1 Example –Students read the Gettysburg Address with a partner in English or in Spanish. After reading, they note one thing they learned and one thing they would like to understand better.

30. 4. Recognize that First Language Skills and Knowledge Are a Resource L1 Example –Students haveaccesstobackgroundinformation in theirfirstlanguage

31. 4. Recognize that First Language Skills and Knowledge Are a Resource Strategies Example –Students learn to use cognate knowledge to increase comprehension

32. 4. Recognize that First Language Skills and Knowledge Are a Resource having to do with the activities of citizens civil civil to form an idea or bring something to life conceived concebido portion porción a part of a whole to be at the end of something; the last final final Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. (Teacher PP and student chart)

33. 5. Promote Collaboration and Coordination Coordination among teachers within schools across the content areas is critical for ELs’ success. • The CCSS require language arts teachers to incorporate more informational text. • The CCSS also require that literacy be developed in social studies/history, science, and technical subjects. • Both groups of teachers will benefit from the assistance of bilingual and ESL specialists. • Coordination should also be vertical across grade levels.

34. 5. Promote Collaboration and Coordination Example –Lessons that meet both ELA and Social Studies Standards

35. 6. Incorporate Peer Work and Peer Interaction • A second language is acquired through meaningful interactions with native speakers of the second language. • ELs benefit from regular and on-going classroom interactions with peers. • Interaction may be encouraged in several ways: • Partner talk--students talk together before answering question • Partner work--students work in pairs to complete an activity • Collaborative small group work--students work in groups to complete an activity

36. 7. Meet the Needs of Every Student in a Classroom • Assess for initial first and second language knowledge and skills and monitor progress. • Develop lessons that provide necessary support for ELs with different levels of proficiency. • Address other special learning needs: • Ensure students have access to Tier 2 and 3 interventions if necessary. • Develop lessons and activities for students who would benefit from coursework that exceeds grade-level expectations.

37. 7. Meet the Needs of Every Student in a Classroom _______________years before the Gettysburg address, the __________________________________ was signed. The signing ________________a new nation called the __________________. The nation was ______________ in ______________or created without force. The nation was _______________to the ______________ that all men are created ______________.

38. 8. Make Student Engagement a High Priority • Student engagement should remain front and center when designing and implementing methods and materials aligned with the CCS Standards. • Encourage students to become more active participants in their education by providing opportunities for: • Goal setting and achievement (students set learning goals at the beginning of lessons). • Collaboration with other students (see previous slide).

39. 9. Ensure that Methods and Materials Have a Strong Research Base • The CCSS provide new opportunities for educators to create appealing lessons. • It is essential that the methods and materials be based on sound theory and credible research. • Qualitative research can guide design: “When English is both a target and a medium of instruction the construction of curriculum knowledge has to progress hand-in-hand with the development of English” (Gibbons, 2003, p. 247). • Experimental studies inform us about effective practice. • Institute of Education Sciences What Works Clearinghouse (http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/) • August & Shanahan (2006, 2010)

40. 10. Extend and Expand Learning Opportunities • Extended learning • Give teachers additional time to create methods and materials that align with the standards. • Give ELs additional time to develop the background knowledge and skills they need to meet grade-appropriate standards. • Expanded learning • Involve families. • Involve other community-based organizations.

41. References • August, D. & Shanahan, T. (Eds.) (2006). Developing Literacy in Second-language Learners: Report of the National Literacy Panel on Language Minority Children and Youth. Mahway, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates • August, D., & Shanahan, T. (2010). Effective English literacy instruction for English learners. In F. Ong with V. Aguila (Eds.), Improving education for English learners: Research-based approaches (pp. 209-237). Sacramento, CA: California Department of Education. • Gibbons, P. (2003). Mediating language learning: Teacher interactions with ESL students in a content-based classroom. TESOL Quarterly, 37(2), 247-273. • National Governors Association Center for Best Practices, Council of Chief State School Officers (2010). Common core state standards for English language arts & literacy in history/social studies, science, and technical subjects: English language arts appendix A. Washington, DC: Author. Retrieved from: http://www.corestandards.org/the-standards

42. Questions and Discussion

43. Diane August E-Mail: daugust@air.org 1000 Thomas Jefferson Street NWWashington, DC 20007 General Information: 202-403-5000TTY: 887-334-3499 Website: www.air.org