Closing the Achievement Gap:

An ESL Reform Initiative

University of Northern Colorado TQE

Dr. Elizabeth Franklin, MLCS

Dr. Jenni Harding-Dekam, TE

Ms. Anne Ramírez, District 6

May 16, 2006

Thank you to the U.S. Department of Education and the Colorado Department of Education for funding to support this project.

Project Partners

• UNC College of Humanities and Social Sciences (English, Hispanic Studies/Undergraduate ESL/Mexican-American Studies, Social Science)

UNC College of Education and Behavioral Sciences (Teacher Education: Elementary Education,

Reading, Graduate ESL) Cumbres (Hispanic Alumni Initiative for ESL and BE

teachers) Greeley/Evans District 6 Aims Community College Colorado Department of Education (Lynda Franco)

Four Goals of the Project

Increase the number of undergraduate and graduate students seeking and completing the ESL endorsement.

Revise the undergraduate ESL program. Infuse second language content into the elementary

and secondary education program so that all preservice teachers are prepared to work with second language learners.

Provide professional development activities and coaching for teachers at four elementary schools in District 6.

Goal 1: Increase the Number of Students Seeking an ESL Endorsement (From 60 to 200): increase students in Cumbres.

Undergrad Students Enrolled (Est.):

2002: 60 2003: 117 2004: 305 2005: 300 +

Undergrad Students Graduated:

2002: 13 2003: 29 2004: 37 2005: 40 (Awarded

May 2005) 2006: 34 (Awarded May

2006 ***)

The number of students seeking the ESL endorsement has increased 500% in three years.

Approximately 40% of the current ESL students are students of color (38% of the students in ESL methods during the 2005-2006 academic year are Latino; 2% are Asian-Pacific).

In 2002-03, 30 new students were recruited for Cumbres, a leadership program for students who want to be ESL or BE teachers; in 2004-5, 84 new students were recruited for Cumbres.

The retention of Cumbres students from 2003-2004 to 2004-2005 was 92.5%.

In 2004-2005, 23 Cumbres students graduated; 57% of these students were Hispanic. In 2005-2006, 27 Cumbres students graduated. In 2005-2006, 29 Cumbres students graduated; 69% of these students were students of color.

$325,901.50 in scholarships were given to students earning an ESL endorsement through spring 2006.

$246,814.35 in scholarships were given to undergraduate students earning an ESL endorsement.

$79,087.15 in scholarships were given to graduate students earning an ESL endorsement.

83.3% of the elementary ESL endorsement students have passed the PLACE since 1/1/2003. 87.5% have passed the PRAXIS since 1/1/2003 (41 students passed; 7 failed).

32 TQE scholarship recipients have taken the ESL PLACE; 27 have passed it (84%).

Goal 2: Revise the Undergraduate ESL Program

A new course, FL 395 Second Language Acquisition, was added to the ESL endorsement and has been taught five times.

The ESL methods course was revised to include more focus on research-based practices (e.g. SIOP). Students complete a pre-post survey.

The ESL practicum was revised with feedback from an advisory committee with District 6 supervisors and teachers. Students are now observed three times with the SIOP, they complete an oral language assessment of an ELL, and they complete a pre-post survey.

Evaluation of ESL Methods Course

On the pre-post survey given in fall 2004, there was an average gain of 1.2375 on a five point scale (27 students). Students demonstrated growth on every criteria.

On the pre-post survey given in fall 2005, there was an average gain of .9579 on a five point scale (38 students). Students demonstrated growth on every criteria.

Evaluation of ESL Practicum

ESL cooperating teachers were trained on the SIOP. In 2004-2005, ESL cooperating teachers were asked

to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the ESL practicum and the UNC ESL students. 8 teachers responded.

Teachers commented that the partnership is a good one; UNC students ask a lot of questions, are creative, enthusiastic and caring; course requirements are clear. This is an improvement from previous semesters.

Evaluation of ESL practicum

UNC students evaluated the ESL practicum in spring, 2005. 13 students completed the evaluation. All 13 students reported that the practicum was a valuable experience, that they liked their cooperating teachers, and that they learned from them.

In fall 2005, the comparison of pre and post scores on 29 components on the ELL content survey demonstrated that the ESL practicum students increased an average of 1.36 on a five point scale (from 3.46 to 4.82)in their perceptions of their effectiveness in working with ELLs.

Evaluation of ESL Practicum

On the Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP) during fall 2005, the average score on the third observation was 5.0/6.0 on lesson preparation, 2.57/3.0 on building background; 2.68/3.0 on comprehensible input; 4.1/5.0 on lesson delivery; and 3.47/4.0 on review and assessment.

On the oral language assessment during fall 2005, using 14 indicators of oral language proficiency, ELLs improved on 11.78 indicators.

Goal 3: Infuse second language content into the elementary and secondary education program so that all preservice teachers are prepared to work with second language learners.

Methods faculty completed 45-100 hours of professional development activities: 45 hours on second language acquisition with Lynda Franco, 7 hours on parent involvement with the Colorado Statewide Parents Coalition; 7 hours on parent involvement at the Summit on Parent Involvement; 15 hours with Beth Franklin and Priscilla Falcon on the SIOP and critical pedagogy; and 25 hours on the Mexican education system, curriculum and qualities of high achieving schools.

Results of Pre-Post Survey

Students in the methods completed a pre/post survey of perceptions of knowledge about effective practices in working with ELLs. There were two different surveys given; nine faculty completed one survey (24 items; 210 students) and 4 faculty completed the other survey (23 items; 73 students).

On the first survey, there was an average change of .41 on a five point scale. On the second survey, the average change was .65 on a five point scale.

The biggest change (.75) on the first survey involved understanding how to group students for instruction. There was over a .50 change with respect to understanding the importance of wait time, differentiated instruction, increasing interaction, connecting language and content, language objectives, and scaffolding.

For both surveys, there was positive growth on all items.

Results of the Exit Survey

A spring 2005 exit survey of 57 students who graduated in elementary education indicated that 87.7% agreed or strongly agreed that they were prepared work with families of diverse ethnicities. This is an increase from fall 2004 where 79% of the students (38 students) stated this.

In the spring 2005 exit survey, 66.6% of the students agreed or strongly agreed that they were prepared to teach ELLs. This is an increase from fall 2004 where 57.9% stated this.

The cooperating teachers (63) agreed or strongly agreed in a parallel survey that 95.2% of Block 2 UNC students were prepared to work with ethnically diverse families.

These same cooperating teachers agreed that 89.4% of the students were prepared to work with ELLs.

Of the 60 elementary students who completed Block 1 (the literacy/science block prior to student teaching) in fall 2005, 90% agreed or strongly agreed that they were prepared to work with families of diverse ethnicities; 85% agreed or strongly agreed that they were prepared to work with ELLs.

The survey of their cooperating teachers indicated that 90% (45 teachers) agreed or strongly agreed that the UNC students were prepared to work with ethnically diverse families; 85% of the teachers agreed or strongly agreed that the UNC students were prepared to work with ELLs.

Results of the Faculty Survey

On an open-ended survey, seven methods faculty commented that they:

feel more confident about answering student questions about ELLs

understand classroom management from a Latino perspective

developed units addressing ELL needs with respect to composition and literature

incorporated ESL assignments incorporated strategies for working with ELLS

incorporated group and oral language activities became more aware of how to integrate modifications

without watering down the curriculum.

Methods Faculty Revisions to Courses

Thematic unit lesson plans include an accommodation section specifically for ELLs.

Excerpts from the video, Enhancing English Language Learning in Elementary Classrooms, are shown.

A human graph is used to analyze empathy toward ELLs in the classroom and the community.

UNC students seeking an ESL endorsement are clustered in Block 2. The Cumbres cohort model is, therefore, continued.

Because of the professional development, conversations between faculty of color and Education faculty have increased.

Because of the professional development, faculty research in this area has increased (e.g. conference presentations, children’s book in press, research articles, classroom management book manuscript).

Goal 4: Provide professional development activities and coaching for teachers at four elementary schools in District 6.

80 District 6 teachers at four elementary schools received 45 hours of workshop instruction from Lynda Franco by spring 2004.

The course evaluations for the Franco workshops were strong (4.2-5.0) on a 5 point scale.

On the 24 item pre and post ELL content surveys, teachers had an average change of .58 on a 5 point scale. At two of the schools, the average change was .849 and .895.

During the 2003-2004 school year, 24 teachers at the four elementary schools were coached on their implementation of second language strategies. A 6 criteria rubric measured growth in classroom practice.

In 2003-2004, 15 teachers made growth on all six criteria. All 24 teachers made growth on some criteria. The average amount of change was .65 on a 3.33 scale.

In 2004-2005, 29 teachers were coached. The average amount of change in classroom practice was .55 on a 3.33 scale. All teachers made some growth.