Designing Programs to meet the needs of

Long Term English Learners

Laurie Olsen, Ph.D.Californians Together

Review: LTEL characteristics

• Weak language in both L1 and L2• Accumulated academic gaps• Non-engagement, passivity in classes and

school learning• Years of struggling academically• Often unsure of how they are doing and

implications for their future

Basic Principles!• Focus upon distinct needs• Language development is more than

literacy development – LTELs need both• Language development + Academic gaps• Crucial role of home language• Invite, support, insist that LTELs become

active participants in their own education

• Maximum integration without sacrificing access

• Rigor, relevance, active engagement and empowering pedagogy

• Relationships matter• An affirming, inclusive environment• Urgency!

A secondary school recommendation• Specialized ELD – separate from other ELs• Clustered in heterogeneous classes for content• Explicit language/literacy development across

the curriculum – and SDAIE strategies for access• Focus on study skills, critical thinking• Data chats, preparation, accommodations• Programs, activities, student leadership to

create an affirming school climate• Native speakers classes (through AP)

Comparison between EL groups over time

Seems to be power in SNS that is both Spanish literacy AND enhances English skills

• Explicitly links transferability of cognitive skills, cognitive and vocabulary development, academic language, writing structures, rigorous writing assessment

• Is aligned to state English language arts standards• Solid preparation for AP language and AP literature• Focused on high level of oral, reading and writing

skills - while enhancing English skills• Includes cultural focus and empowering pedagogy

Instruction matters…..

• Differentiation• Checks for understanding• Accountability/engagement• Standards-based• Maximum language development structures

and practices

Two Secondary School Case Examples

Ventura Unified School DistrictModesto City Schools

Ventura Unified School District

• Serves 17,331 students, K-12• Close to 20% English Learners• 90% of English Learners speak Spanish at

home• 87% of secondary ELs are LTEL; 79% been

enrolled since K/1

Fact finding…..Focus groups and behavioral survey

• Start early to be sure on track for graduation• Very low frequency of reading outside of

school• Not sure what means to be an EL or to exit• Insufficient ELD curriculum• Problems with student placement• Teachers lacked resources and training

VUSD: Key elements of the action plan…

English Learner courses revised based on student needsELD course sequence rewritten ELD 4 and SDAIE courses are “UC/CSU accepted”Specific placement criteria for all courses based on

multiple criteriaTwo period block of instruction for ELD coursesAppropriate curriculum (Hampton Brown’s Edge for

ELD) and technologyPacing guides and assessment routines

Professional Development• Teambuilding and ongoing support for EL teachers from

all content areas using Teaching English Language Learners – A Differentiated Approach by Doug Fisher and Nancy Frey 2007

• Stipends, catered by culinary arts program• Technology as “hook” and support• “Fishbowl” approach• Coaching support for teachers and Asst. Principals – “the

secret weapon” • Year Two WRITE training for ELD and English teachers• WRITE support for content area teachers• SB472 Training for Edge

Multilingual Recognition Seal on VUSD High School Diplomas

beginning in June, 2009

awarded over 150 seals

Student “Pep” TalksThis action step brings students into the conversation regarding

their progress as English Learners.

* About the ELD program; * About new courses and materials; * UC approval for courses; * Reclassification criteria; * Multilingual SEAL criteria; * CELDT, CST and CAHSEE target scores and strategies for success

Working Across Campus to Build Students’ Assets

Bilingual Opportunities Pathway Program Two New Courses:

Spanish for Careers in the Community and Spanish for International Careers

Title III Improvement Plan Addendum “Operation Prevent LTELs”

• Middle School – Articulation, program revision, Inside curriculum, PLC meetings, coaching, observations, technology, Pep Talks

• 4th and 5th Grade - Pep Talks and book clubs • PIQE series for families at Program Improvement

schools• VUSD K-12 assessment plan + RtI model• “Common Sequence of Language Functions” for K-

5 ELD

Results so far….

• Substantial increase in reclassification rates at pilot high schools (from 14% to 20.9% - compared to district average 9.1% - 9.5%)

• Improved growth on CELDT (from 44.9% moving 1 level to 60.9%; from 22.2% achieving proficiency to 26.8%)

Increase in LTEL scoring “Proficient” 2007 - 2008 2008 - 2009

Language Arts Math Language Arts Math

Pilot School A

8.7% 17.4% 25% 32.7%

Pilot School B

11.3% 33.3% 17.5% 33.3%

Routines and Structures Support Success

•Monthly Updates at K-12 Principals’ Meetings

•Monthly VUSD English Learner Coordinating Council Meetings lead by Superintendent

•Principals’ Checklists

•Compliance Readiness Review Cycle

•Catch-Up Plans

More to do…….

• VUSD grading committee to revise policy and promote best practices

• Master Schedule Issues - Consideration of 7-period day

• Expansion of Two-Way Immersion Program• Focus on AYP proficiency for 10th grade English

Learners and RFEP students

Case Example:Modesto

• K-8 and 9-12 DistrictsTitle I Program Improvement Status Year 3

• K-8 District Title III Year 5 of not meeting all AMAO goals

• 9-12 DistrictTitle III Year 4 of not meeting all AMAO goals

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MCS Title I and Title III STATUS2008 - 2009

Who are our English Learners?

# Years in

US School2008 - 2009 Grades 7-12

Language Institute

Tier I

Tier II

1

2

(92) 3%

Tier III

Tier IV

3

4(178) 7%

5+ Program 5

Or more(2,344) 90%

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Language Institute Tier I - IV

• High School hosted at one site• Jr. High hosted at one site

• As determined by an Individual Learning Plan may need:

a. 5th year option (for HS graduation)b. longer dayc. summer school

• Grade levels would be mixed

Course Terminology

• ELD Strategic English Language Development to increase the student’s English proficiency

• ALDAcademic Language Developmentstrategically focused on developingacademic language through intensive writing instruction

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Terminology cont.

Spanish for Spanish Speakers

Correlated with the Spanish Language ArtsStandards and English Language ArtsStandards in order to promote literacy in both primary language and English throughexplicit transference

If student is not Spanish speaking, then elective that islanguage based, such as, drama, speech, choir,computer based primary language program, orother foreign language.

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National Literacy Panel

www.cal.org/natl-panel/reports/executive_summary.pdf

5+ Program (LTEL)7th & 8th Grade

Period Course

1 ELA READ 180

2 ALD READ 180

3 Spanish for Spanish Speakers

4 Math

5 Science

6 SS

7 PE28

5+ Program9th Grade

Period Course

1 ELA READ 180

2 ALD READ 180

3 Spanish for Spanish Speakers

4 Math

5 Earth Science

6 PE

7 Elective (A-G) : Visual Performing Arts, Support, or AVID 29

NOTE:World Religions/Health classes in summer school or senior year.

Computers in any fouryears, summer school, or test out

OR

Differentiated placement in 9th gr.

• 2 period block of Read 180, using L book by Kate Kinsella (accepted as ELD) with a bilingual paraprofessional (for students who are really intensive and struggling at all levels academically) – for Freshman year only

• High end of Below Basic/low Basic ELA + ALD • Advanced or Proficient on ELA-CST opt out of ALD and are monitored

Other Districts journeys…..

• Escondido Union High School District (ELD Monitoring, Spanish for Native Speakers, Bridging Multiple Worlds, Saturday school, WRITE Institute units)

• San Francisco Unified School District (New Lau Action Plan)

• District EL Master Plan describes research-based program models for different typologies of EL students (or site)

• Specify a LTEL program and appropriate placements

• Support development of new courses where necessary

• Provide materials and professional development – as high priority for use of resources

• System of monitoring placements

Action Steps

Reflection/Dialogue

• How does this compare to what LTELs are getting in your school(s)?

• What seems most interesting/promising to you about what you have heard?

• Which of these ideas seem do-able to you?• Which of these ideas seem promising but you

feel would be very difficult to make happen in your school(s)? Why?

Programs toPrevent the creation of LTELs

Quick review:• Need for program consistency in placement• Need for well-articulated programs• Need for English Learner services (incl. ELD)• Importance of developing L1 along with English• Need to assure access to academic content while

learning English so no gaps develop• Need a full curriculum• Need to monitor and identify students lagging

behind – triggering support

Children who start behind, stay behind….

• Skills in kindergarten predict academic achievement in later years

• Initial gaps in “readiness skills” between EL and English proficient children do not narrow by 3rd grade - and often grow

• Initial readiness gaps between ethnic groups widen by 3rd grade

• High quality preK contributes to meaningfully higher levels of school achievement among low SES children, including low SES Hispanics -- However, there is limited impact in the area of language development!

• Substantial short-term positive outcomes. But a Fade out effect of PreK and Full day Kinder (60-80% of cognitive gains dissipate by Spring of first grade - by 3rd grade mostly gone)

• For English Learners, the gap narrows but does not close as a result of preschool

• What is missing????

From the research:– Learning to speak and use language is a major task

of the early years - development of language is wired into the human brain

– There is a developmental continuum of language/literacy development in young children (birth to 8)

– Young children engaged in two language worlds have unique needs

Attention to PreK - K school “transition” and beyond

• Two different systems - little connection• Preparation for academic success - kindergarten

“readiness” is too low for academic success• The transition itself is a vulnerable time - need

strategies and policies to support transition• Period from ages 3 to eight is critical for language

development

The PreK-3 movement

• Public schools nationwide are increasingly serving more 4 year olds and even 3 year olds

• Instead of how to prepare children in ECE for K- view it as an articulated and connected schooling experience

• Systems based integrated approach• Move away from separate notions of ECE and K-12 -

focus on alignment (horizontal, vertical, temporal)

• Start with an early foundation of rich language development (PreK-3) in both English and the home language (where possible)

• Attention to the alignment, articulation and transition between preschool and elementary grades

• Make room for and provide professional development related to building a powerful ORAL language foundation for literacy

• Full curriculum – with language development across all content areas

A PreK-3 Case ExampleThe SEAL Model:

A solid foundation of early academic literacy for English

Learner successRedwood City

San Jose

Six foundational components of SEAL

• Academic language and literacy in English and Spanish

• Rich oral language development• Text-rich environment and curriculum• Language developed through enriched curriculum• Affirming learning environment

• Teachers and Parents working together

Preschool through third grade!

TWBI-ABE-SEI: Basic educational principles apply across early

education settings….• Language development should occur in context• Developmental/play based preschool• Emphasis on rich and “academic” oral language• L1 developed to extent can be done - and always honored• Resources for enriched environment and books/text• Parent/home/school connection • More TIME - full day programs, multi-year summer bridge

programs • Small ratios• Home visits (Parents as Teachers)

Use and work with local resources – but have to develop their understanding of language development

• Schmahl Science Workshops• Bilingual Authors• Early Childhood Language Development

Institute (SMCOE) for preschool providers and parents

• Young Audiences of Northern California• Triton Art Museum

Build connections across the PreK and K-3 systems

• Articulation meetings and visits PreK-K• Support families and children in transitioning

between and across the systems• Summer Bridge programs engage both grade-

levels working together in the NEW setting• Seek professional development, assessments and

strategies that can build similar learning conditions across the grades

• Through data, research & dialogue, build a SHARED VISION PreK - 3

The Evaluation/Research

• Dr. Kathryn Lindholm-Leary• Longitudinal design following cohorts of

students from entering preschool through third grade

• Data points/analysis - PreK entry, K entry, First grade entry, end of third grade

Data

• Pre LAS (language assessment scale) in both English and Spanish at start and end of preschool

• Desired Results Developmental Profile (DRDP-R) – CDE accountability measure for CDCs – in Fall 09 and Spring 10

• Initial CELDT at kindergarten enrollment• Evaluation focuses on Spanish speakers

The Population• Schools are more heavily Hispanic, English

Learner and Free/Reduced lunch than district, county and state

• SEAL Cohort has far lower level of parent education than average student in the state and Cohort 0 (baseline)

• SEAL students come from homes with very low income ($27,384/family of 4)

Major questions

• To what degree did the performance of SEAL preschool students improve during the 09/10 year?

• How do the SEAL Cohort I students compare to other students who are demographically similar to them?

• Is there a difference between students receiving English/SEI vs. bilingual instruction?

CONCLUSIONS

• Began with very low levels of development and language proficiency

• Variation across SEAL sites.• Regardless of starting point, all children made

significant gains at each school in all areas of development

• Excellent progress in Spanish language development, while continuing to make significant gains in English language development

• SEAL children far outscored Head Start comparison group in spring DRDP-R post-test

• SEAL children scored comparable or higher than all comparison groups –including a first grade dual language comparison group in both English and Spanish language development

• Children in both SEI/English and Bilingual programs made significant growth overall.

• Children in bilingual programs made greater growth, and scored equal to or higher than peers instructed through English (including on measures of reading and writing in English)

Now working in Kinder….

• Infusing intensive language-rich strategies into the core program

• Creating coherence – core program, direct instruction, GLAD, Anti-bias, SEAL strategies

• Introducing the arts (music, theater, art) as context for language development

• The huge problem of TIME in the day• The huge problem of TIME with teachers

Reflection/Dialogue

• How does this compare to what English Learners are getting in your school(s)?

• What seems most interesting/promising to you about what you have heard?

• Which of these ideas seem do-able to you?• Which of these ideas seem promising but you

feel would be very difficult to make happen in your school(s)? Why?

For all of these…..

• Professional development• Appropriate materials• Clarity about placement criteria• Clarity about program model• Adapting of daily schedule and master

schedule• Monitoring

We are all learning…..

• Collect data, conduct evaluations• Document what you are doing that works• Share what you are learning – at conferences,

through Californians Together

Thank you!

For more information, contact:Laurie Olsen, Director

Sobrato Early Academic Literacy ProgramLolsen@sobrato.org