Title: Building Consensus on Effective Instructional Strategies for English Language Learners with Disabilities
1Building Consensus on Effective Instructional
Strategies for English Language Learners with
Disabilities
- July, 2007
- Martha Thurlow and Kristi Liu
N C E O
National Center on Educational Outcomes
2NCLB State Assessments
- State assessments must provide for the
participation of all students, including students
with disabilities or limited English proficiency
3No mention of English language learners with
disabilities!
4What Do We Know About ELLs with Disabilities?
- Population 357,325 in 2002-2003 (9 of ELLs)
- Numbers increasing with rapidly growing
population - More ELLs instructed in mainstream courses taught
in English -- tendency increased for students
with disabilities
5Simply putting ELLs with disabilities in the
mainstream classroom with standards-based content
does not guarantee they learn the material!
6Test scores show limited achievement for these
students
7NCLBInstructional Strategies
-
- Teachers must use scientifically based
instructional strategies to teach challenging
academic content to all students.
8LEP/IEP Strategies Project
- PROJECT PURPOSE
- To provide research-based knowledge to
educators on the topic of instructional
strategies that help middle school ELLs with
disabilities achieve in standards-based content
classrooms
9CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK Adapted from Iowa Area
Education Agency 267, 2004
10Study Phases
- Phase I Review of instructional strategies
described in state standards and supporting
documents - Phase II (1) Educator consensus-building to
develop lists of recommended strategies (2)
Validation of recommended strategies via Delphi
review (3) interviews online surveys with
principals - Phase III Dissemination
11Phase I 50 State Standards Review
- RESEARCH QUESTIONS
- Do states recommend instructional strategies in
reading, mathematics, or science for ELLs with
disabilities? - What is the nature of the instructional
strategies being recommended in general, and for
ELLs with disabilities? - How are the strategies communicated to educators?
12Definition of Strategy
- A set of systematic activities used by a teacher
that contains explicit steps to achieve a
specific student outcome. This set of steps must
be replicable by another individual in order to
be considered a strategy.
13For further clarification
- In this study a strategy is not
- A student generated strategy that requires no
instruction - A student learning strategy acquired through
instruction - An approach (i.e., a combination of
teaching/learning strategies) - An assessment activity used to determine
placement in or progress through curriculum
(e.g., curriculum based measurement) - A principle of good teaching (e.g., planning
activities before instruction, during
instruction, after instruction) - Spur of the moment spontaneous activities
suggested by a "teachable moment"(Barrera Liu,
2005)
14Process
- Collected standards and supplementary
instructional documents on Internet (e.g.,
frameworks, teaching resources) - Verified accuracy and completeness with state
directors - Coded documents analyzed results
15Phase I Findings
- 69 total strategies 48 directly connected to a
standard - 1 strategy for ELLs with disabilities
(neurological impress method) - 11 strategies for ELLs
- 36 strategies for students with disabilities
- 21 strategies for general education students
16Findings cont.
- Limited research base on ELLs with disabilities
reflected in lack of references in state
documents - Existing studies and articles on topic not cited
- Most strategies cited related to reading
strategies for students with disabilities - Some strategy descriptions varied across states
(e.g., KWL)
17Phase 2 Teacher Consensus Building
- Research Question
- In schools throughout the U.S. that are making
greater than average progress with English
language learners, what instructional strategies
do teachers recommend for improving the academic
achievement of middle and junior high school
English language learners with disabilities in
standards-based content instruction?
18Multi-Attribute Consensus Building (MACB)
19Participants (n67)
2010 Schools Making AYP
21Phase II Importance of Content Areas
22Reading Strategies
-
- Chunking and questioning aloud (11)
- Relating reading to student experiences (11)
- Using visuals (5)
- Teacher modeling (3)
- Checking background knowledge (2)
- Choral reading (2)
- Literature circles (2)
- Multiple reading (2)
- Predictions (2)
- Pre-reading survey of text (2)
- Vocabulary building (2)
23Curriculum-based Probe
- Proponent
- I think its very important that you need to
know where the child is at in order to keep
going. You cannot keep going unless you know
where the child is. So you have to constantly
assess, even if its informal, it works. - Opponent
- I remember doing these as a child, kind of
being tested like this in such a quick time
frame. And then you know, it even says reach
frustration level. And I, I just It frustrates
me and it hurts me, and it makes me sad to just
think that you have to test them to the point of
frustration that such a time limit. Imagine being
ELL and Special Ed at the same time trying to do
this.
24Math Strategies
-
- Daily re-looping of previously learned material
(11) - A student-developed glossary (11)
- Teacher think-alouds (11)
- Using manipulatives (8)
- Relating mathematics to real life (7)
- Using visuals (4)
- Drill and practice (2)
- Hands-on participation (2)
- Teacher modeling (2)
- Simplifying problems (2)
25Science Strategies
-
- Modeling/teacher demonstration (11)
- Using pre-reading strategies in science (11)
- Using pictures to demonstrate steps (11)
- Hands-on participation (6)
- Graphic organizers (4)
- Student-made models (4)
- Vocabulary development (3)
- Personal interest research (2)
26Phase II findings
- No common understanding of what a strategy is.
- In general teachers were neutral or positive
about all strategies. - Use of the native language was not mentioned
frequently
27- The top three strategies varied little across
types of teachers. - Curriculum-based probes or Curriculum based
measurement was the most variable -
28Phase III Principal Interviews
- Research Question
- How and to what degree are state standards that
specify instructional strategies translated into
practice by educational leaders at the school
level?
29Procedure
- Semi-structured interviews with 10 principals
- 5 in high ELL states
- 5 in low ELL states
- stratified random sample
- Schools that made AYP in 2003-2004 with ELLs
- Four geographic areas
- Same schools where teacher groups took place
30Interview Questions
- Questions covered the following issues for ELLs
with disabilities - Instructional issues
- Teacher use of strategies contained in state
standards other documents - Sources of teacher information on instructional
strategies - School or district-provided information on
strategies - School needs related to instructional strategies
31Instructional Issues Listed by Principals
32Many principals believe state standards and
supporting documents provide no information on
instructional strategies for this population
- State documents and strategies are not
connected
33What do principals and teachers rely on for
instructional strategy information?
34Teaching models with packaged materials
- Our school has just adopted the SIOP Model for
teaching ESL kids.It has all the strategies for
reading and writing and they are research based.
Our ESL teachers use them for lesson planning and
designing many other class activitiesWe have the
SIOP Model book
35- We take an interest in differentiated
instruction and that really takes on the aspect
of all students and different types of
learningone of the strategies is to make a
menu-type of assignment where they will have like
an appetizer, and they will have a main course
and a dessert and under each of those categories
there are different assignmentsThe ESL students
have been doing things like bringing in food and
clothing and that could be a part of their
assignment
36Locally developed curriculum maps
- We look at the state standards and those are
ourwe have curriculum maps that are taught
around thoseThe curriculum maps were then
developed based upon the state standards, so the
teachersits been dictated, its not a choice,
you have to follow these curriculum maps. And
the curriculum maps have a pacing scale to
themThe teachers are refer to the curriculum
maps, not to state standards.
37ESL or Bilingual Specialists
- P1 We rely heavily on name, District
Specialist, and she has provided various
trainingsShe is very thorough, professional, and
efficient - P2 Our ELL teacher as well as our reading
teacher, they spent a lot of time training the
staff
38Locally Provided Professional Development
- P1 We had a five year grant in the district for
professional development for regular teachers.
During thatgrant, we did the training with staff
across the district - P2 Teachers are always getting trained, we have
professional development programs, money, and
incentives, ESL Summer Institutefor the teachers
who could not attend it we have a back up
program, we have good college connections and
good relationships with curriculum people in the
district
39District Resources
- Our district provides specific strategies for
ELL and special ed students and our teaching
staff follow them and adapt them
40Mixture
- We do a lot of strategies. That is just a given
with our school. We go through many different
areas that have been highlighted, especially in
the area of sheltered instruction for our
students, scaffolding, we do a lot with
techniques that the state sees very important for
us to work withIll say that our school here
pretty much across the board implements many
different strategies to help ELL students
outanywhere from brain-based learning to
Renaissance to reading strategies -
41Phase III Findings
- Most principals in our study were relatively
uninvolved in directly translating instructional
strategies to practice. - Much of the strategy guidance came from packaged
curricula or professional development programs,
from district specialists, or from building
specialists.
42Preliminary Project Findings
- State documents do not provide a great deal of
guidance - Teachers generated a list of untargeted
strategies - Principals often delegate instructional decisions
for these students
43- Teachers may not have strong building-level
leadership on teaching ELLs with disabilities - Few information sources teachers rely on address
the specific needs of ELLs with disabilities - Its unclear how many of sources of information
are research based.
44NCEO Resources
www.nceo.info Kristi Liu, (612.626.9061) kline010_at_
umn.edu Martha Thurlow, (612.624.4826)
thurl001_at_umn.edu