Accountability in Language Minority Education

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Accountability in Language Minority Education

• Jill Kerper Mora, Ed.D.
• San Diego State University

A Workshop for the 10th Annual Administrator
Conference Sonoma County Office of
Education April 4, 2001
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Accountability FOR...

• 25 of the total school population classified as
  English Language Learners or limited English
  proficient students
• 38 of all students speak a language other than
  English in the home
• 32 of all students are Spanish/English bilingual
  learners

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The Federal Mandate

• Lau v. Nichols 1974 Equal access to core
  curriculum
• ELLs must achieve parity of participation
  within a reasonable amount of time
• Valeria G. v. Wilson 1998 Sequential versus
  simultaneous language academic content teaching
• Must recoup the deficits through intensive
  remedial programs
• The majority expresses its policy preference

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Normal Distribution CurveTwo Populations of
Students
NES
LEP
34 NPR
LEPLimited English Proficient NESNative English
Speakers
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Accountability to Language Minority Students

• Coherent program design based on sound
  theoretical and pedagogical models
• Fidelity to research-based schooling practices
  demonstrated to be effective with language
  minority populations
• School structures and program implementation
  policies that support effective teaching,
  collaboration and professional development for
  teachers
• On-going classroom assessments that inform
  instruction

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Accountability for Language Minority Students

• Language assessment and program placement
  procedures
• Measuring students progress in literacy and the
  content areas
• Assessments in students primary language
• Setting realistic goals and expectations for
  program performance

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Academic Needs of L2/Bilingual Learners
Content
Literacy
Language
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The Achievement Gap
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Theoretical Models for Language Minority
Student Education

• Affective, cognitive linguistic goals and
  objectives of each phase of instruction
• Cultural, linguistic pedagogical assumptions
  and their research base
• Purposes and uses of L1 L2 as the medium of
  instruction and for providing comprehensible
  input
• Use of effective second-language teaching
  methodology
• Grouping and placement procedures based on
  multiple forms of assessment

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Normal Distribution CurveA Band of Scores
68
95
99
0
-1?
1?
-2?
-3?
2?
3?
MEAN
? Standard Deviation
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SAT-9 SABE/2 Reading Scores
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Language Assessment

• Language assessment is a labor intensive and
  technical undertaking. Resources must be
  allocated for proper test administration and data
  collection
• Language assessment instruments tend to
  overestimate language ability at the lower levels
  and underestimate language ability in the upper
  ranges of scores.
• Teachers need professional development to
  properly interpret and utilize language
  assessment data

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ELL Program Placementand Redesignation

• Students individual academic progress must be
  tracked from grade to grade and disaggregated
  according to multiple criteria, both during and
  after ELL program enrollment
• Redesignation criteria must reflect the multiple
  components of academic progress and achievement
  based on multiple measures, including specific
  aspects of English language development, reading
  achievement, and writing proficiency

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Matching Programs to Students Developmental Needs

• Newcomers programs
• Bilingual dual language instruction
• English as a second language (ESL) and English
  language development (ELD)
• Literacy-focused instruction for orally
  proficient ELLs
• Specially Designed Academic Instruction in
  English (SDAIE)

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False Assumptions

• A second language is acquired quickly and easily
  when the L2 learner is not allowed to depend on
  his or her first language
• Oral proficiency in L2 is the basis for further
  learning. Therefore, once L2 oral proficiency is
  attained the bilingual advances academically like
  a monolingual learner.
• Content knowledge is stored and retrieved in the
  language in which it was learned.

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Faulty Program ModelsBased on False Assumptions

• No effort to utilize and build on L2 learners L1
  language proficiency
• Focus on short-term intensive L2 language
  instruction
• Decontextualized L2 language instruction
• L2 language instruction devoid of literacy and
  content instructional components
• Exaggerated expectations for rapid L2 acquisition
  and low expectations for mastery of literacy and
  content knowledge

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High, but Realistic, Expectations

• Progress in literacy achievement Near-native
  oral English proficiency and literacy learning
  will begin to converge for most students in fifth
  or sixth grade
• Monitor program effectiveness over time There is
  no quick fix
• Research on effective schooling practices for
  language minority students

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School Environment Factors in Effective Language
Minority Schooling

• A supportive school-wide environment in which
  students language and culture are valued
• A customized learning environment with special
  attention to linguistic factors in students
  academic achievement
• Some use of students native language and culture
  in instruction
• High levels of parental involvement and
  parental/community support for the program

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Instructional Factors in Effective Language
Minority Schooling

• A balanced and clearly articulated curriculum
  that incorporates both basic and higher-order
  thinking skills
• Explicit basic skills instruction with
  opportunities for practice and use of strategies
  to enhance understanding
• Highly qualified teachers who receive ongoing
  staff development and support
• Opportunities for student-directed activities
• Systematic student assessment and program
  evaluation

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Interpreting Standardized Test Scores for ELLs

• Does the student score low on the test because...
• s/he does not have sufficient English proficiency
  to understand the questions?
• s/he cannot read English?
• s/he does not know the academic content?
• s/he knows the academic content but simply cannot
  express their knowledge in the English language
  used in the test?

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Measuring Program Quality (Thomas Collier,
2001)

• The typical program for ELLs shows gains of 1-3
  NCEs per year. This equates to closing the
  achievement gap in 8-12 academic years.
• An effective program for ELLs gains from 4-6 NCEs
  per year. These programs can expect to close the
  achievement gap in 5-6 years.
• An outstanding program for ELLs gains from 7-9
  NCEs per year. These programs close the
  achievement gap in 3-4 years.
• Only 10 of all programs are deemed effective or
  outstanding.

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Expected Gains in English Language Proficiency

• Oral proficiency increases rapidly when students
  are given comprehensible input and opportunities
  to interact with proficient English speakers.
• Academic language proficiency required to express
  more abstract concepts develops over a longer
  period of time (5-7 years).
• Students begin to close the achievement gap only
  after several years of effective language and
  literacy instruction focused on their particular
  developmental needs.

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Supporting Effective Teaching

• A coherent and well-articulated curriculum with
  administrative coordination
• Teacher designed professional development with
  ample time for collaborative planning
• Appropriate and abundant instructional materials
  to address language, literacy and content
  instruction and inservice training on how to use
  them in an integrated and coherent fashion
• Appropriate student groupings and flexible
  scheduling to provide adequate time for learning.

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Curriculum Development Processfor English
Language Learners
State Content ELD StandardsSchool District
Content ELD Standards Instructional Objectives
Learning Outcomes Student Assessment Task
Analysis Design of Learning Activities
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The English Language Development Curriculum

• Has continuity, sequence progression in the
  level of linguistic and cognitive demands on
  students
• Is based on a variety of methods approaches to
  address language proficiency levels and learning
  styles
• Provides ample practice application of
  vocabulary, grammatical structures and meaningful
  communication skills

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Structured English Immersion

• An over-extended term that loosely describes a
  program for educating language minority students
  in English
• Intended to be a spiraling standards-based
  curriculum based on principles and research in
  second-language acquisition
• Utilizes ELD SDAIE approaches within an
  integrated language arts curriculum and thematic
  lesson design for content-area instruction

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English as a Second Language

• Uses second or foreign language teaching methods
• Content is the English language Specific points
  of grammar, syntax, and vocabulary
• Goal is to develop communicative competence for
  beginning L2 learners

Success
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English Language Development

• Focus is on language teaching using L2 methods
• Designed for lower levels of language proficiency
  
• Emphasis is on listening, speaking early
  literacy instruction
• Organized around themes based on academic
  standards in the content areas

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Specially Designed Academic Instruction in
English (SDAIE)

• Focuses on teaching content (social studies,
  math, science, etc.) with modifications for
  intermediate language proficiency
• Strong emphasis on developing conceptual
  understanding and L2 literacy
• Maintains high expectations, but assumes a lag in
  development of native-speaker equivalent language
  and academic skills

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Rising to the Challenge

• Advocating for sound and effective education
  policies
• Acquiring human, material and fiscal resources
• Seeking teachers expertise and input
• Supporting coherent program implementation for
  English Language Learners