Assisting, Collaborating, and Training ESL Secondary Content Teachers

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Assisting, Collaborating, and Training ESL
Secondary Content Teachers

• ACT-ESL
• Virginia Commonwealth University
• School of Education
• Project Director Dr. Seonhee Cho

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General Grant Information

• Funding Source U.S. Department of Education
  (OELA Office of English Language Acquisition)
• Grant Type National Professional Development
• Grant Project Year 5 years (2007-2012)
• Grant Money 1.2 Million
• Partner LEA Chesterfield County Public Schools

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Chesterfield County Public Schools

• Fast growing ELL population (600 increase in the
  past 10 yrs.)
• 6 secondary ESL-centered schools and will open 2
  more schools next year
• 80-90 of ELLs have Hispanic and
  socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds.
• SOL passing rate is 20 lower on average (ELL vs.
  All)

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ACT-ESL Major Activities
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Why do Secondary Content-area Teachers Need
Training?

• Basic Interpersonal Skills (BICs 6 mons.-2 yrs.)
  vs. Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency
  (CALP 4-8 yrs.) (Collier, 1989Cummins, 1980)
• All ELLs after their first year in U.S. school
  system are mandated to take high-stakes tests
  with the same expectation of academic standards.
• High school diploma awarded only to students who
  pass SOL tests.
• Simultaneous approach to academic content and
  language
• Depth and breadth of content knowledge, and
  discipline-specific and cognitively-demanding
  academic language (Chamot OMalley, 1994)
• Placements of ELLs in a low academic and
  non-college bound track
• Content-area teachers area lack of experience
  and training to work with ESL students Rare
  collaboration beyond teachers disciplinary and
  less participation in interdisciplinary training
  (Harklau, 1999)
• v The role of content-area teachers is critical
  in ELLs academic achievements. Thus, ACT-ESL
  provides summer training to secondary
  content-area teachers using ESL instructional
  strategies.

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1. Goal, Objectives, Activities

• Goal 1 To conduct an ESL instruction summer
  intensive training for in-service content-area
  teachers.
• Performance Objectives 1 In each of the first
  four years, approximately 52 in-service teachers
  in Math, Science, English/Language Arts, and
  Social Studies/History will be trained to use ESL
  instructional strategies.
• Activities 1 Recruitment of project staff
  recruitment of in-service teachers who will work
  with ESL students in the following years
  development of summer institute curriculum
  modules and instructional course content
  developing pre-and post-surveys to measure
  trainees newly acquired knowledge and skills
  development of course evaluation survey
  development of rubrics to assess resource books.

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Why does Teacher Training Need Follow-ups?

• One-shot lectures or demonstrations unrelated to
  teachers experiences, prior knowledge, interests
  and concerns are inefficient.
• ?Integrate teachers concerns and experiences by
  actively engaging them in their learning process.
• Intended change in a real classroom will not
  occur without appropriate follow-ups (Gordon,
  2004 Lieberman Miller, 1999).
• ? Provide follow-ups and assistance of
  implementation until teachers try out new skills
  and integrate them into their practice.
• v ACT-ESL training adopts a long term in-service
  training model and views teachers as a resource
  and their current teaching practices as a point
  of departure for advancement, enhancement and
  changes.

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2. Goal, Objectives, Activities

• Goal 2 To conduct year long follow-ups with
  technical assistance.
• Performance objectives 2 Starting from the
  second (fiscal) year, all trainees who completed
  summer training will receive one-on-one technical
  coaching 3 times (twice in fall and once in
  spring) and a post-seminar at the end of year.
• Activities 2 Recruitment of technical
  assistants training technical assistants
  technical coaching (classroom observations and
  feedback) planning and hosting a post-seminar.

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Why Should Professional Learning Communities
Develop?

• Externally imposed short-term change program is
  not effective in a long run, damaging teachers
  long-term commitment to their work (Hargreaves,
  2003).
• ? Developing professional learning communities is
  the most effective way to engage teachers in
  change and change of school culture (Gordon,
  2004).
• ? Secondary content teachers compartmentalization
  and disciplinary boundary can help create
  professional learning communities within the same
  disciplinary group.
• v The concept of building professional learning
  communities resonates with the ultimate purpose
  of the grant, which is building capacity and
  yielding results that will last beyond the period
  of federal financial assistance.

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3. Goal, Objectives, Activities

• Goal 3 To develop professional learning
  communities related to ESL instruction.
• Performance Objectives 3 Starting the end of
  year 2, an annual teaching demonstration fair,
  and conference presentations and workshops
  conducted by trainees will be supported. In
  addition, self-directed and assisted action
  research and study groups will be facilitated
  through financial support and research
  assistance.
• Activities 3 Annual teaching demonstration fair
  conference and workshop presentations action
  research paper study groups.

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Projected Benchmarks of ACT-ESL
Major Target Performance Objectives related to goals Yr. 1 Yr. 2 Yr. 3 Yr. 4 Yr. 5 Total
Summer Institute Participants (n 52 per year ) 52 52 52 52 N/A 208
Technical Assistant Training (n4 per year) 4 4 4 4 N/A 16
Classroom Observations (n 52 X 3 times156) N/A 156 156 156 156 624
Post-Seminar Participants (n52) N/A 52 52 52 52 208
Demonstrators at Teaching Demonstration Fair N/A 12 12 16 16 56
Conference Presentations/Demonstration N/A N/A 8 12 16 36
Study Group/Action Research N/A N/A 8 12 16 36