EVIDENCE-BASED ENGLISH LITERACY INSTRUCTION FOR ENGLISH LEARNERS IN ELEMENTARY AND MIDDLE SCHOOLS

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Erin Chaparro, Ph.D.echaparr@uoregon.edu@EBISSErin on Twitter

WHAT IS THE OREGON K-12 LITERACY FRAMEWORK?

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The Oregon K-12 Literacy Framework

…is a blueprint…adopted by the State Board…for what schools in Oregon can do to help students develop the essential skill of reading.

Oregon Literacy Initiative

Superintendent Summer

Institute

Reading First Outreach PBIS

Response to Intervention

EBISS Essential Skill of

Reading

Oregon Diploma

Common Core State Standards

The Literacy Framework is aligned to recent and current Oregon initiatives that improve reading.

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OBJECTIVES OF THE FRAMEWORK

All students read at grade level or above as soon as possible after entering school.

All students continue to advance in grade-level reading skills each year across the instructional areas in grades 4-12.

All students reading below grade-level receive the strongest reading instruction and interventions possible to help them read at grade level.

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HTTP://OREGONLITERACYPD.UOREGON.EDU/

The primary question…

Is the system of instruction and support in our district/school meeting the needs of all of the students?

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SIX COMPONENTS OF THE FRAMEWORK

One Chapter for

Each Component

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IES PRACTICE GUIDE: 4 RECOMMENDATIONS

Teaching of Academic

Vocabulary

Oral and Written English

Language in Content-

Area Teachings

Regular & Structured Language

Opportunities

Small-group instruction

in literacy & language

when needed

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OVERVIEW OF IES PG RECOMMENDATIONS

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OVERVIEW OF IES PG RECOMMENDATIONS

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OVERVIEW OF IES PG RECOMMENDATIONS

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OVERVIEW OF IES PG RECOMMENDATIONS

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Steps for Carrying Out the Recommendation 4: Small Groups

1. Use an intervention program with students who enter first grade with weak reading and prereading skills, or with older students with reading problems.

2. Ensure that the program is implemented daily for at least 30 minutes in small, homogeneous groups of three to six students.

3. Provide training and ongoing support for the teachers and interventionists (reading coaches, Title I personnel, or paraeducators) who provide the small-group instruction.

4. Program training should focus on how to deliver instruction effectively, independent of the particular program. Emphasize that effective instructional techniques can be used in other programs and across other subject areas.

DEFINING ACADEMIC LANGUAGEAcademic language is:

Language used in academic settings and for academic purposes to help students acquire and use knowledge (Anstrom, et al., 2010)

Words and syntactic structures that students are likely to encounter in textbooks and tests, but not in everyday, spoken English (Strategic Education Research Partnership, 2010)

“The language used in the learning of academic subject matter in a formal schooling context; aspects of language strongly associated with literacy and academic achievement, including specific academic terms or technical language and speech registers related to each field of study.” (TESOL, 2003) 15

ACADEMIC VOCABULARY IN THE OLF & CCSSThe CCSS for English Language Arts & Literacy place

an explicit emphasis on the role of academic vocabulary.

Students are expected to be able to:Determine the meaning of general academic and domain-

specific words and phrases in a text relevant to a topic or subject area in that grade

Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on reading and content relevant for that grade (including the use and knowledge of affixes, root words, and word meanings)

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DEFINING ACADEMIC LANGUAGE

Academic language:Cannot be defined dichotomously (i.e., a student has mastered

it or has not) but exists on a continuum, with informal, casual conversation at one extreme and the formal, technical presentation of ideas at the other extreme

…and the lions they, um, live in the deserts of Africa and have to walk long ways to find food. There’s not much water either. They’re hot a lot.

Lions, also known as “kings of the jungle” inhabit the large, arid, deserts of Africa. Due to the sweltering temperatures and minimal water supply they often have to traverse long distances to find prey to hunt and water to drink

Casual, Informal Formal

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• Academic language requires knowledge in the following areas:–Understanding of the phonological features of English

–Lexical knowledge (e.g., vocabulary, word formation rules)

–Grammatical competence–Discourse–Cognition

Academic Language

Grammar

Vocabulary

Phonolog

y

DIFFERENT TYPES OF KNOWLEDGE NEEDED TO FOSTER ACADEMIC LANGUAGE

- (Scarcella 2003)

Discourse

Cognition

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CCSS Language Standards

Conventions of Standard Engli

sh

Vocabular

y

Phonology

Knowledge of

Language

ACADEMIC LANGUAGE IN CCSS

Academic Language

Grammar

Vocabulary

Phonolog

yDiscourse Cognition

Writing,

Speaking,

Listening,

Reading

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LANGUAGE PROGRESSIVE SKILLS, BY GRADE

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ALIGNMENT BETWEEN OLF, IES, & CCSS

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University of Oregon • College of Education • Center on Teaching and Learning

IES Elementary Grade English Learners Recommendation 1:Screen for Reading Problems and Monitor Practice

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“Peer-assisted learning is not, however, a substitute for teacher-led instruction. It is an evidence-based approach intended to replace some of the independent seat-work or round-robin type reading that students do . . . ” (p. 29).

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Peer-Assisted Learning

Institute of Education SciencesElementary Grade English

Learners Practice Guide (2007)

“Once students have learned peer-assisted instructional routines, such as how to respond to errors, the format can be used in a number of different content areas across grade levels” (p. 30).

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Apply PALS to Content-Area Instruction

Institute of Education SciencesElementary Grade English

Learners Practice Guide (2007)

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Don’t wait to offer instructional support!

“There is no evidence to support the position that early reading problems experienced by English learners will resolve themselves once oral language skills in English are established” (p. 12).Institute of Education Sciences

Elementary Grade English Learners Practice Guide (2007)

Vocabulary instruction for English learners should also emphasize the acquisition of meanings of everyday words that native speakers know and that are not necessarily part of the academic curriculum.

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Academic & Everyday Language

“In the Panel’s view, error correction needs to be focused on the instructional target of the lesson. If the instructional focus . . . . is on word forms such a success, successful, and succeed, teachers should ignore other errors”

(p. 27).

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Instructional Modulation

THE OREGON K-12 LITERACY FRAMEWORK: A WEB TOUR

S E A RC H F O R “O R E G O N L I T E RACY” T O LO C AT E T H E O D E W E BS I T E

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RESOURCES:

HTTP://WWW.ODE.STATE.OR.US/SEARCH/PAGE/?ID=2568

HTTP://OREGONLITERACYPD.UOREGON.EDU/

HTTP://IES.ED.GOV/NCEE/WWC/

HTTP://IES.ED.GOV/NCEE/WWC/PRACTICEGUIDE.ASPX?SID=6echaparr@uoregon.edu

Twitter @EBISSErin

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Thank you!