4 Access StrategiesTo Support Learning

Overview

1. Why the 4 Strategies?2. Description of the Strategies3. Implementation & Evaluation4. Final thoughts

1. Why the 4 Strategies?

Academic English Mastery Program:“Students will learn to use standard American and academic English proficiently, and in the process experience increased literacy acquisition and greater academic achievement”

Conceptually Speaking

The Access Strategies support learning in Standard English Learners, English Learners, Students with Disabilities and All Other Students.

Pedagogically Speaking

The 4 Access Strategies are an important component of the Professional Development for teachers—in terms of best practices in lesson design

They are important tools to reach some of English Language Learning goals—specifically

They promote differentiation—most importantly

Access Strategies Defined…

• Cooperative Learning• Instructional Conversations• Academic Language Development• Advanced Graphic Organizers

Here’s the Good News…

• No new discovery.• Based on research.• Many teachers use them already.• However, there is an overuse of direct instruction.• The 4 strategies are here to stay.• We can all improve our practices.

Cooperative Learning

Promote language acquisition through meaningful interactions and positive learning experiences to achieve an instructional goal.

Working collaborative in small groups, students learn faster and more efficiently, have greater retention concepts, and feel positive about their learning.

Instructional Conversations

Discussion-based lessons that help students arrive at a deeper understanding of academic content.

They provide opportunities for students to use language in interactions that promote analysis, reflection, and critical thinking.

The students can make connections between academic content, prior knowledge, and cultural experiences.

Academic Language Development

The teaching of specialized language, vocabulary, grammar, structures, and features that occur with high frequency in academic texts and discourse.

ALD builds on the conceptual knowledge and vocabulary students bring from their home and community environments.

It aids comprehension and prepares students to effectively communicate in different academic areas.

Advanced Graphic Organizers

Visual tools and representations of information that show the structure of concepts and the relationships between ideas to support critical thinking processes.

They promote active learning that helps students construct knowledge, organize thinking, visualize abstract concepts, and gain a clearer understanding of instructional material.

Implementation & Evaluation

• Resiliency against new practices?• Sharing of best practices in Department Meetings.• Include professional development on the different Access Strategies.• Support & coaching from Mentor Teachers and Instructional Coaches• Classroom management & Use of strategies to support learning

(vicious circle).• Include the Access Strategies in our daily lesson plans.• Assess results.

4. Final thoughts

• The use of the 4 Access Strategies is part of the evaluation of many Single Plans (SPSA• Overuse of direct instruction is 20th Century pedagogy

• 21st Century requires facilitation and active participation to promote, advance, and sustain rigor and relevance.

• Accreditation teams will (always) be looking for those practices.• We tend to stick to the practices that work for us.

• Hence, we need to get out of our comfort zone—try one thing different to attain one different outcome• Change the mindset, change the outcome