Preparing Educators to Teach

Students with Limited/Interrupted

Formal Education

Andrea DeCapua

The College of New Rochelle

Helaine W. Marshall

Long Island University

TESOL Convention

New Orleans March 17, 2011

Mutually Adaptive Learning

Paradigm – MALP©

• Instructional Model

• Transitional approach to close achievement gap

• Elements from students’ learning paradigm

• Elements from U.S. learning paradigm

(Marshall, 1998; DeCapua & Marshall, 2011)

MALP©

A. Accept Conditions for Learning

B. Combine Processes for Learning

C. Focus on New Activities for Learning

A. Accept Conditions for Learning

A1. I am making this lesson/project immediately relevant to my students.

A2. I am helping students develop and maintain interconnectedness.

B. Combine Processes for Learning

B1. I am incorporating both shared responsibility and individual accountability.

B2. I am scaffolding the written word through oral interaction.

C. Focus on New Activities for Learning

C1. I am focusing on tasks requiring academic ways of thinking.

C2. I am making these tasks accessible to my students with familiar language and

content.

© University of Michigan Press, 2011. DeCapua & Marshall. Breaking New Ground:

Teaching Students with Limited or Interrupted Formal Education in US Secondary Schools

MALP Teacher Planning Checklist ©

Before MALP© Training:

Carol’s Lesson on U.S. Symbols

Objectives: Students will be able to

describe what “symbol” means

identify important US symbols

explain meaning of US symbols

Statue of Liberty

Symbols

American Symbols Lesson

Carol’s Self-Assessment

She thought she was meeting their needs

PPT presentation with images

Focus on oral language use

Focus on new vocabulary

Focus on individual student participation

American Symbols Lesson

MALP© Assessment

For SLIFE, lesson lacked:

familiar conditions for learning

transition to new processes for learning

new activities for learning

After MALP© Training:

Carol’s MALP© Social Studies Project

Objectives: Students will be able to:

describe the everyday life of Civil War soldiers

compare/contrast it with their own lives today

A. Accept Conditions for Learning

immediate relevance interconnectedness

B. Combine Processes for Learning

shared + individual responsibility

oral + written

C. New Activities for Learning

academic tasks familiar language and content

And now on to math . . .

Gloria’s Math Class

• Mainstream math teacher

• Section of beginner ELLs with SLIFE

• MALP© training

• Shift in pedagogy to incorporate MALP©

Let’s peek into Gloria’s classroom…

High School MALP© Math

Classroom

Word wall

Calendar

Sentence frames

Teacher-made concept posters

Student–produced posters

Word Wall

Class Calendar

Sentence Frames

Teacher-made Concept Poster

Number Line

Number Lines

Venn Diagrams

Like and Unlike Terms Posters

Bar Graph Posters

Gloria’s Classroom

Mutually Adaptive Learning Paradigm – MALP ©

Teacher Planning Checklist

A. Accept Conditions for Learning

A1. I am making this lesson/project immediately relevant to students.

A2. I am helping students develop and maintain interconnectedness.

B. Combine Processes for Learning

B1. I am incorporating shared responsibility and individual accountability.

B2. I am scaffolding the written word through oral interaction.

C. Focus on New Activities for Learning

C1. I am focusing on tasks requiring academic ways of thinking.

C2. I am making these tasks accessible with familiar language and content.

DeCapua, A. & Marshall. H. W. (2011). Breaking new ground: Teaching English learners

with limited or interrupted formal education in US secondary schools. Ann Arbor, MI:

University of Michigan Press.

More about MALP©?

Our website: http://malp.pbworks.com

Andrea DeCapua adecapua@cnr.edu

Helaine W Marshall helaine.marshall@liu.edu

SlideShare Event: TESOL 2011

Selected References

DeCapua, A. & Marshall, H.W. (2010b). Serving ELLs with limited or

interrupted education: Intervention that works. TESOL Journal, 1, 49-

70.

DeCapua, A. & Marshall. H. W. (2011). Breaking new ground: Teaching

English learners with limited or interrupted formal education in US

secondary schools. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.

DeCapua, A. & Marshall, H.W. (2011). Reaching ELLs at risk: Instruction

for students with limited/interrupted formal education. Preventing

School Failure, 55, 35-41.

DeCapua, A., & Marshall, H. W. (2010a). Limited formally schooled

English language learners in U.S. classrooms. Urban Review, 42, 159-173. *

References (cont’d)

DeCapua, A., Smathers, W. & Tang, F. (2007). Addressing the

challenges and needs of students with interrupted formal

education (SIFE). Educational Policy & Leadership, 65, 40–46.

Marshall, H.W. & DeCapua A. 2010). The newcomer booklet: A

Project for limited formally schooled students. ELT Journal, 64.

396-404.

Marshall, H.W., DeCapua, A., & Antolini, C. (2010) Building

literacy for SIFE through social studies. Educator’s Voice, 3, 56-65.

Marshall, H. W. (1998). A mutually adaptive learning paradigm

(MALP) for Hmong students. Cultural Circles, 3, 134-141.