ReparableHarm:Fulfillingtheunkeptpromiseofeduca6onal
opportunityforCalifornia’sLongTermEnglishLearners
20thAnnualAdministratorELConference
SonomaCountyOfficeofEduca;on
LaurieOlsen,Ph.D.CaliforniansTogether
EnglishLearners
“Thereisnoequalityoftreatmentmerelybyprovidingstudentswiththesamefacili6es,textbooks,teachersandcurriculum…forstudentswhodonotunderstandEnglishareeffec6velyforeclosedfromanymeaningfuleduca6on…”
Lauv.Nichols,SupremeCourt
AnEnglishLearnerisnotanEnglishLearnerisnotanEnglishLearner…..
Theconceptofthe“LongTermEnglishLearner”
LongTermEnglishLearner
ESL Lifers
The 1.5Generation
The 5Plusers
Struggling Readers
Protracted EnglishLearners
III’s Forever
TurningtheTidesofExclusion:aguideforEducatorsandAdvocates
forImmigrantStudentsOlsenandJaramillo,1999
SecondaryELTypologies
• Newlyarrivedwithadequateschooling(includingliteracyinL1)
• Newlyarrivedwithinterruptedformalschooling‐“Underschooled”‐“SIFE”
• EnglishLearnersdevelopingnorma;vely(1‐5years)
• LongTermEnglishLearners• Overage
LongTermEnglishLearnersarecreated……..
LongTermEL
GAPhasincreased 2002‐2010CSTELA%Proficientandabove
EnglishOnly:EnglishLearners
33.4%gap‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐37.2%gap
“Thereisnoclear,easyreasonrevealedbydatawhystudentsareremainingintheLEPcategoryfor10+years.”
ColoradoDepartmentofEduca6on2009
“Whiledistrictswereunanimousinvoicingtheirconcernforsuchstudents(“LongTermEnglishLearners”),findingeffec6veinterven6onstomovetheselongtermstudentsalongtheproficiencycon6nuumremainsachallenge.”
CouncilofGreatCitySchools,2009
TheCaliforniansTogetherSurvey
Thesample:
• Datafrom40schooldistricts
• Dataon175,734EnglishLearnersingrades6‐12
• Thisis31%ofCalifornia’sEnglishLearnersingrades6‐12
TheDistricts
• Varyinsizefrom1,300studentstomorethan680,000
• VaryinEnglishLearnerenrollmentfrom9%to81%oftotalenrollment
• 13areurban,13aresuburban,14arerural
DatacollectedonEnglishLearners6‐12
• #ofyearssincedateofentry
• SecondaryELswhoenrolledinK/1
• 6+byCELDTlevel
• 6+byacademicfailure(Ds,Fs)
• Defini;on
• Placement
Acrossalldistricts59%ofsecondaryschoolELsarelongterm
(103,635insample)
Concentra6onofLTELsindistrictsvary
Defini6onsvary
• Nineof40haveaformaldefini;on
• Lengthof;me(years)ispartofeverydefini;on
• Thenumberofyearsusedinthedefini;onsvaryfrom5yearsto7+
• Sixdistrictsinclude“lackofprogress”orevidenceofacademicfailurealongwiththenumberofyears
Legalframework
• EnglishLearnerscannotbepermifedtoincurirreparableacademicdeficitsduringthe;metheyaremasteringEnglish
• Schooldistrictsareobligatedtoaddressdeficitsassoonaspossible,andtoensurethattheirschoolingdoesnotbecomeapermanentdeadend.
Howlongshouldittake?
• NCLBAMAO#1(1CELDTlevelperyear–4yearmodel)
• TheFiveyearModel:(1CELDTlevelperyearplusallowancefor2yearsatlevelIII)
• TheELSSAdatabylengthof;meinUSschoolsuses3yearsorless,4years,5years,6ormoreyears
• Linguis;cresearch(individualdifferences,butgenerally5‐7years)
• Educa;onprogrameffec;veness(5‐7yearsinawell‐implementedprogram;7‐10inweakprogramifatall)
Acon6nuumofacademicsuccess……LosinggroundonCELDTandAcademicFailure
NoprogressonCELDT,academicallystruggling
VeryslowprogresstowardsEnglishProficiency,doingokay(C’s)
Doingwellacademically,buts;llnotreclassified
Reclassifiedbutstruggling
Proposeddefini;on:AnEnglishLearnerinsecondaryschoolswho…..
HasbeenenrolledinUSschoolsformorethan6years
IsmakinginadequateprogressinEnglishlanguagedevelopment(e.g.,CELDTIIIorbelow,hasremainedatCELDTlevelfor2+years,orhaslostgroundonCELDT)
Isstrugglingacademically(e.g.,GPAbelowa2.0orgradesofDorFintwoormorecoreclasses;behindoncreditaccrual)
Step#1:Knowtheextentand
magnitudeoftheLTELissueinyourschools
Designateindicators/expecta;ons3rdgrade 4th‐5thgrades 6‐8grades 9–12grades
#yearsinU.S.schools
3+years
ProficiencyinEnglish
Growthof1levelperyear;AtlevelIII+
AcademicSuccess
BasicoraboveonCSTsinMath,ELA
Other(e.g.,socio‐emo;onal)
Ac6veengagementin
class
VUSDELMasterPlanAnnualExpecta;onsfor
EnglishLearners
Yearsin US
1year
2years
3years
4years
5years
6years
CELDT BEG EI INT INT EA ADV
CSTELA
FBB + FBB+ BB+ BB+ Basic+ Prof+
CSTMath
FBB+ FBB+ BB+ Basic+ Prof+ Prof+
STS Prof+ Prof+ Prof+ Prof+ Prof+ Prof+
Example:ModestoCitySchools
• ELsthathavebeeninU.S.School5yearsormore– S;llnotreclassified,mostareIntermediateandaboveonCELDTbutnotprogressing
– Strugglingacademically(atleastoneDorFgrade)andBelowBasicorLowBasicCST/ELA
– Characteris;csinclude:sociallyisolated,academicallydisengagedandunmo;vated,poorafendance,discouragedlearners,bookaversion,andneithertheynortheirfamiliesarefamiliarwithschoolexpecta;onsortheimplica;onsofschoolprogramonop;onsforthefuture
• Aformaldefini;on• Designatedannualbenchmarkindicators/expecta;ons
• Adatasystemthatcandisaggregateachievementdataby#ofyearsinU.S.schoolsandbyEnglishproficiencylevels
• AcalendarofregularreviewsofLTELdatatoinformandtriggerplanningANDtotriggersupportsforstudents
DistrictAc6onSteps
Reflec6on:
AreLongTermEnglishLearnersanissueinyourschoolordistrict?
Anysenseofthemagnitude?
WhendoyoubegintoseeELsbecomingLTELs?Whataretheindica;ons?
Whatdoyouconsider“toolong”toreachEnglishproficiency?
Step#2:
InvesKgatehowEnglishLearnersbecameLongTerm
DallasPublicSchools(2001)
• Es;matethat70%ofsecondaryschoolELsareU.S.born
• OverallacademicperformanceofLTELsdoesnotcon;nuetoimprove‐thereisaceilingintheirlevelsofacademicEnglishafainmentover;me.
FreemanandFreeman(2002)
• EducatedintheU.S.,7+years
• Seeselvesasbilingual,butonlyhaveacademicprepara;oninEnglish‐fewread/writeinL1
• DonotfeeltheyhavecompletecommandofEnglish
• SocialskillsinEnglish‐conversa;onallylikena;vespeakers
• Academicskillsnotasdevelopedasoralskills
“TheLongTermImpactofSubtrac6veSchoolingintheEduca6onalExperiences
ofSecondaryEnglishLanguageLearners”
KateMenken&TatyanaKleynNewYorkCityDept.ofEduca;on
forthcominginInterna6onalJournalofBilingualEduca6onandBilingualism
NYC/LTEL‐definiKon
• AfendedU.S.schools7+yearsands;lldesignatedEnglishLearners
• CompriseoneinthreeELsinNYC
Theresearchmethodology
• Indepthinterviewswith29LTELsgrades9‐12andinU.S.anaverageof10years.(mostlySpanishspeakers)
• InterviewswithschooladministratorsandteachersofLTELs
• Examina;onofacademicrecords
Districtandsiteinquiries(2004‐2010)
• Studentinterviewsretrievingschoolinghistories
• Studiesofcumula;verecords
• Interviewsandfocusgroupswithteachers
• StudentvoiceontheexperienceofbeingLTEL
• Surveys
Noservices‐mainstream
• (58cumrecordstudies)Threeoutoffourspentatleasttwoyearsin“noservices”ormainstream
• Whatmayappearonpapertobe“ELservices”maynotbeactuallydesignedforEnglishLearners
TrendsinCaliforniaschools2000‐2010
• Largeincreaseofstudentsinmainstreamplacement(noservices)
• Largereduc;oninprimarylanguageinstruc;on(from12%to5%)
• ApproximatelyoneintenwithELDonly
• ThemajorityinStructuredEnglishImmersion/ELDplusSDAIE–largeincrease(from35%to55%)
Comparison between EL groups over time
NYCstudyInU.S.‐inconsistentschooling
• 21of29studentsreceivedacombina;onofESLandbilingualprogramsovertheyears
• 7studentsreceivedonlyEnglishinstruc;on• Schoolhoppers,programshirers,temporaryabsenceofprograms
• Vastmajoritymovedinandoutofdifferentprograms‐withoutsystemicconsistency
• HalfhadacompletegapinELservicesatsomepointintheUSandwereinmainstreamfor1‐3years
NYCStudySubtracKveschooling
• VastmajorityreceiveEnglish‐onlyinstruc;onresul;nginlimitedornoliteracyskillsinL1OR
• Weakformsofbilingualeduca;on(earlyexit,transi;onal)resul;nginlimitedoraland/orwrifenproficiencyinL1
• L1skillsareweakenedover;meandeventuallyreplacedwithEnglish
• StudentsreportprogramsemphasizedEnglishreadingandwri;ng(eventhebilingualprograms)
Othercontribu6ngfactors
• Weaklanguagedevelopmentmodels
• Historiesofinconsistentprogramplacements
• Likelihoodofinconsistencyinimplementa;onwithinprograms
• Narrowedcurriculum‐par;alaccess
• Socialsegrega;on–linguis;cisola;on–lowexpecta;ons
• Transna;onalmoves–transna;onalschooling
NYCstudyThreecategoriesofLTELs
• Transna;onalstudents‐mainlyU.S.educated,butmovebackandforth
• ELswhohadinconsistentELprograms(e.g.,bilingual,ELD/SDAIE,mainstream)
• LTELsonthecuspofexi;ngELstatus(4of29)‐steadyprogress,justtookabitlonger‐around7years.
TransnaKonalinconsistentschooling
• !2of29studentsafendedschooloutsidetheU.S.inalanguageotherthanEnglishforafewmonthsandupto8yearsaltogether
• Interna;onalmovesorenoccurrepeatedlycrea;ngacycleofadjustmentandreadjustment(andnewdecisionsaboutplacementandprogram)
• TheschoolingoutsideU.S.tendedtobeforshortdura;onsandinconsistentanddidnotresultinL1literacy
Foryoutodo…..
• TakeasampleofyourLTELsandreviewtheirhistories
• InYOURdistrictandschool–aretherepafernsoftransna;onalmovement?Aretherepafernsof“noservices”?Aretherepafernsinthekindofprogramstheyreceived?
Step#3:
UnderstandtheneedsandcharacterisKcsof“LongTermEnglishLearners”
StrugglingEnglishproficientorna;vespeakers
ImmigrantandNorma;veEnglishLearners
StandardEnglishspeakers
StrugglingRFEP
Theyhavedis;nctlanguageissues
• Highfunc;oninginsocialsitua;onsinbothlanguages–butlimitedvocabularyinboth
• PreferEnglish–areincreasinglyweakintheirhomelanguage
• Weakacademiclanguage–withgapsinreadingandwri;ngskills
NYCStudyLanguageproficiencyandpreferences
• Majorityusebothlanguagesequallyinconversa;on‐contextisthefactorinchoice
• Frequentcodeswitching
• Whenspeaking,LTELsorensoundlikena;veEnglishspeakers‐strongoralproficiencyforsocialpurposes
• Studentsoverwhelminglyfavorandreportbeingmorecomfortablereadingandwri;nginEnglish
• Mostare“stuck”inprogressingtowardsEnglishproficiency
• SomearelosinggroundinEnglish
Downtherabbithole…….
• BasiconCST‐ELA
• ReasonablefluencyinEnglish
• CELDTProficient
• ProficientonCSTinELA
• AdvancedlevelonCELDT
BigdiscrepancybetweenCELDTProficiencyandBasiconCST/ELA
PercentEnglishLearnersafainingthesebenchmarksstatewide
AcademicPerformance
• SeveralgradelevelsbelowactualgradelevelinbothEnglishandL1
• Cumula;vehighschoolGPAisverylow(D+average)
• MorethanoneinfivehaveFaverages
• Gradereten;onfrequent
• Learnedpassivityandnon‐par;cipa;on
• Mismatchinpercep;onofhowdoing,theiractualacademicskills,andtheirgoals
• Significant–butspofy‐gapsinacademicbackgroundknowledge
• Somearediscouraged,tunedout,droppingout
Foryoutodo…..
• Besurethereisunderstandingaboutwhatcons;tutessufficientEnglishproficiencyforacademicaccess–clarifytheterms
• AnalyzegradesandGPAs
• AnalyzeCELDTlevelsandgrowth/stagna;on/loss–wherearetheystuck?
• Shadow–checkforengagementandpar;cipa;on
Step#4:
CheckhowLTELsarecurrentlybeingservedinsecondary
school
NYCStudyLackofappropriateservicesinhigh
school• LTELstakesameESLclassesasotherELs(designedfornewarrivals)withnothingspecificallytargetedtotheirneedsLTELsarein“mainstream”forotheracademicclasses
• ManyLTELsafendforeignlanguageclassestaughtintheirL1anddesignedfornon‐speakersofthelanguage(mixedwithnon‐na6vespeakersandfocusingonbasicgrammarandvocabulary)
FromtheCaliforniansTogethersurvey
• OneoutoffourdistrictshavesomespecificapproachtoservingLongTermEnglishLearners
• ThemajorityofdistrictsplacetheirLongTermEnglishLearnersintomainstream(CLAD,SDAIE?)
• ThreedistrictsplaceLongTermEnglishLearnersbyCELDTlevelwithotherEnglishLearners
• Placed/keptinclasseswithnewcomerandnorma;velydevelopingEnglishLearners–byCELDTlevel
• Unpreparedteachers
• Noelec;ves–andlimitedaccesstothefullcurriculum
• Over‐assignedandinadequatelyservedininterven;onandreadingsupportclasses
PlacementsNOTdesignedforthem…..
TheNa;onalLiteracyPanel
“Instruc6onalstrategieseffec6vewithna6veEnglishspeakersdonothaveasposi6vealearningimpactonlanguageminoritystudents…..Instruc6oninthekeycomponentsofreadingisnecessarybutnotsufficientforteachinglanguageminoritystudentstoreadandwriteproficientlyinEnglish.”
OntheissueofintervenKons• CAL(“DoubletheWork”)‐readinginterven;onsdesignedforna;vespeakersaren’tappropriateforELs
• Na;onalLiteracyPanel‐goodliteracyandreadinginterven6onsworkforbothELandproficientstudents‐buttheyworkBETTERforEnglishproficientstudents(gapgrows)
• Fromthe1.5genera;onresearchoncollegestudents,andlinguis;csresearch‐appearsthatWRITINGmaybeamorepowerfulemphasisthanREADINGstrategiesforLTELs
Thingstoask…….
• WherearetheyplacedforEnglish?ELD?• Wherearetheyplacedforacademiccontent?• Whatinterven;onsandsupportclassesdotheyreceive?
• Aretheygevngaccesstoelec;ves?• AretheyinA‐Gcourses?• AreanyofthoseplacementsdesignedforLTELs?DotheyhaveappropriatesupportforELsuccess?
Step#5:
KnowtheresearchandundomisconcepKonsthatleadto
harmfulpracKces
Misconcep;on#1:“WeshouldjustfocusonEnglish–thesoonerandmorefullyimmersedinEnglish,thebefer.”
But……
DevelopmentofthehomelanguageinschoolalongwithEnglishbenefitsEnglishproficiencyandlong‐termacademicsuccess.Studentsreceivingbilingualinstruc6onperformatleastaswell,andojenbeferONMEASURESOFENGLISHPROFICIENCYthanstudentsinstructedmonolingually
Misconcep;on#2:
“EnglishLearnersdon’treallyneedspecialservicesorinstruc6on.Justgoodteachingandastandards‐basedcurriculumisenoughforallstudents.And,itsequitablebecauseeveryonegetsthesamecurriculum.”
JustgoodteachingISgoodforallstudentsbutnotsufficientforEnglishLearners.Theyneedinstruc6onalstrategiesandmaterialsthatareadaptedtohelpthemaccessthecurriculum;theyneedELD;andtheyneedrichorallanguagedevelopment
Misconcep;on#3:Englishismoreimportantthanothersubjects.Iftheyaren’tdoingwellinEnglish,weshouldspendmorehoursofthedaydedicatedtoEnglishlanguagearts.Thingslikescience,thearts,socialstudiescanwait.
Academiclanguageisbestlearnedinthecontextoflearningacademiccontent.And,withoutopportuni6estolearnscience,socialstudies(etc.),academicgapsarecreatedandschoolismoreboring.
Misconcep;on#4:
“Ifweletthemusetheirhomelanguage,theywon’tlearnEnglishorassimilate.Parentswhospeaktochildreninthehomelanguageareholdingthemback.”
Mo6va6on,opportunityandencouragementtouseanewlanguageisimportant,butpreven6ngachildfromusingtheirstrongestlanguagehasadetrimentalimpact.Parentsneedtousetheirstrongestlanguagetoenhancecommunica6onandconnec6on,andtofosterrichlanguagedevelopmentoverall.
REFLECTION• Doyouhearorseeevidenceofanyofthesebeliefs?
• DoanyoftheseseemtocreatechallengestostrengtheningyourprogramsforEnglishLearners?
• Whatistheresearchthatismostneededtobeunderstood?
• Whatprac;cesdoyouseegoingonthatseemmostflyinthefaceofresearch?
Step6:
DesignprogramstomeetLTELneeds
BasicPrinciples!
• Focusupondis6nctneeds
• Languagedevelopmentismorethanliteracydevelopment–LTELsneedboth
• Languagedevelopment+Academicgaps
• Crucialroleofhomelanguage
• Invite,support,insistthatLTELsbecomeac6vepar6cipantsintheirowneduca6on
• Maximumintegra6onwithoutsacrificingaccess
• Rigor,relevance,ac6veengagementandempoweringpedagogy
• Rela6onshipsmafer
• Anaffirming,inclusiveenvironment
• Urgency!
Step#7
PreventthecreaKonofLTELs
• Startwithanearlyfounda;onofrichlanguagedevelopment(PreK‐3)inbothEnglishandthehomelanguage(wherepossible)
• Afen;ontothealignment,ar;cula;onandtransi;onbetweenpreschoolandelementarygrades
• MakeroomforandprovideprofessionaldevelopmentrelatedtobuildingapowerfulORALlanguagefounda;onforliteracy
• Fullcurriculum–withlanguagedevelopmentacrossallcontentareas
Urgencyandopportunity
• Urgencytoaddresstheunderachievementandmiseduca;onofEnglishLearners
• OpportunityinthereleaseofpowerfulresearchspecificallyaddressingEnglishLearnerneeds
• Examplesfromdistrictsthatarepilo;ngnewapproachesforLTELswithimpact
Step#8:
Addressthesystemsissues
Theseare“systems”issues:
• Datasystemsthatdonot/cannotiden;fyandmonitorprogress
• Unpreparedteachers• Lackofappropriatecurriculumandmaterials• Confusionaboutwhatschoolsare“supposed”todo• Misunderstandingandlackofknowledgeoftheresearch
• Lackofclarityaboutwhatcons;tutes“EnglishProficiency”
• Abeliefthat“wecan’tdothat”
ProacKveDistrictPoliciesandSupport
• Adefini;onandsystemformonitoring• Designatedannualbenchmarkexpecta;onsbynumberofyearsandEnglishproficiency
• Inquiry• Researchbasedprograms–includingspecificresponsesforLTELs
• Disaggregatedata• Targetprofessionaldevelopmentforteachers• Createneededcourses• Studentandparentinforma;on
StatelevelrecommendaKons
• Astandardstatedefini;on
• Statemechanismstorequireandcollectdataforiden;fica;on,monitoring,planningandresponse
• RealELDmaterials!
• Research‐based,consistentmessagesasthefounda;onforaccountability
• Buildcapacityamongteachersandadministrators
• Ensurefullaccess
• Provideparentswithinforma;on
• Investinresearchandinnova;on
Step#9:
LeadershipandAdvocacy
Top Related