Supporting academic achievement for English learners Tema encarnacion ESOL specialist

Creating a Climate for Academic Achievement for English Learners Valuing Linguistic and Cultural Diversity English Learners Throughout the School English Learners and High Academic Expectations The linguistic diversity of the school is valued and celebrated. The cultural diversity of the school is valued and celebrated. English Learner families are involved in school-wide parent programming.  English Learners are actively engaged in all classroom and school-wide activities. English Learners are held to high academic expectations. Human resources are strategically allocated to meet the needs of English Learners. English Learners are represented across educational programming based on their academic and linguistic backgrounds. English Learners are dynamically scheduled to meet their educational needs based on their academic backgrounds and language proficiency. 10 minutes Valuing Linguistic and Cultural Diversity Linguistic and cultural diversity may seem somewhat superficial, it can have an important impact on students feeling connected to their school. The importance of everyone in the school being welcoming to families who are scared and nervous. Understanding the importance of accepting and honoring students backgrounds and languages goes a very long way in beginning to meet their academic needs. The linguistic diversity of the school is valued and celebrated. Teachers and staff understand that a student's language is integral to their identity. Students use available native language materials. Signage is evident in students’ native languages. Students are given opportunities during instruction to use their native language in meaningful interaction. Social use of native language is evident outside of the classroom. The cultural diversity of the school is valued and celebrated. Biculturalism is valued about assimilation and acculturation .  Not sure what this means. Staff and students' diverse cultures are evident in the school. English Learner families are involved in school-wide parent programming. Teachers and staff recognize and value the unique contributions and diverse perspectives that EL parents/families bring to the school. EL families are represented in all school-based parent programming. Additional parent meetings are developed specifically for the families of ELs. Parents receive information in a language they understand English Learners Throughout the School Resources across schools – as we were starting the ESOL office, we discovered that ELs aren't placed into gifted/magnet programs – what does that say about our system that we don't feel that ELs should be part of gifted programs or have access to magnet programs where more innovative teaching happens. Getting Els into these programs may look different and require creativity and flexibility on our parts. Human resources are strategically allocated to meet the needs of English Learners. Administrators advocate for and prioritize the needs of Els Bilingual and/or bicultural staff are employed and are used in creative ways Content teachers have had training to work with ELs   This is on us to provide training. English Learners are represented across educational programming based on their academic and linguistic backgrounds. Teachers and staff advocate for students to be placed according to their academic ability Processes are in place to identify and serve gifted English Learners and dual-identified English Learners. English learners are encouraged to participate in magnet programming and extracurricular activities in the school.  English Learners are dynamically scheduled to meet their educational needs based on their academic backgrounds and language proficiency. Teachers and staff understand ELs are a unique and diverse student group who require flexible scheduling. Both prior educational experiences and language proficiency are considered when making schedules for ELs. Students are scheduled with teachers who are trained to work with English learners. Sheltered content classes are taught by highly certified content teachers. In elementary schools, students are clustered into mainstream classes in order to facilitate scheduling for ELD instruction.   Interventions are determined based on their appropriateness for ELs. English learners are scheduled into academically rigorous course work. English Learners and High Academic Expectations Moving towards the idea of instruction. Having the right conditions in place to build academically rigorous lessons and increasing student engagement. Changing the mindset of teachers so that they truly believe that ELs can succeed. English Learners are actively engaged in all school activities. Teachers and staff understand the importance of interaction in second language acquisition. Opportunities for interaction between ELs and non-EL students is evident both in academic and social settings. ELs and non-EL students work collaboratively in the classroom through small group instruction. ELs and non-ELs participate together in extra-curricular activities .   English Learners are held to high academic expectations. Teachers and staff hold themselves and their colleagues to maintaining high academic standards for all students regardless of language proficiency. ESOL instruction is developmentally appropriate and rigorous. Scaffolding for English learners focuses on reducing language barriers, not on reducing rigor. Teachers optimize student engagement and learning through rigorous coursework.

Up Next Consider your school and select an area in which your school could improve. Read the instructions for your group. Browse the resources on the flash drive. Complete the tasks on the instruction sheet. Complete the action plan associated with your group. Movement – 5 minutes Browse resources – 15 minutes Group task – 10 minutes Individual task – 10 minutes 40 minutes Share out – 15 minutes

Share out Valuing Linguistic and Cultural Diversity – Share Concept Map English Learners throughout the School – Share take-aways from your group discussion and one action item from your action plan English Learners and High Academic Expectations – Share the barriers and solutions to maintaining high expectations for English Learners