Long Term English Learners aka “Lifers” or “Generation 1.5” Manuel Zapata (EL Director), Staci Ortiz-Davis (ToSA), & Joanne Serrano (EL Lead Teacher)

SDUHSD LTELs ●Who are they? o ●How many? ●Collaboration with our Feeder Elementary Schools ●Monitoring System for all ELs ●Academic Support Classes for LTELs at SDUHSD

LTEL Definition According to AB 2193 ●EL who is enrolled in any of grades 6-12 ●has been enrolled in schools in the US for more than six years ●has remained at the same English language proficiency level for two or more consecutive years as determined by the CELDT ●Scores far below basic or below basic on the ELA standards-based test

SDUHSD EL Population ● o 539 Students o 21 different languages ●Who are our EL students: largest language breakdowns o Spanish 59% o Mandarin 10% o Korean 9% o Japanese and Farsi 3%

SDUHSD LTEL Population ●56% of ELs are LTELs o About 300 students ●45% of LTELs are also SPED ●The majority of LTELs (85%) are Spanish speaking

Collaboration with Feeder Elementary Districts ●Great Relationship ●Assistant Superintendents meet 4-5 times per year to discuss EL related issues ●SDUHSD has provided LTEL data to feeder elementary districts with breakdown of LTELs attending SDUHSD by elementary school

Monitoring Document

Monitoring Document-Page 2

TPHS EL population (Newcomers and LTELs) ● about 150 EL students ●18 different languages ●Who Are Our Students? largest language breakdowns 32% Spanish (Mexico, Spain, Chile) 19% Mandarin 15% Korean 6% Japanese 6% Farsi

TPHS EL Population Trends EL students EL students EL students EL students EL students EL students

What is a long term English learner? “These long ‐ term ELs have been schooled in the U.S. for six or more years but have not made sufficient linguistic and academic progress to meet redesignation criteria and exit English learner status. Fluent in social/conversational English but challenged by literacy tasks, and particularly disciplinary literacy tasks, these students find it difficult to engage meaningfully in increasingly rigorous coursework.” (California Department of Education)

TPHS Long Term English Learners 44 LTELs (30% of total EL population) (In California, about 59% of ELLs are LTELs. Among TP LTELs….. 26 are also Special Education students (59%)

Language Breakdown of TP LTELs 30 Spanish speakers (68%) 4 Korean speakers (9%) 3 Japanese speakers (6%) 2 Farsi speakers (4%) 1 Russian (2%) 1 Turkish (2%) 1 Filipino (2%) 1 Mandarin (2%) 1 Khmer (2%)

Characteristics of Long Term English Learners (LTELs)

Struggle Academically ●Academic achievement in language, communication, and math that is 2-3 years below grade level ●Limited attainment of all subject matter that depends on English literacy skills ●Gaps in academic knowledge as a result of weak English language skills Unique to LTELs

Evidence: Final 2nd Semester Grades of TP LTELs (2014) LTELs with Ds: 25 (55%) LTELs with Fs: 17 (38%) LTELs with multiple Ds and Fs: 16 (36%) LTELs with more than 1 F: 7 (15%)

Language Issues Unique to LTELs ●High functioning oral skills in social situations both in English and home language ●Weak academic language ●Gaps in reading and writing skills

Evidence: Low reading skills Among 8 LTELs who were in the Academic Literacy class, only 3 were reading at grade level. The others are reading 4-5 grade levels below grade level.

Non-Engagement ●Habits of non-engagement, learned passivity, and invisibility at school Unique to LTELs

Academic Future ●Want to go to college but are not being prepared or know what the expectations are ●Have become discouraged learners, tuned out, and ready to drop out Unique to LTELs

LTELs do not meet redesignation criteria SDUHSD Reclassification Criteria: 1.Overall CELDT score of Early Advanced or Advanced (4 or 5) and sub scores no lower than Early Advanced on all subtests. 2.Score of 340 (High-Basic) or higher on the California Standards Test in English Language Arts 3.Grades of C or better in all academic classes. CAHSEE scores for seniors and on track for graduation. 4.Teacher and counselor recommendation 5.Parent Consent/Agreement

TP redesignation data

How do English Learner students become LTELs?

How do ELs become LTELs ●History of inconsistent programs ●Elementary school curricula and materials were not designed to meet ELL needs ●No language development program

How do ELs become LTELs ●Partial access to curriculum ●Weak language development program ●Socially segregated and linguistically isolated

Recommendations to support LTELs in your classes (District-offered Advanced SDAIE trainings can help) Activating Prior KnowledgeIncreasing student interest Oral Language Development!!! Explicit academic oral language instruction supports reading and writing learning (August & Shanahan, 2006;Calkins,2001) Attention to Vocabulary!!! LTELs rely on basic, non-academic words in their language usage Active Read AloudsAllows teachers to model reading approaches and scaffold for comprehension Teacher CollaborationCollaborative planning aligns curricula and fosters metalinguistic awareness and skills transfer across languages

How is TPHS using the research to support our LTELs?.. ● “ LTEL” English 9 class taught by English 9/ELD teacher ●Academic Literacy class: students are concurrently enrolled in Academic Literacy with Joanne Serrano ●Placement in Academic Literacy: previous English grades, teacher recommendation and Lexile (reading) levels, CELDT scores

How is TPHS using the research to support our LTELs? period 4: READ 180 (curriculum designed to bring students reading levels closer to grade level) OR period 6: English 3D (curriculum designed for LTELs to develop academic reading, writing, and oral language skills) ●study skills and homework help with university tutors is built into the Academic Literacy class

CLOZE ACTIVITY 1. Research has shown that students need to use a word at least ___ times before we can say they have mastered it. (Stahl, 2005) 2. Unless students know ____% of the words they are reading, comprehension will be stifled.” (Samuels, 2002 as quoted in L. Calderon, Teaching Reading to English Language Learners, Grades 6- 12, 2007.) 3. Pre-schoolers from families living in poverty are exposed to _____ different words an hour. (Hart and Risley, 1995) 4. Pre-schoolers from professional families are typically exposed to _____different words an hour. (Hart and Risley, 1995) A) 600 B) 95C) 2150D)

●ALL ELLs, but especially LTELs, will excel when you provide opportunities for them to develop ORAL LANGUAGE SKILLS! Get them talking! ●CCSS assume that ALL students can meet the expectations, but ELLs rely on dedicated, knowledgeable, SDAIE trained teachers to SCAFFOLD the curriculum and ENGAGE them in learning. If you can only take away TWO things from our presentation, PLEASE remember:

For More Information: Olsen, Laurie. “Reparable Harm: Achieving Success for Long Term ELLs.” Californians Together Olsen, Laurie. “Secondary School Courses Designed to Address the Language Needs and Academic Gaps of Long Term English Learners.” Californians Together. 2012