Adolescent Literacy: Addressing the Needs of English-Language Learners Diane August Center for Applied Linguistics

Demographic Information In the school year, about 11% of K-12 students were identified as limited English proficient. Adolescent English-language learners comprised 6.4% of the student population in secondary schools and the proportion is expected to grow. Between and , the total K-12 enrollment grew by 11%; the ELL enrollment grew by 85%.

Demographic Information English-language learners in the United States are overwhelmingly from low SES backgrounds. In 2000, 60% of ELLs in grades 6 to 12 were poor. These rates were nearly twice as high as the rates for English proficient students in comparable grades. SES dramatically influences the rate of English acquisition-- with poorer children taking much longer to acquire these skills (2-5 years for oral proficiency and 4-7 years for academic English).

Demographic Information There are many more native-born limited English proficient adolescents than foreign born limited English proficient students. 57% of all LEP adolescents are US-born children, second or third generation. This suggests that these students are not being educated very well. Also suggest that need for differentiated programming for this population.

Demographic Information There is a serious disparity between the distribution of resources and the distribution of language-minority students. Higher proportion of foreign-born immigrants are found in secondary schools than in elementary schools. Spending on language programs is concentrated at the elementary school level.

Importance of Tailoring Interventions to this Population Findings from the National Literacy indicate teaching specific reading and writing elements can be beneficial to second-language learners. However, the effects observed in these studies were smaller than those found by the comparable National Reading Panel studies, and this was particularly true for reading comprehension. The smaller effect sizes, particularly for reading comprehension, suggest the potential importance of building greater knowledge of oral English simultaneously with literacy. It also suggests the need for modifications to ‘mainstream’ literacy practices for this population of students.

Effective Teacher Training Important to prepare content area teachers to teach second-language learners Provide an endorsement or coursework related to teaching ELLs Important that English-as-a-second language teachers have content area knowledge

Effective Professional Development SIOPP Model Teachers present curricular content concepts aligned to state standards through strategies and techniques that make academic content comprehensible to students. While doing so, teachers develop students’ academic English language skills across the four domains--reading, writing, listening, and speaking.

Effective Professional Development Quality Teaching for English-language learners (grades 8-12) Work with both teachers and professional developers Professional development for teachers Participation/observation Implement with mentoring/coaching Implement with consultation

Professional Development Title III National Professional Development Program Next completion: Spring 2007 Estimates $35 million Five year grants Grants to IHEs (with LEAs, SEAs) Improve professional qualifications of teachers

Effective Instruction Value of native language instruction Meta-analysis of all acceptable studies that compared English-only instruction with instruction that used some native language 15 acceptable studies that generated 71 effect sizes across 26 samples Bilingual education has a statistically significant positive effect on reading in English.

Effective Instructional Programs Bilingual and Dual Language Programs Newcomer Programs Using content area curriculum to teach content knowledge and language and literacy Current Work of the National Center

Effective Assessment Practices For Accountability Purposes Ensure students can take accommodated assessments for 3-5 years, including assessments administered in students’ first language For Instructional Purposes Align assessment with high standards and use assessments on an ongoing basis to improve achievement

National Literacy Panel of Language Minority Students and Youth Develop an objective research review methodology Search the research literature on the development of literacy for English language learners Analyze the research literature Develop a final report with recommendations for research

National Literacy Panel of Language Minority Students and Youth Funding Institute of Education Sciences With some additional support from National Institute for Child Health and Development Office of English Language Acquisition

National Literacy Panel on Language Minority Children and Youth Panelists Diane August, Principal Investigator Timothy Shanahan, Chair Fred Genesee Esther Geva Michael Kamil Isabelle Beck Linda Siegel Keiko Koda David Francis Claude Goldenberg Robert Rueda Margarita Calderon Gail McKoon Georgia Garcia Senior Research Associates Cheryl Dressler Nonie LeSaux Senior Advisors Donna Christian Catherine Snow Frederick Erickson

National Research and Development Center on English-language Learners Focus on adolescent literacy Collaboration among institutions University of Houston Center for Applied Linguistics University of Texas, Austin Harvard Cal State Long Beach

National Clearinghouse on English Language Acquisition NCELA collects, analyzes, synthesizes and disseminates information about language instruction educational programs for English language learners and related programs. It is funded by the U.S. Department of Education's Office of English Language Acquisition, Language Enhancement & Academic Achievement for Limited English Proficient Students (OELA) under Title III of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001