Assisting, Collaborating, and Training ESL Secondary Content Teachers ACT-ESL Virginia Commonwealth University School of Education Project Director: Dr. Seonhee Cho

General Grant Information Funding Source: U.S. Department of Education (OELA: Office of English Language Acquisition) Grant Type: National Professional Development Grant Project Year: 5 years ( ) Grant Money: $1.2 Million Partner LEA: Chesterfield County Public Schools

Chesterfield County Public Schools Fast growing ELL population (600% increase in the past 10 yrs.) 6 secondary ESL-centered schools and will open 2 more schools next year 80-90% of ELLs have Hispanic and socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds. SOL passing rate is 20% lower on average (ELL vs. All)

ACT-ESL Major Activities Follow- ups with Technical Coaching Professional Learning Communities Summer Institute

Why do Secondary Content-area Teachers Need Training? Basic Interpersonal Skills (BICs: 6 mons.-2 yrs.) vs. Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (CALP: 4-8 yrs.) (Collier, 1989;Cummins, 1980) All ELLs after their first year in U.S. school system are mandated to take high-stakes tests with the same expectation of academic standards. High school diploma awarded only to students who pass SOL tests. Simultaneous approach to academic content and language Depth and breadth of content knowledge, and discipline-specific and cognitively-demanding academic language (Chamot & O’Malley, 1994) Placements of ELLs in a low academic and non-college bound track Content-area teachers’ area lack of experience and training to work with ESL students; Rare collaboration beyond teachers’ disciplinary and less participation in interdisciplinary training (Harklau, 1999) √ The role of content-area teachers is critical in ELLs’ academic achievements. Thus, ACT-ESL provides summer training to secondary content-area teachers using ESL instructional strategies.

1. Goal, Objectives, Activities Goal 1: To conduct an ESL instruction summer intensive training for in-service content-area teachers. Performance Objectives 1: In each of the first four years, approximately 52 in-service teachers in Math, Science, English/Language Arts, and Social Studies/History will be trained to use ESL instructional strategies. Activities 1: Recruitment of project staff; recruitment of in- service teachers who will work with ESL students in the following years; development of summer institute curriculum modules and instructional course content; developing pre- and post-surveys to measure trainees’ newly acquired knowledge and skills; development of course evaluation survey; development of rubrics to assess resource books.

Why does Teacher Training Need Follow-ups? One-shot lectures or demonstrations unrelated to teachers’ experiences, prior knowledge, interests and concerns are inefficient. →Integrate teachers’ concerns and experiences by actively engaging them in their learning process. Intended change in a real classroom will not occur without appropriate follow-ups (Gordon, 2004; Lieberman & Miller, 1999). → Provide follow-ups and assistance of implementation until teachers try out new skills and integrate them into their practice. √ ACT-ESL training adopts a long term in-service training model and views teachers as a resource and their current teaching practices as a point of departure for advancement, enhancement and changes.

2. Goal, Objectives, Activities Goal 2: To conduct year long follow-ups with technical assistance. Performance objectives 2: Starting from the second (fiscal) year, all trainees who completed summer training will receive one-on-one technical coaching 3 times (twice in fall and once in spring) and a post-seminar at the end of year. Activities 2: Recruitment of technical assistants; training technical assistants; technical coaching (classroom observations and feedback); planning and hosting a post-seminar.

Why Should Professional Learning Communities Develop? Externally imposed short-term change program is not effective in a long run, damaging teachers’ long-term commitment to their work (Hargreaves, 2003). → Developing professional learning communities is the most effective way to engage teachers in change and change of school culture (Gordon, 2004). → Secondary content teachers’ compartmentalization and disciplinary boundary can help create professional learning communities within the same disciplinary group. √ The concept of building professional learning communities resonates with the ultimate purpose of the grant, which is building capacity and yielding results that will last beyond the period of federal financial assistance.

3. Goal, Objectives, Activities Goal 3: To develop professional learning communities related to ESL instruction. Performance Objectives 3: Starting the end of year 2, an annual teaching demonstration fair, and conference presentations and workshops conducted by trainees will be supported. In addition, self-directed and assisted action research and study groups will be facilitated through financial support and research assistance. Activities 3: Annual teaching demonstration fair; conference and workshop presentations; action research paper; study groups.

Projected Benchmarks of ACT-ESL Major Target Performance Objectives related to goals Yr. 1Yr. 2Yr. 3Yr. 4Yr. 5Total Summer Institute Participants (n= 52 per year ) 52 N/A208 Technical Assistant Training (n=4 per year) 4444N/A16 Classroom Observations (n= 52 X 3 times=156) N/A Post-Seminar Participants (n=52) N/A Demonstrators at Teaching Demonstration Fair N/A Conference Presentations/Demonstration N/A Study Group/Action Research* N/A