1. Long Term English Learners in PUSD February, 2015

2. State Definition O CA is the first state to identify LTEL students. O State AB 2193 (Lara); Ed Code 313.1 O An English Learner enrolled in any of grades 6-12, has been enrolled in schools in the United States for more than six years, has remained at the same English language proficiency level for two or more consecutive years as determined by the English language development test, and scores far below basic and below basic level on the English language arts standards-based achievement test administered. O Findings: 74% of ELL students in CA in grades 6-12 have been in CA schools for 7 years or more and have still not achieved English proficiency.

3. “At Risk” of Becoming LTELs O State AB 2193 (Lara); Ed Code 313.2 O An English Learner who is enrolled in any grades 5 to 11, in schools in the United States for four years, scores at the intermediate level or below on the English language development test, and scores in the fourth year at the far below basic or below basic level on the English language arts standards- based achievement test.

4. PUSD Definition O Will be working on coming up with one. O The state list is outdated by the time we get it and use/lack of CST data complicates things. O Your lists have students who have been in ELL for more than 5.5 years at this point. O We have 473 students who fit this profile, which represents about 11.5% of our ELL population.

5. Characteristics of LTELs O Struggling academically O Distinct language needs O High functioning social language O Weak academic language and gaps in reading and writing O “Stuck” at intermediate level O Non-engagement – habits of passivity and invisibility in school O Significant gaps in academic background knowledge O Discouraged learners

6. Factors Contributing to LTELs O Transnational moves O Periods of time in which ELs received no language development support O Enrollment in poorly implemented or inconsistent English Learner programs O Limited access to full curriculum O Social and linguistic isolation O “Holes” in schooling – interrupted formal schooling O Teachers not knowing who their English Learners are

7. Misconceptions O “Just good teaching works for all students. English Learners don’t need special curriculum, services or instruction.” O Research confirms that English Learners need instruction and materials to be adapted and supplemented to address the language barrier. O “English is more important than other subjects. If they aren’t doing well in English, devote more time to English language arts. Science, social studies and art can wait.” O Academic language is best learned in the context of learning academic content. Language development needs to occur throughout the full curriculum in order to foster academic language and prevent academic gaps.

8. What Doesn’t Work for LTELs O Being placed/kept in classes with newcomers and/or normatively developing English Learners by CELDT level O Unprepared teachers O No electives – and/or limited access to the full curriculum O Over-assigned and inadequately served in intervention and reading support classes

9. What Does Work for LTELs O “The overlap between language and content has dramatically increased…this overlap brings with it an urgent need to attend to the particulars of instructional discourse in the disciplines.” – Aida Walqui – Understanding Language Initiative O Teachers need to know which students in their classes are LTELs, and use differentiated teaching strategies to support their access to the content. Planning for each lesson should include analysis of the language demands of the content being taught, and lead to precise language objectives. Active student engagement and oral academic vocabulary needs to become a focus in classrooms with LTELs. O https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxnn3T_v-KU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxnn3T_v-KU O Specific strategies that will assist ELLs with academic oral language development, across the disciplines include…

10. One-on-One Oral Exchanges O Think-Pair-Share or Think-Pair-Square-Share Unlike partner talk, which is briefer, this calls for teachers to devise open-ended questions, which requires higher-order thinking. It asks students to think carefully and support their responses, and it requires ELLs to both share their response with a partner, as well as listen carefully to their partner’s response before writing down a response. This strategy allows ELLs to be more confident when they share out with a smaller group or during a whole class discussion.

11. Small Group Exchanges O Reciprocal Teaching This strategy structures productive group work so that each student has an accountable role for academic talk, and it reinforces good reader habits with ELLs. Specifically, after reading a text, each student engages with the selection by summarizing what they read, creating questions for discussion about the text, predicting what might happen next using evidence, or connecting the text to another text, life, or society. ELLs can then use academic language stems associated with their specific role to discuss their findings from the text. In this manner, students are apprenticed into building on each other’s ideas when having an academic conversation.

12. Whole Group Exchanges O Socratic Seminar Once students become proficient and comfortable with Reciprocal Teaching discussions, whole class discussions using Socratic Seminar can be utilized. These less structured discussions typically begin with an open-ended question that is posed by the teacher or a student. Students examine text independently to obtain and substantiate their answers which requires a second reading exposure. Once students have identified their ample evidence, an academic discussion can occur. The fishbowl method promotes careful listening in a Socratic Seminar discussion when half of the class participates in discussing one segment, while others actively listen. In a second discussion, groups switch discussing and listening roles.

13. Active Read Alouds O This can be an effective strategy even in high school classes. O Students have a copy of the book being read by the teacher and follow along as he/she reads, answering questions posed by the teacher to ensure they understood the text, and asking their own questions as well. O Passive read alouds require little interactivity either through questioning or a text in front of them to follow – this results in student disengagement if the topic doesn’t interest them.

14. Key Elements of Effective Programs for LTELs O Urgency, acceleration, and focus on distinct needs O Language development is more than literacy development – LTELs need both across the curriculum O Specific attention to achievement gaps O Rigor, relevance, relationships O Active engagement O Focus on oral language and academic language O Secondary – clustered in heterogeneous, mainstream academic content classes with differentiated SDAIE (Specially Designed Academic Instruction in English) strategies used

15. Key Elements Continued O Materials need to be relevant, high interest, age-appropriate, and incorporate whole books O Smaller class size O More fluid pacing guide O Attention to maximizing graduation credits and fulfillment of the a-g requirements O Careful teacher selection/assignment O SIOP (Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol), GLAD (Guided Language Acquisition Design) strategies, SDAIE strategies O Teacher collaboration

16. Considerations O Think about the percentage of time in a classroom spent with: O the teacher lecturing O teacher to student interaction O student to student interaction O Also consider the QUALITY of those interactions and the engagement of ELLs. O Remember that how people learn is as unique as their fingerprint.

17. Specific Ideas from Other Districts O Dedicated LTEL classes O Use of English 3D O Avid Excel for LTELs (middle school) O Building family connections

20. Role of Elementary Schools O Middle schools are receiving an average of 2-3 from each of their feeder schools. O By the time these kids arrive in middle school, many have given up on the hope of ever being reclassified and don’t even know what they need to do to be reclassified. O We must illuminate the target – use “test chats.”

21. “Underreacting to Struggling English Language Learners” O Wrestling with whether to remediate reading with ELL students – will the reading just “come along” when their English proficiency improves? O Research is telling us that many ELL students do not receive the early, targeted intervention that their struggling classmates receive. O Research also tells us that when it comes to skills-based competencies (“cracking the code”) ELL students can achieve at a level consistent with their EO counterparts and should be supported as readily as they are. O Only 4% of kindergarten age ELL students were receiving special education services, compared to 5.5% of EO students. O By third grade, the proportion of ELLs identified for special education increased by 305%, compared with an increase of 132% for EO students. O Clinical experience shows that with early identified of ELLs’ underlying language and/or reading difficulties, the support needs will not mushroom in the late elementary years. www.reading.org/literacy-daily/research/post/lrp/2014/06/04/struggling-english-language-learners

22. “Early English Language Learners Excel Academically” O “Students who learn English as a second language by fifth grade are among the top performers throughout their academic career.” O LAUSD and SDUSD students studied by UCSD researchers – they represent 15% of all the ELL students in the state. O Study was motivated by concern that ELL students might fall behind academically once they were reclassified. O “The major finding from our study (published in May, 2014) is that English Learners who were classified as fluent in English by the end of fifth grade performed as well or even better than native English speakers in these two districts…They continue to do well throughout middle school and high school, and there’s no sense at all from our study that students are being reclassified too early and start to falter.” O “There was a drop off in academic ability among students who were reclassified after fifth grade.” http://www.kpbs.org/news/2014/may/07/early-english-learners-excel-academically-study-fi/

23. Fate of LTEL Students O Students in California who remain in ELL programs over a number of years – LTELs (six or more years) – fare even worse than other ELLs. O GPAs below 2.0 and two to three years below grade level in ELA and Math. O Similar findings in Texas. O Push for standardized state guidelines for CELDT/ELPAC (English Language Proficiency Assessment for California). http://www.ecs.org/clearinghouse/01/10/20/11020.pdfhttp://www.ecs.org/clearinghouse/01/10/20/11020.pdf (Progress of Education Reform)

24. Services for Parent Opt-Outs O Remember that we can NEVER encourage parents to opt their child out of ELL services. O For those who do opt-out, the child must continue to take the CELDT each year until they are reclassified. O The opt-out does not mean that the child does not receive ELL services – it means that they do not receive SEI (Structured English Immersion) – which means they do not receive pull out or push in support from the IA, and they are not enrolled in EL specific classes. O The classroom teacher has his/her CLAD credential and is responsible for the child’s English language development in these cases. O There are only about 6 “P” students on our LTEL list or 1% - yay!

25. Reclassification of SPELLs O SPELL – Special Ed/ELL O Need to make sure we have linguistically appropriate goals in IEPs O We have a number of LTEL students who are special ed – 15%+ - and this number only represents those with moderate to severe disabilities (SDC) O SPELL students who don’t meet the district reclassification criteria can still be considered for reclassification – it’s technically an IEP team decision, but the ELL Coordinator must be part of the process - we will be working with Special Ed on this O See handout from CA ELA/ELD Framework (adopted 7/14) – “Strategies for Supporting Learners’ Engagement with Complex Text”

26. Update on Reclassification O Waiting to see if we will need to continue the current reclassification system for another year. O Will be discussing the criteria as it relates to CAHSEE, MAPs cut scores, and SBAC.

27. Great Resources for Further Reading O Reparable Harm, Fulfilling the Unkept Promise of Equal Educational Opportunity for California’s Long Term English Learners O Written by Laurie Olsen – free copies available at www.californianstogether.org www.californianstogether.org O Reviewed data on over 175,000 ELL students in 6-12 th grade from 40 school districts – 59% have been in US schools for six years or more without attaining English proficiency O Preventing Long-Term ELs – Transforming Schools to Meet Core Standards by Margarita Espino Calderon and Lilliana Mimaya-Rowe

28. “The limits of my language are the limits of my life.” - Wittengart