1. Building Capacity to Serve English Language Learners
ALAS Summit on Hispanic Education
Sarah Lang, SIOP Coach
Dr. Katherine Meads, Executive Director ESL Student Education
Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools
Friday October 14, 2011

2. True/False answers
False. At the time an ESL program was established in Charlotte Mecklenburg, the major language groups were Greek and Vietnamese.
2. True. 17.4% of CMS students are Hispanic.
3. True. This contributed toward the district’s winning of the Broad Prize in 2011.
4. Partly true. Elementary ESL teachers continue to provide pull out ESL in addition to co teaching.

3. True/False continued….
5. True. There is no native language testing for EOG/EOC testing in CMS and NC.
6. True. State LEP funding is appropriated based on a yearly count of ELs.
7. True. ESL is offered district-wide.

4. North Carolina: A New Destination State Growth in LEP Enrollment (Pre-K – 12)
Source: NC DPI

5. CMS Growth in LEP Enrollment
CMS experienced approximately 980% growth in the # of LEP students from 1995 to 2007!
National Trends, State Trends, Local Impact on CMS
Notes: 700% in NC, See how that looks in CMS!
According to demographers in the near future, language minority students and those acquiring English will compose a greater proportion of our school-age population than monolingual English speakers. The languages: Spanish, vietnamese, hmong, cantonese, etc.
45% of teachers in the U. S. have ELLs in class. In Texas, that number is probably closer to 80%.
As a result, ever-increasing numbers of teachers in today’s schools are facing the pressing and immediate challenge of providing effective instruction for ELLs.

6. Why North Carolina?

7. How Things Have Changed
10 years ago, 48 schools in the district offered ESL—now ESL is in all 134 schools.
5 years ago, the department developed a charter for EL education. First time “at the table.”
Now--all administrators receive professional development in serving EL students.

8. Responses to a Changing Demographic
Spanish for Native Speakers classes
Dual language schools established
LEP Committees at all schools
District level Talent Development/EL Professional Learning Community formed
Use of SIOP strategies is a part of the district’s “non negotiables”

9. Talent Development (TD, Gifted Program) and English Language Learners
Pilot at Albemarle Road Elementary ( )
Identify LEP second graders
Use non-verbal CogAT scores of 87 or above to identify LEP students as eligible for gifted identification through the portfolio assessment process
Provide planned experiences focusing on problem solving and analytical thinking skills
District Level TD/LEP Professional Learning Community formed
Goal: Increase numbers of TD placements of LEP gifted students
Goal: Provide planned experiences focusing on analytical thinking aimed at increasing LEP students’ academic growth and high levels of learning in TD placements

10. Building Capacity Through Professional Development for All

11. Everyone Teaches ESL Students
Provide professional development for teachers and administrators
Target schools with the most need
Encourage Title I and Title III collaboration
Increase collaboration with central office administration

12. Professional Development
Offer differentiated and tiered professional development opportunities
Include ESL teachers, content area teachers, administrators
Provide high quality, relevant courses

13. Research Based

14. Targeted support
Criteria for rubric with comments rev 7_2011.docx

15. High Quality Workshops
WiDA
SIOP (Center for Applied Linguistics)
ExCELL (Dr. Margarita Calderon)
Co-Teaching Model (Dr. Marilyn Friend)
Technology (Discovery Education)

16. Tiered Professional Development
Introductory workshops
Review and Renew sessions
Train the Trainers
School site visits
Coaching sessions s

17. Teacher Professional Development

18. Building Capacity Through Title I and Title III Collaboration

19. How Did Collaboration Start?

20. Title I and Title III collaboration
Title III offers district-wide support
Title I coaches provide more intense support on site at highest need schools
Title I teams at strategically targeted schools
Ongoing opportunities for planning and collaboration

21. What Does Collaboration Look Like?

22. Title I Teams Exceptional Children Coach Datawise Coach Literacy Coach
Math Coach
SIOP Coach (due to collaboration with Title III)

23. What are the Results?

24. Building Capacity by Integrating Technology into the ESL Curriculum

26. Student Testimonial

33. Building Capacity Through Parent Outreach

34. Parent Outreach Interpreter teams School based parent activities
Communities in Schools with bilingual coordinators
Parent University
ESL WIKI with parent outreach activities

35. Parent University Gracias, aprendí mucho de ustedes esta
tarde. Que Dios los bendiga.”
— Cita directa de participante
de Parent University

36. Parent University Surveys
Survey question:
Would you be interested in serving on your school’s leadership team?
Yes, but I thought this was only for citizens.
A CMS parent attending CMS 101 in Spanish

37. Examples of Parent University Classes Provided in Spanish (Spring 2011)
Understanding EOG and EOG Tests
Graduation Requirements
Adolescence 101
Math Investigations—Understanding the New Elementary Math Curriculum
CMS 101
De-stress—Simple Tools for Renewing Yourself

38. Challenges Remain Graduation rate for LEP is 42%; Hispanic is 58%
Ownership across departments
Ownership at the school level
162 languages spoken
Identifying gifted students
Retention rate is higher for ELs

39. Challenges Remain
Transition to different program models such as co teaching
RTI with ELs and scheduling at secondary level
Implementation of Common Core

40. Share Your Wisdom Directions for activity:
On the back of your True/False quiz you will find a number.
Go to the poster with that corresponding number and begin sharing ideas for that challenge.
On our signal, move to the next poster by number sequence.
Place checks next to any ideas you agree with, or with which you have experienced success.

42. Sarah Lang, SIOP Coach,
Dr. Kathy Meads, Executive Director ESL
Bruce Yelton, Praxis Research Inc.
Ron Thompson, Executive Director of Federal and State Compliance
Jenny Grabiec, Technology Resource Teacher