1. National Center on Educational Outcomes N C E O Research-based Teaching Strategies to Increase LEP/IEP Student Achievement March 20, 2004 Ann Clapper and Halee Vang National Center on Educational Outcomes N C E O

2. National Center on Educational Outcomes N C E O Presenters Ann Clapper, Ed.D. and MS in Educational Administration with emphasis on curriculum and instruction, Research Associate, Area of research is on impact of large scale assessments on teaching and learning Halee Vang, Ph.D. Student in Educational Policy and Administration, Research Assistant, Bilingual teacher, MA in Special Education with Emphasis on Migrant Education and Students from Linguistically diverse cultures

3. National Center on Educational Outcomes N C E O What is the National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO)?

4. National Center on Educational Outcomes N C E O A research center at the University of Minnesota Established in 1990 Focuses on designing and building educational assessments and accountability systems, to monitor educational results for all students, including students with disabilities and English Language Learners

5. National Center on Educational Outcomes N C E O NCEO Goals Research Technical Assistance and Dissemination Collaboration and Other Leadership Activities

6. National Center on Educational Outcomes N C E O Target Audiences Students, Families, Educators Local Administrators, Policymakers, Urban Schools National Staff/Policymakers Researchers

7. National Center on Educational Outcomes N C E O Current Initiatives Universally-Designed Assessments Accommodations Large-scale Assessments LEP/IEP Instruction

8. National Center on Educational Outcomes N C E O Overview Introduce the instructional project Share in more details about each phase of the project and its findings Share the tool used in phase 5

9. National Center on Educational Outcomes N C E O No Child Left Behind State Assessments State assessments must provide for the participation of all students, including students with disabilities or limited English proficiency

10. National Center on Educational Outcomes N C E O No Child Left Behind State Assessment Systems State assessment systems must produce results disaggregated by gender, major racial and ethnic groups, English proficiency, migrant status, and disability.

11. National Center on Educational Outcomes N C E O No Child Left Behind Adequate Yearly Progress States must specify annual objectives to measure progress of schools and districts to ensure that all groups of students- including low-income students, students from major racial and ethnic groups, students with disabilities, and students with limited English proficiency-reach proficiency within 12 years.

12. National Center on Educational Outcomes N C E O Link to Learning “If you said to me what is the most important thing about standards and testing, I would say the information it gives us about informing instruction.”

13. National Center on Educational Outcomes N C E O Link to Learning “Well I also think there’s a lot of adjustment on the part of the ELL department, meaning the whole body of teachers out there where you’ve had a model that has said it’s OK to disappear for half an hour a day with this little group of students and do your thing. Now you really cannot do that without some accountability.”

14. National Center on Educational Outcomes N C E O Link to Learning “You can’t pull out when you’ve got 50% of your students are ELL students, you can’t pull them out anymore because you’re pulling out half your class.”

15. National Center on Educational Outcomes N C E O Linking to Learning “I think the mainstream focus is also on the ELL learner rather than just have them be a separate entity and have the ELL Director worry about them. Now the principal of the school has to think, these kids are also being tested and their results go into the whole school results for the whole accountability purpose.”

16. National Center on Educational Outcomes N C E O Who are the LEP/IEP students? Special population of Limited English Proficient students who also have disabilities Total estimate is 357,325 for 2002-2003 The project focuses on three language groups of ELLs with disabilities, Spanish, Hmong, and Somalia

17. National Center on Educational Outcomes N C E O Why do we need to be concerned about them?

18. National Center on Educational Outcomes N C E O 1.They are a growing population in the US

19. National Center on Educational Outcomes N C E O 2. Limited Language Proficient students with disabilities are scoring poorly on state tests 3. Future negative implications for everyone

20. National Center on Educational Outcomes N C E O LEP/IEP Instructional Project Pathways for Promoting the Success of English Language Learners with Disabilities in Standards-Based Education

21. National Center on Educational Outcomes N C E O A team of researchers working together Martha Thurlow, Ph.D. –Director of NCEO Manuel Barrera, Ph.D.—Lead Researcher Ann Clapper, Ed. D.--Researcher Kristi Liu—Project Coordinator Deb Albus—Researcher Vitaliy Shyyan—Research Assistant Halee Vang—Research Assistant Plus other additional researchers as necessary

22. National Center on Educational Outcomes N C E O Project Purpose To investigate ways that English Language Learners with disabilities can participate meaningfully in, and benefit from, standards-based instruction To promote effective practice for successful participation of ELL students with disabilities by improving the alignment of instructional interventions for these students

23. National Center on Educational Outcomes N C E O Main Project Research Questions 1.What instructional practices do educators (ESL/Bilingual education teachers, special education teachers and general teachers), ELLs with disabilities and their parents, recommend for delivering grade-level, standards-based instruction to ELLs with disabilities in general settings? 2.What are the effects of recommended instructional practices on the performance of ELLs with disabilities in general education settings?

24. National Center on Educational Outcomes N C E O LEP/IEP Instructional Project Study Components  Phase 1: Analyze statewide assessment data for ELLs with disabilities  Phase 2: Conduct focused brainstorming sessions with groups of teachers to determine recommended teaching strategies the most  Phase 3: Conduct parent group interviews to gain their perceptions on recommended strategies  Phase 4: Conduct focused groups with ELLs with disabilities to learn their perceptions  Phase 5: Implement single-case studies of recommended strategies in classrooms

25. National Center on Educational Outcomes N C E O Phase 1 Analyze Minnesota statewide assessment data for ELLs with disabilities

26. National Center on Educational Outcomes N C E O How? Examined two state math and reading tests: Minnesota’s Comprehensive Assessments (MCAs) 1999-2000 Minnesota Basic Standards Tests (MBSTs) 2000-2001

27. National Center on Educational Outcomes N C E O Findings of 2 state tests The majority of LEP students with disabilities performed at the lowest level for both math and reading, and in many cases, many fail them

28. National Center on Educational Outcomes N C E O Phase 1 Results Confirmed… The need for this study to continue

29. National Center on Educational Outcomes N C E O Phase 2 Conduct focused brainstorming sessions with groups of teachers to determine the recommended teaching strategies used the most

30. National Center on Educational Outcomes N C E O Phase 2 Focuses on the identification of appropriate instructional strategies for ELLs with disabilities using educators who are currently working with these students as a resource Uses the Multi Attribute Consensus Building Process (MACB) to enable teachers to more objectively and neutrally generate and evaluate ideas about instructional strategies they used in educating ELLs with disabilities

31. National Center on Educational Outcomes N C E O Data Collection Sites Within Minnesota’s school districts Gathered data only from schools with sufficient number of ELLs with disabilities Predominately suburban schools (3 urban—14 educators and 5 suburban—28 educators)

32. National Center on Educational Outcomes N C E O Participants Educators have taught 5-9 graders who are ELLs or special education students Included ESL/Bilingual and special education teachers Small groups of 4-7 teachers were formed

33. National Center on Educational Outcomes N C E O Definition of a strategy A purposeful activity to engage learners in acquiring new behaviors or knowledge. To be useful for our purposes, an instructional strategy should have clearly defined steps or a clear description of what the teacher does.

34. National Center on Educational Outcomes N C E O Two Stages in Phase 2 Stage one Staff researched the literature and selected five recommended instructional strategies as a starting point for teacher to discuss and generate additional strategies they would recommend

35. National Center on Educational Outcomes N C E O Initial Glossary At first, initial glossary was provided about the selected strategies from the literature Later, the teachers generated additional strategies that they have used which were added to the list Participants were asked to weight all of the strategies by content areas such as math, science, or reading Had them do survey about feasibility and use of strategies

36. National Center on Educational Outcomes N C E O Stage two 42 educators followed the process of weighting and discussing the strategies and answering surveys about the strategies’ feasibility and use as described in stage one

37. National Center on Educational Outcomes N C E O Results of Phase 2

38. National Center on Educational Outcomes N C E O Reading Strategies 28 strategies were weighted and the top five were: –Direct teaching of vocabulary –Teaching pre-, during-, post-reading strategies –Fluency building, high frequency words –Chunking and questioning aloud –Relating to student experiences

39. National Center on Educational Outcomes N C E O Math Strategies 20 strategies were weighted and top five were: –Tactile, concrete experiences of math –Daily re-looping of previously learned materials –Problem solving instruction and task analysis strategies –Teacher think-aloud –Student think-aloud

40. National Center on Educational Outcomes N C E O Science Strategies 23 strategies were weighted and top five are: –Hands-on, active participation –Using visuals –Using pictures to demonstrate steps –Using pre-reading strategies in content areas –Modeling/teacher demonstration

41. National Center on Educational Outcomes N C E O Results of phase 2 Most feasible and use Reading strategy—teaching pre, during, and post reading strategies Math strategy –tie between adjusted speech and daily re-looping of previously learned materials Science strategy—visuals

42. National Center on Educational Outcomes N C E O What do the findings in phase 2 indicate? This study provides valuable information about current teachers’ thinking about strategy use with this special population of ELLs with disability, and the influence that shape their decisions

43. National Center on Educational Outcomes N C E O Phase 3 Conduct parent group interviews to gain their perceptions on recommended strategies

44. National Center on Educational Outcomes N C E O Reminder: Study focuses on three language groups: Hmong, Spanish, Somalia. For phase 3, the example of how the study was conducted, processes used, and findings will be with the Hmong language group.

45. National Center on Educational Outcomes N C E O Participants A total of 6 interviews Interviews lasted 40-60 minutes Five interviews took place in the parents’ homes and one at a community center Had children with various disabilities such as physical and multiple disabilities, ADHD, etc. All are Hmong parents

46. National Center on Educational Outcomes N C E O Phase 3 Interview preparation process Developed culturally and linguistically appropriate interview format Had interviews reviewed by cultural advisory panel Collaborated with parent advocacy organization for recruitment of parent participants Employed bilingual interviewers from language community

47. National Center on Educational Outcomes N C E O Interview Preparation Process Held informal dinner meetings with advocacy organization prior to the interviews to inform and meet parents Interviewed parents in the place of their own choosing—provided transportation and childcare when needed Allowed parents to choose language of interview Emphasized parents were experts on their children and are partners in helping us

48. National Center on Educational Outcomes N C E O During the Interview… We asked the parents to describe: Their family and home life Their child’s school life Their own perceptions about the schools where the children attend Their own perceptions about the child and the community environment

49. National Center on Educational Outcomes N C E O During the Interview … Had parents listen to the sample reading and descriptions of activities the teacher will use to teach the hypothetical child Asked questions using the hypothetical child what they thought if the child was taught in English and then in Hmong Then we asked the parents to comment on their own children if their child was taught in English and then Hmong

50. National Center on Educational Outcomes N C E O Sample of activities described The teacher decided to help her improve her reading in English by doing the following activities: Before reading Have Mai read from a book other students are reading to see what words she can read and what words she needs to learn. Gave Mai a story outline and review the story with her. During reading Explain the kind of story it is and show how the story looks. Show Mai how to read the words. After reading The teacher helps students make a story map including key ideas in the story. Teaches students like Mai how to study key words and ideas about the story.

51. National Center on Educational Outcomes N C E O Sample Questions Questions about hypothetical child What do you think about the teacher using English to teach the child how to read? How well do you think the before learning activities will work for Mai? Really great, okay, not so well? What else should the teacher do? (Repeat same questions for the during and after learning activities.)

52. National Center on Educational Outcomes N C E O Sample Questions Cont. Questions about the parent’s child What do you think about the teacher using English to teach your child how to read? What do you think about the teacher using Hmong to teach your child? How well do you think the during learning activities will work for your child? (Repeat same questions for the before and after activities.)

53. National Center on Educational Outcomes N C E O What did the Hmong parents say?

54. National Center on Educational Outcomes N C E O What do you think about the teacher using English to teach the child how to read? All of the parents responded that using English is good

55. National Center on Educational Outcomes N C E O How well do you think the activities the teacher used before reading will work? All of the respondents agreed that the learning activities will work great

56. National Center on Educational Outcomes N C E O What do you think about the teacher using Hmong to teach the child how to read? Most of the parents are reluctant about the teacher using only Hmong to teach the child. They prefer that both English and Hmong are used instead of just Hmong.

57. National Center on Educational Outcomes N C E O Is there anything else you would like to share with us about your child at school? My child’s learning seems to be improving. It’s not okay to plan my child’s IEP without me. The teacher said my child understands work but won’t do it. Teacher should make my child do work. My child talks a lot, teacher should remind her to stop talking and do work.

58. National Center on Educational Outcomes N C E O “ I want the teachers to help my child read more than anything else, so that she will remember things better. Even if one does not think as well as another, the one that can read is one that will go further in Education.”--Non-English speaking parent

59. National Center on Educational Outcomes N C E O Phase 3 Results indicated The voices of Hmong parents have never been heard before nor have they been successful sought out. Hmong parents do share the same concerns about their children’s education as mainstream parents despite cultural and linguistic barriers. Hmong parents are in tune and aware of the struggles of seeking an equitable education for their children with disabilities. Most importantly, they care deeply for their children’s education despite their children’s disabilities and desire to work with educators to improve their children’s life chances.

60. National Center on Educational Outcomes N C E O Phase 4 Conduct small focused group sessions with ELLs with disabilities to learn their perceptions

61. National Center on Educational Outcomes N C E O Phase 4 continues… Focused brainstorming sessions consist: Small groups of 4-7 ELLs with disabilities Last about two hours Take place in the same school building Students who participated in study are given a gift certificate of $20 each Staff who assisted with study are also given some gift certificates in same amounts

62. National Center on Educational Outcomes N C E O Focused brainstorming sessions are conducted for the purpose of getting input from the ELLs with disabilities on teaching strategies that they use when teaching grade level content to them

63. National Center on Educational Outcomes N C E O Phase 4 Currently, we have conducted two focused groups and are continuing to schedule more study groups with ELLs with disabilities

64. National Center on Educational Outcomes N C E O Phase 5 Implement single-case studies of recommended strategies in classrooms

65. National Center on Educational Outcomes N C E O Phase 5 Where are we in the process?

66. National Center on Educational Outcomes N C E O Phase 5 The team of researchers got together and decided through group consensus how to best go about selecting the best strategies that could be operationalized for implementation. So far, 3 math strategies and 3 reading strategies have been selected and they are being operationalized based on the literature.

67. National Center on Educational Outcomes N C E O Six Strategies Math Problem Solving Teacher Think Aloud Student Developed Glossary Reading Chunking and Questioning Graphic Organizers Reciprocal Teaching

68. National Center on Educational Outcomes N C E O Next… Meeting to clearly define those six strategies and begin identifying the possible schools for teachers to implement those strategies Making decisions about which school districts would be most feasible in implementing those strategies without difficult bureaucracy

69. National Center on Educational Outcomes N C E O Innovation Configuration Definition A description of how a program, practice or innovation looks in actual practice

70. National Center on Educational Outcomes N C E O Innovation Configuration Elements Component Role Levels Variations

71. National Center on Educational Outcomes N C E O Project Summary XPhase 1: Analyzed statewide assessment data for ELLs with disabilities and found that they scored lowest of all students, indicating the need for this study to continue. XPhase 2: Conducted focused brainstorming sessions with groups of teachers to determine recommended teaching strategies most preferred and used, and created a list of strategies for three content areas, math, science and reading.

72. National Center on Educational Outcomes N C E O Project Summary XPhase 3: Conducted parent group interviews to gain their perceptions on recommended strategies and found that parents thought the strategies used in the study of phase 3 would work well in teaching their children. This finding reveals that ELL parents have a lot to say about the education of their children and want to share them.

73. National Center on Educational Outcomes N C E O Project Summary XPhase 4: Conduct focused groups with ELLs with disabilities to learn their perceptions. This phase of study is on-going. XPhase 5: Implement single-case studies of recommended strategies in classrooms and this phase is still in the planning stage.

74. National Center on Educational Outcomes N C E O Educators face some challenges in trying to educate ELLs with disabilities Involving and communicating with parents Disconnect between teachers and parents Low performance of students Low expectations for students with disabilities

75. National Center on Educational Outcomes N C E O This project attempts to Close the disconnect between parents and teachers with the strategies learned Encourage educators to examine their roles and determine what they can do to improve the education of ELLs with disabilities Identify effective instructional strategies to improve the outcomes for ELLs with disabilities