1. Carlos Rodriguez, Ph.D. American Institutes for Research

2.  Between the age of 3 and 21  Enrolled or preparing to enroll in K-12  Speak a native language other than English or comes from an environment where another language is dominant  Have difficulties in speaking, reading, writing, or understanding the English language so as to deny the individual: ◦ The ability to meet the state’s proficient level of achievement on state assessments ( described in section 1111(b)(3) of NCLB) ◦ The ability to successfully achieve in classrooms where the language of instruction is English (Source: Section 9101 of Title IX) 2

3.  ELL placement is often associated with ◦ Increased likelihood to dropout of high school (Kanno & Cromley, 2010) ◦ Decreased likelihood to advance to postsecondary education (Kanno & Cromley, 2010) ◦ Not being prepared for postsecondary education opportunities (Callahan, 2010)  If ELL students attend PSE, they are ◦ More likely to attend 2-year colleges ◦ More likely to enroll in non-credit earning courses (e.g., ESL courses and developmental/remedial courses) ◦ Less likely to persist in college (Kanno & Cromley, 2010) 3

4. Source: US Census Bureau, Census 2000

5.  Anchored in Federal legislation, Supreme Court decisions and State laws since the 1970s  Intended to Equalize Educational Opportunity by reducing achievement barriers due to language ability of children 5

6.  About 57 percent were born in the United States, while 43 percent were born elsewhere  Levels of language proficiency, socio-economic standing, academic expectations, and immigration status vary by student  No one approach or policy that will meet the educational goals and needs of this population 6

7.  Children can be misdiagnosed as having a learning disability  Overrepresentation of ELL students in special education has been linked to the size of the ELL population as the lack of adequate language support programs  Oral language proficiency may take 3 to 5 years to develop where as academic language proficiency may be developed over 3 to 7 years 7

8.  ELL students need home language support over the 4 to 7 years that academic English can take to develop  Those who have had at least 4 to 7 years of dual language schooling outperform comparable students in monolingual programs  Supporting a child’s first language while teaching English would include an enrichment bilingual/ESL program that addresses the full spectrum of students’ developmental needs 8

9.  Professional staff need to be well trained to meet the needs of ELLs ◦ Students with limited English proficiency are often the least likely of all students to have a teacher who is actually prepared to instruct them.  Native speakers are essential if students are non-English speakers  Programs for ELL students need to address the unique cultural characteristics of these students, their families, and their communities

10.  Differentiates instruction  Includes the use of the native language  Provides explicit language instruction in both languages  Prepares teachers with enough knowledge of primary and secondary language acquisition to anticipate potential barriers to ELL students’ comprehension 10

11.  ELL Instruction is NOT simply providing translations or speaking slower and louder  ELL instruction is grounded in developing communicative competencies to develop cognitive and academic growth 11

12. “A set of congruent behaviors, attitudes, and policies that come together in a system, agency, or among professionals that enables effective work in cross-cultural situations.”  Issued by DHHS in 2000  Correct inequities that exist in provision of health care services for a diverse population  Provide the first national and uniform approach to educate primary health care providers in cultural competencies 12

13.  Culturally competent care ◦ Relationship between client and provider, i.e., educator and student  Language access services  Organizational supports for cultural competence ◦ How the environment is organized 13

14. Culturally-blind agencies are characterized by the belief that helping approaches traditionally used by the dominant culture are universally applicable; if the system worked as it should, all people -- regardless of race or culture --would be served with equal effectiveness. 14

15.  Engage students in challenging, theme-based curriculum to develop concept development  Draw on student’s background—their experience, cultures and languages  Organize collaborative activities and scaffold instruction to build students academic proficiency  Create confident students who value learning and themselves

16. Understand these basic concepts when working with ELL students:  Comprehension precedes production  Comprehension emerges in stages and it varies by each individual student, therefore, differentiation of instruction is required