Teachers who work with English as a Second Language learners will find ESL/ESOL/ELL/EFL reading/writing skill-building children's books, stories, activities, ideas, strategies to help PreK-3, 4-8, and 9-12 students learn to read.
Texas
Building Capacity to Promote College- and Career Readiness for Secondary English Language Learners
Author: American Youth Policy Forum (AYPF)
Summary: There is a growing need for states to improve academic performance and language proficiency of ELLs. A major focus of attention is the college and career readiness of ELLs and what practices and policies need to be enacted to increase the capacity for these students to succeed. The American Youth Policy Forum (AYPF) met with five state policy leaders in Austin, TX to discuss and examine potential solutions.
Tags: Comprehension; Intervention; Language Proficiency; Struggling Readers;
Target Population: Post-secondary
Research Questions the Report Poses: What policies are practices exist/should be developed to ensure to success of adolescent second-language learners?
Findings:
- Building Human Capital: Providing Educators with Tools to Support ELLs
- Meeting the Demand for ESL Specialists
- The Role of Partnerships and Cross-Systems Collaboration
- Recognizing the Diversity of the ELL Population and Differentiating Support
- College Access for ELL Students
Policy Recommendations:
- Build the capacity of all educators, including content-area teachers, to provide effective instruction for ELLs
- Support programs that develop a pipeline of educators who are trained and certified to specialize in ESL instruction
- Promote institutional partnerships and cross-systems collaboration
- Ensure that policies are responsive to the diversity of the ELL population.
- Support opportunities for postsecondary education and careers for immigrant students.
Building Capacity to Promote College- and Career Readiness for Secondary English Language Learners: Policy Briefing featuring Austin, Texas. (2010.) Washington, DC: American Youth Policy Forum. Retrieved August 2, 2010 from: http://www.aypf.org/tripreports/2010/documents/Austin%20Building%20Capacity%20for%20ELLs%20Iss
State High School Exit Exams: States Try Harder, But Gaps Persist
Author: Center on Education Policy (CEP), Patricia Sullivan
Summary: A growing number of states now use or plan to implement exit exams which students must pass in order to graduate. Achievement gaps on these exams remain largely unchanged according to a study by the Washington, D.C.–based Center on Education Policy (CEP). Due to a heavy concentration of Latino students in states with exit exams, a disproportionate number of minority students (82%) and English Language Learners (87%) will be taking them. The pass rate of ELL students continues to fall 30 to 40 points below the pass rate of other students. With the dramatic growth in English Language Learners in the U.S., it is increasingly important to identify strategies that will help these young people master the skills required for high school graduation. This report first discusses exit exams broadly: their characteristics, methods of assessment, standards, compliance with NCLB, etc. Later, it delves specifically into the conditions surrounding English Language Learners and exams, such as testing policies, graduation rates, and remediation.
Tags: Comprehension; Language of Instruction; Language Proficiency;
Target Population: High School
Research Questions the Report Poses:
- How are high school exit exams affecting districts, teachers, and students?
- How fair is it for states to require ELLs to pass an exit exam in order to graduate?
- What are the most effective strategies to help ELLs succeed on these exams?
- How are states accommodating ELLs on the exit exams?
Findings:
- Innovative programs and policies are beginning to spring up in states with exit exams.
- Over the past year, states have developed more supports for students and committed more funds to help students pass exit exams.
- Initial pass rates and achievement gaps have proved to be stubborn to move, especially in states where exit exams have been in place for several years.
- States are improving their ability to track and report on student–level data, which should help in the future to clear up some nagging questions about the impacts of exit exams on dropouts and achievement.
- Resolving fundamental questions about the fairness of exit exams and appropriateness of supports for English language learners is crucial if this reform is to succeed in helping all students.
- Rather than developing waivers or exemptions from exit exam requirements specifically for English language learners, states are choosing to require ELLs to pass exit exams, albeit with test accommodations.
- Evidence from New York and California indicates that former ELLs–students who become proficient in English and exit ELL status–are more likely to pass exit exams and are more likely to graduate than students as a whole.
Policy Recommendations:
- New strategies, which are mostly in the research stage, could increase the validity of exit exam scores for ELLs.
- New support policies and funding are necessary to improve achievement for these students and can lead to positive outcomes for ELLs.
To order a hard copy of the report, contact:
n/a
Sullivan, P., Yeager, M., Chudowsky, N., Kober, N., O'Brien, E., Gayler, K. (2005). State high school exit exams: States try harder, but gaps persist. Center on Education Policy: Washington, DC. Retrieved from: http://alaskateacher.org/downloads/exit_exam_8_12_05.pdf
Succeeding With English Language Learners: Lessons Learned from the Great City Schools
Author: The Council of the Great City Schools Authors: Amanda Rose Horwitz; Gabriela Uro; Ricki Price-Baugh; Candace Simon; Renata Uzzell; Sharon Lewis; Michael Casserly
Summary: This study examines district-level ELL policies and practices as well as the historical, administrative, and programmatic contexts of four school systems with ELL student achievement growth between 2002 and 2006. This growth is contrasted with two districts with minimal growth in ELL achievement. The authors' exploration of instructional reform strategies sheds light on the experiences of large urban districts and highlights specific strategies for reform while underscoring the differences between the districts with improvements for ELL students and those without.
Tags: Language Proficiency;
Target Population: K-12 Urban Districts
Research Questions the Report Poses:
- Can we identify school districts that have experienced improved student achievement among ELLs?
- What is the historical, administrative, and programmatic context within which ELL student achievement is improving in these districts?
- What district-level strategies are being used to improve ELL student achievement and reduce disparities between ELL and non-ELLs?
- What is the connection between policies, practices, and strategies at the district level and actual changes in teaching and learning experienced by ELLs in their schools and classrooms?
- In what ways do the experiences and strategies of improving districts differ from those of school systems that serve similar populations, but that have yet to make similar progress?
Findings:
Contextual Features
- Shared Vision for Reform
- Leadership and Advocacy on Behalf of ELLs
- Empowerment of the ELL Office
- External Forces as Catalyst for Reforms
Promising Practices
- Comprehensive Planning and Adoption of Language Development Strategies for ELLs
- Extensive and Continuous Support for Implementation
- A Culture of Collaboration and Shared Accountability
- Hybrid Models of Instructional Management and Local Empowerment
- Strategic School Staffing
- High Quality, Relevant Professional Development
- The Use of Student Data
- Reallocation and Strategic Use of ELL Funds
Limiting Factors
- No Coherent Vision or Strategy for the Instruction of ELLs System-wide
- Site-Based Management without Support, Oversight, or Explicit Accountability for Student Progress
- Lack of Access to the General Curriculum
- No Systematic Use of Disaggregated Student Data
- Inconsistent Leadership
- No Systemic Efforts to Build ELL Staff Capacity
- Compartmentalization of ELL Departments and Staff
- The ELL Office Lacked Capacity and Authority
Policy Recommendations:
Contextual Recommendations
- Develop clear instructional vision and high expectations for ELLs
- Approach external pressure to improve services for ELLs and other students as an asset rather than a liability
- Incorporate accountability for ELLs organizationally into the broader instructional operation of the school district
- Empower strong ELL program administrators to oversee progress
- Pursue community support for initiatives designed to accelerate achievement among English language learners
Strategic and Instructional Recommendations
- Review general education and ELL programs to ensure that there is an explicit focus on building academic literacy and cultivating English language development
- Ensure that all teachers of ELLs have access to high quality professional development that provides differentiated instructional strategies, promotes the effective use of student assessment data, and develops skills for supporting second-language acquisition across the curriculum
- Assess district standards for hiring, placing, and retaining teachers, paraprofessionals, and staff members who work directly with ELLs to ensure that these students have access to highly qualified personnel
- Conduct a comprehensive assessment of the level of access that ELLs have to the entire spectrum of district course offerings, including gifted and talented programs and special education
- Ensure that resources generated by and allocated for English language learners are properly and effectively expended to provide quality ELL instruction and services
- Develop a system for tracking multiple measures of ELLs' educational progress
To order a hard copy of the report, contact:
The Council of the Great City Schools
1301 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Suite 702
Washington, DC 20004
202-393-2427
202-393-2400 (fax)
Horowitz, A.R., et al. (2009). Succeeding with English Language Learners: Lessons learned from the Great City Schools. Washington, D.C.: The Council of the Great City Schools.
Search Colorín Colorado
Your Web site is among my list of important Web links.
~ Jamie C.
