RtI & ELLs: Interpreting Reading Achievement Data

1. RtI & ELLs: Interpreting Reading Achievement Data CESA 2 Title IIIA Consortium October 19, 2010 Presented by Julie A. DeCook, M.S. ELL & World Language Programs Support Teacher School District of Janesville

2. The RtI Framework Proportionate Representation • Gifted Programming & Talent Development • Special Education Referrals & Identifications • Disaggregated Achievement Data • Disciplinary Data • Attendance Data

3. The RtI Framework Professional Learning Community Essential Questions • What do we want students to know and be able to do? • How will we teach them? • How will we know they have learned? • What will we do if they did not learn? • How will we extend their learning if they did learn? Adapted from DuFour, SDJ 2010.

4. The RtI Framework What do we want students to know and be able to do? Guaranteed & Viable Curriculum Marzano

5. The RtI Framework 2. How will we teach the knowledge and skills? Opportunity to Learn

6. The RtI Framework Opportunity to Learn= Accessible Comprehensible Meaningful Instruction at the Universal Level

7. Accessible, Comprehensible, Meaningful Cultural Relevance “Mirror, mirror on the wall, do I see myself at all?”

8. Accessible, Comprehensible, and Meaningful Linguistic Relevance What’s different about teaching ELLs to read? What’s different about teaching reading strategies to ELLs?

9. Truths About ELLs • Everything about them is complex. • They are NOT a homogeneous group. • “The answer to any question about ELLs is, ‘Well, that depends.’” (per Bret Russert, Van Buren) • Assumptions are more dangerous than ever. EMBRACE THE COMPLEXITY!!!!!

10. Truths About ELLs OLD NEW

11. Truths About ELLs • Old question: What are good strategies and assessment practices for ELLs? • New Questions: What are good strategies and assessment practices for this ELL?

12. Foundational Assumptions in Teaching Native-English Speakers to Read In English • 5 years of oral language development • 2,000+ word vocabulary • Internalized phonology • Internalized intonation and cadence

13. Foundational Assumptions in Teaching Native-English Speakers to Read • Concepts of English Print • Book handling • Directionality • Return sweep • Sound-symbol correspondence

14. Reading Instruction Based on These Assumptions • Letter-naming • Phonemic Awareness • Phonics • Decoding • Sight words • Word recognition • Beginning fluency & comprehension

15. BUT for (many) ELLs . . . • 5 years of oral language development in L1 • 2,000+ word vocabulary in L1 • Internalized phonology of L1 • Internalized intonation and cadence of L1

16. BUT for (many) ELLs . . . • Concepts of Print • Book handling • Directionality • Return • Symbol correspondence

17. The RtI Framework How will we know if students have learned? Reading Level Systems, Running Records, Fluency Measures

18. The Problem: • Instruction • Assessment Tools • Benchmarks Are all based on the assumption that students start with the five-year English language development of a monolingual, native speaker----which is not true for ELLs.

19. The Problem: Using these • Instructional approaches • Assessment tools • Benchmarks To determine that an ELL is not making adequate progress at the universal tier.

20. Thomas & Collier • 750,000 ELLs K-12 over 15 years Found that to reach the 50th percentile on a standardized, norm-referenced reading test, It takes 5-7 years with solid L1 literacy 7-10+ years without L1 literacy

21. “Best Case Scenario” ELLs K-1 learning to read in English as a nonnative language will take 7 years to reach full English reading proficiency. No short-term intervention will get them up to grade-level.

22. Clash of the Benchmarks “The time it takes” Vs. All students held to grade-level benchmarks/proficient on WKCE.

23. A Reading Level is Only One Piece of the Puzzle English Reading Lens • Phonemic Awareness • Phonics/Decoding • Fluency • Comprehension • Vocabulary Holistic English Lens • Linguistic complexity • Specificity of Vocab • Language Control • Listening • Speaking • Reading • Writing

24. Language Competence

25. Language Competence Reading

26. Rigby’s On Our Way to English Language & Literacy Framework Birth to Age 5 Kindergarten through Grade 5

27. Rigby’s On Our Way to English Language & Literacy Framework

28. Transfer of Reading Skills from L1 to L2 • L1 Language and Literacy Skills? • Compatibility of L1 to English? • What skills can be transferred? • What literacy skills are being introduced in English as the child’s second language?

29. Thomas & Collier (Again) • Learn to read in L1 with high transferability to L2: 4-7 years • Learn concept or skill in L1 with some transferability to L2: 6-8+ years • Learn concept or skill in L2: 7-10+ years To reach the 50th percentile on a norm-based, standardized reading test.

30. So What? • Compare to other, similar ELLs—not to native-English peers. • Look at bigger picture-multiple measures • Look at long-term trendline • Look for benchmarks per English proficiency level

31. The RtI Framework • What will we do if students have not learned? • Item analysis, Diagnostics, Re-teaching, & Interventions

32. What about Interventions? Tier 1 • Follow IRP (accommodations +) • Incorporate instruction about the English language • Provide comprehensible input • Give corrective feedback through modeling. • Build background knowledge

33. Intervention Issues • Research/Evidence-Based Interventions • Ecological Validity • Population Validity • Fidelity of Implementation

34. Intervention & Monitoring Issues Intervention Selection & Progress Monitoring Issues • What is the expected trendline for growth? • Population-based trendline vs. standards-based trendlines. • Time it takes to acquire full proficiency vs. “fixing” gaps through 6-8 week interventions.

35. Models of RtI • Standards-Based: is the student meeting expected benchmarks for his/her grade-level? • Problem-Based: is the student making comparable/expected/appropriate progress in relation to “true peers”?

36. Interpreting Reading Achievement Data for ELLs Embrace the Complexity. Base judgments on research on ELLs. Compare to other, similar ELLs. Celebrate the wins. Share what’s working and replicate it.

37. Essential Questions Per Tier to Ensure Appropriate Instruction of ELLs

38. Our Questions and Understandings

39. THANK YOU! ¡MUCHAS GRACIAS! Faleminderit 谢谢您 Спасибо! ขอบคุณ