Educating English Language Learners

1. Educating English Language Learners New Administrators Meeting September 26, 2013

2. Agenda Current ELL enrollment in MA RETELLinitiative and key aspects Basic ELL policies and procedures for your school

4. ELLEnrollmentStatewideisOver70,000 andHasIncreased57%Since2000 Thistrendindicatesthatby 2021,~20%ofallMAstudents K-12 will beELLs Source:2011SIMS

5. TheNumberof MADistrictsEnrollingatLeast OneELLNearlyDoubled between2000&2011 Source:2011 SIMS

6. Definition of an ELL student “a student whose first language is a language other than English and who is unable to perform ordinary classroom work in English.” When a student has been evaluated by the school district and meets the above criteria, he or she is considered an English language learner, regardless of whether the student’s parent or guardian “opts out” of a program of language support or services for their child.

7. What is RETELL? RETELL stands for Rethinking Equity and Teaching for English Language Learners, a DESE initiative to improve education in MA for all English language learners. RETELL is guided by the premise that English Language Learners deserve equity of access to learning.

8. RETELL terms • WIDA: World Class Instructional Design and Assessment. • ACCESS: Assessing Comprehension and Communication in English State-to-Statefor English Language Learners W-APT: WIDA-ACCESS Placement Test. • SEI: Sheltered English Immersion

9. Companion Pieces for RETELL: WIDA and ACCESS

10. TwoComponentsofELL Education English asaSecondLanguage(ESL) –The teaching ofthe English languageto ELLs Sheltered EnglishImmersion (SEI)–An approachto teaching academic content in English to ELLs

11. Licensure • Knowledge and professional standards are in placefor Englishas a SecondLanguage (ESL)Teachers • Nostandards specifictoteachingShelteredEnglish Immersion (SEI) • Categorytrainingswererecommendedbut not required • Introducedteachersto conceptsofSEIand ELL education • Neededto be revampedtoreflectupdated researchin the field • DOJ saysstate hasdutyto mandate preparationand training for SEIteachers

12. LicensureChanges Effective7/1/14,AllCoreAcademicTeachers: PreliminaryLicense:Complete SEI endorsementbeforeadvancingto initiallicense TemporaryLicense:must completeSEI endorsementbeforeadvancingto initiallicense InitialLicense:must completeSEI endorsementtoqualifyforinitiallicense ProfessionalLicense:mustcompleteSEI endorsementtoqualifyforprofessional license 11

13. SEIEndorsement ObtainedthroughESE-approvedcourseof studyorits equivalent All core academic teachers who have ELL students enrolled in their classes are required to hold SEI endorsement prior to September 2016. SEIAdministratorendorsement

14. SEIEndorsementImplementation There arecurrently25,000teachers and administratorsthatwouldbe required to earn the SEIEndorsement The proposedregulations for the“Educationof English Learners”establish afour yearperiod fromSY 2012/2013throughSY 2015/2016for cohortsofeducatorsto earnthe endorsement 13

15. Licensure Requirements Section 24 of Ch. 218 of the acts of 2002 requires that all school districts, including Commonwealth charter schools, with ELL students must have at least one licensed ESL teacher. 12

16. WorldClassInstructional DesignandAssessment(WIDA) New system of standards,curriculumand instruction for ELLs–aligned to newMA curriculumframeworksadoptedby Boardin 2010–throughmulti-state consortium NewEnglish languageproficiencystate assessment–ACCESS–alignedwiththese standards as of January2013

17. What to Do When an ELL Arrives at Your School? • Administer a Home Language Survey • Provide the survey in a language that the parent can understand, even if s/he appears to speak some English. • Translated Home Language Surveys are available at: http://www.doe.mass.edu/ell/hlsurvey/

18. Special Situations • Some of your “mainstream” students may be FLNE (first language not English), but are not designated as ELLs: • May or may not have been in an ELL program at some time • May display some difficulties with academic language • May require some of the same SEI strategies that ELLs require

19. Special Situations • Students who speak a variety of English that does not match “standard school English” • Students from Jamaica, Liberia, Guyana, etc. • May or may not speak a home language that differs from standard American English • May or may not display characteristics similar to SIFE

20. Special Situations • Students with Interrupted Formal Education (SIFE) • Students who have missed years of school (can be as young as 8 or as old as 22) • Students who have been in school, but come from school systems that have not prepared them for the rigor or culture of American schools • Students who have limited to no first language literacy and/or numeracy

21. Initial Assessment • Assess the student’s oral English capability as well as reading and writing. • There is no required local diagnostic assessment. • W-APT is optional, free screener. • For kindergarten students, WIDA recommends using the WIDA MODEL assessment. There is a fee associated with this assessment. • Your school can continue to use pre-LAS and LAS Links as screening tools.

22. Placement • A trained educator should conduct the initial assessment, and take other factors into account as well, in determining placement. • If the student is ELL, place the student in an instructional program that will provide sheltered subject matter instruction in content and ESL instruction • Remember to code this student as LEP when the next SIMS data collection occurs. • Make sure you maintain complete ELL records including copies of letters and assessments.

23. Parent/Guardian Notification • Send a letter to parents/guardians, in their native language, notifying them that their child has been found to be “limited English proficient” and is entitled to ESL and SEI instruction. • The letter should explain: • the reasons for identification of the student as Limited English Proficient (LEP); • the child’s level of English proficiency; program placement and/or the method of instruction used in the program; • the parents’ right to apply for a waiver or to decline to enroll their child (opt out) in the program;

24. Note! Parents/guardians have the option to “opt out” of an ESL/SEI program. However, the charter school is still obliged to provide English language instruction to the student. Parents/guardians do not have to sign a permission slip for their children to receive SEI/ESL services.

25. Equal Access for ELL Students • ELLs are entitled (with all the rights and privileges) to any and everything that all other students in your school are entitled to: • A full curriculum – academic and non-academic opportunities and programs including • Enrichment and/or remedial course work • Extra curricular activities • Equal facilities • Field trips • After school programs • Scholarships • Translation of notices

26. Translations and Interpreting Translations (written) are required for all information that goes home for mainstream students – notices, sports opportunities, community events, report cards, etc. Interpreting (oral) is to be made available for parents/guardians to attend meetings and/or conferences.

27. Translations and Interpreting Federal and state special education law also contain specific requirements concerning translation and interpretation related to special education. Some of the forms related to special education are translated on the Department’s website: http://www.doe.mass.edu/sped/iep/.

28. Yearly Assessment of ELLs Districts are required to assess ELL students annually to measure both their progress toward and their attainment of English language proficiency: ACCESS

29. ACCESS Testing and Administration Ordering materials and participation criteria: ESE ACCESS Webpage: • http://www.doe.mass.edu/mcas/participation/ell.pdf • MA state webpage on WIDA website: http://wida.us/membership/states/Massachusetts.aspx • Required Training for Test Administrators: • ESE Webpage: http://www.doe.mass.edu/mcas/access/training-certification.html • ESE ACCESS for ELLs Coordinator: Paulette Watson (pwatson@doe.mass.edu

30. MCAS • ELLs must take the Math MCAS, even in their first year enrolled in school. • Spanish speakers can take the Math MCAS in their native language. • ELLs are exempt from the English MCAS for the first year in the US only. • ELLs can use word-to -word translation dictionaries only when taking the MCAS. For an ESE approved list of dictionaries see: http://www.doe.mass.edu/mcas/2007/news/lep_bilingual_dictionary.pdf

31. Exit Criteria for ELLs • The district re-designates a student from Limited English Proficient (LEP) to Formerly Limited English Proficient (FLEP) when he or she is deemed English proficient and can participate meaningfully in all aspects of the district’s general education program without the use of adapted or simplified English materials. • Districts can not limit or cap the amount of time in which an LEP student can remain in a language support program. A district should only reclassify an LEP/ELL student after he or she is determined to be proficient in English.

32. Exit criteria continued • When exiting ELLs from the program, use multiple sources of data: • ACCESS score, • student’s level of confidence, • written products, • grades, • MCAS scores, • attendance, • level of independence, • any other mitigating situations, such as out-of-school issues that may impede educational progress.

33. Exit criteria continued • The Department does not recommend exiting students in Kindergarten and grade 1 because the data available is only on their speaking and listening skills.

34. FLEP: Formerly Limited English Proficient • (Also known as reclassification, exiting, re-designation and mainstreaming) • Once exited, students are to be monitored for two years as FLEPs.

35. Special Education for ELLs • When considering ELL students for special education, the school must ensure that staff is knowledgeable about second language acquisition and are involved in the eligibility determination and IEP development process. • The lack of English language proficiency alone is not a basis for finding a student either eligible or ineligible for special education. • Contrary to misconceptions, special education does not “trump” ESL.

36. Program Evaluation • Schools must conduct annual, data-based program evaluations of the effectiveness of programs for ELLs in developing students’ English language skills and increasing their ability to participate meaningfully in the educational program. • Where the school documents that the program is not effective, it should take steps to make appropriate program adjustments or changes that are responsive to the outcomes of the program evaluation. • One part of the evaluation activities should consist of using the English language proficiency test data of its ELLs individually and in the aggregate to determine the effectiveness.

37. Any questions? ForMore Information: type “RETELL”in Search onESEhomepage Ellie Rounds, Access & Equity Specialist erounds@doe.mass.edu