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ELL Education in the Mainstream classroom. Are we prepared?. The facts. JTB Elementary School (a pseudonym) has 850 students enrolled 85% are on Free and Reduced Lunch Qualifies JTB to be a Title 1 School 24% of the population is Hispanic/Latino
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ELL Education in the Mainstream classroom Are we prepared?
The facts • JTB Elementary School (a pseudonym) has 850 students enrolled • 85% are on Free and Reduced Lunch • Qualifies JTB to be a Title 1 School • 24% of the population is Hispanic/Latino • 5% are other cultures outside of the United States • 17 different languages (other than English) are spoken fluently among the families and students. • There are 265 ELL students in the building, 215 of them receive ELL services, 50 of them have exited the program but are still students who have learned English as their second language.
The question • With so many ELL students, are we prepared as a staff prepared to meet their needs in the mainstream classroom? • Research Question: • What strategies are you using to effectively integrate English Language Learners into your mainstream classroom and are those strategies effective in closing the achievement gap?
Method • A survey was sent to 21 mainstream elementary school teachers • 16 teachers responded • 4 teachers were interviewed • 2 intermediate teachers • 1 first year teacher, 1with 5+ years of experience • 2 primary teachers • 1 first year teacher; 1 with 5+ years of experience
Survey questions How often do you use the following strategies in your classroom to intentionally integrate ELL students? Grammar Based ESL: instruction in English that teaches about the language, including its structure, functions and vocabulary Communication-Based ESL: Instruction in English that emphasizes using the language skillfully in meaningful contexts. Content-Based ESL: Instruction in English that attempts to develop language skills while preparing students to study grade-level material in English. Although using content as a means, these programs are still focused primarily on the learning of English, which distinguishes them from sheltered instructional methods. Language Objectives Simplified Language Word Families Group work – partner with English speaker Providing assistance in when to use appropriate language Think-Pair-Share Integrating their culture Modeling Adjusting the rate of speech Using visuals, sketches, gestures etc.
Survey Questions • List any other strategies you are using to integrate ELL students into your mainstream classroom. • Please select where you learned the strategies you selected in the previous question. You may select more than one. • Undergraduate College Classes • Graduate Schools Classes • Professional Development • Independent Research/Self Study • Other (please specify)
Survey Questions • Are you familiar with the WIDA, TESOL, standards and how to integrate ACCESS (ELL progress test) test scores into your classroom? • Unfamiliar • Heard of them but do not know how to integrate them • Yes and I integrate them into my classroom • Are you seeing measurable gains using these strategies? Are they making improvements on the star test and in class assessments? Please explain.
Survey Results – Question 5 • Out of 12 responses – 6 teachers feel they are seeing their ELL students making measureable gains with the strategies they are using in the classroom. • 4 teachers are seeing some gains – meaning they are improving slowly but are still not on grade level by the end of the academic year. • 1 teacher felt they were not seeing measurable gains this school year. • 1 teacher responded that she does not have any ELL students this year in her class.
Interview Questions • How long have you been teaching? • Did you take an ELL courses in college? • Have you participated in any ELL professional developments? • Do you know what WIDA is and are you familiar with the Can-Do descriptors? • Do you understand the ACCESS scores and how to differentiate your lessons accordingly? • Are you familiar with the TESOL standards?
Interview results • All four teachers took NO ELL related classes in their undergraduate work. • The 2 teachers who have completed their masters did not take any ELL related classes in their graduate work. • The two veteran teachers (6 years and 14 years of teaching) have participated in exactly 1 ELL professional development that they can remember. One of these teachers remembers that this PD was 6 years ago and she has not participated in another ELL PD since then. • 2 of the teachers were unfamiliar with the WIDA standards and therefore do nothing with them in their classrooms. • 2 teachers were familiar with the WIDA Can-Do descriptors and try their best to implement them into their instruction. (One of these teachers was a first year teacher and the other has been teaching for 6 years)
Interview Results – AcCess scores • The information received about understanding ACCESS scores was very wide ranged. • One teacher doesn’t feel as though she understands the scores and what they mean at all. • One teacher feels as though she doesn’t understand them but she tries to use the students PSP’s to differentiate their instruction. “Often time accommodations are visuals/links to prior learning/simplified language/modeling, so I try to incorporate these accommodations as much as possible during whole group instruction. In smaller groups I go over vocabulary a lot and am able to differentiate at ELL student’s specific pace.”
Interview Results – Access Scores • One teacher feels she understands them a little, but she rarely has ELL students so she doesn’t work with them often. • One teacher states: “We have been told about ACCESS scores and accommodation that students can be given, but I always doubt whether I am doing everything that I need to be doing. We always have meetings for our IEP students so I know that I am doing what I should be with them, but often times we don’t meet to talk about our ELL students and only receive guidance if we ask for it.”
Interview results • None of the teachers were familiar with the TESOL standards at all.
So what does this mean? • Our teachers are using strategies in their classrooms that they would use for any student, ELL or not. • This is apparent because, while they are familiar with some of the strategies listed above, digging deeper shows that they have not taken ELL courses or had significant ELL professional developments to understand how to best integrate and accommodate the ELL student in their mainstream classroom.
What needs to happen? • In order to prepare teachers, ELL professional development needs to be a regular occurrence for the teachers. • All teachers need to be trained in understanding ACCESS scores, WIDA and TESOL standards. • Each year, there should be a refresher and an even deeper PD for teachers new to the school. • Regular meetings should be held for the ELL students who need to receive accommodations to make sure teachers are following protocol. • Ideally, undergraduate programs would begin to require an ELL course for students studying to become teachers. With the growing population of ELL students in America, this information is becoming more and more necessary. Preservice teachers are required to take courses dealing with students with disabilities, they should be required to take courses dealing with ELL students also.
REferences • References • Clair, N. (1995). Mainstream Classroom Teachers and ESL Students. TESOL • Quarterly,29(1), 189-196. Retrieved February 17, 2015, from JStor. • Jennifer, H. (2012). Language Objectives: The Key to Effective Content Area Instruction for English Learners | ELL Topics from A-Z | Colorín Colorado. Retrieved June 4, 2015, f rom http://www.colorincolorado.org/article/49646/ • Jong, E., Harper, C., & Coady, M. (2013). Enhanced Knowledge and Skills for • Elementary Mainstream Teachers of English Language Learners. Theory Into • Practice,52(2), 89-97. • Jong, E., & Harper, C. (n.d.). Preparing Mainstream Teachers for English-Language • Learners: Is Being a Good Teacher Good Enough? Teacher Education • Quarterly, 101-124. • Loring, T. (n.d.). Executive Summar. Retrieved June 4, 2015, from • http://www.boone.kyschools.us/userfiles/19/my files/executive summary c sip.pdf?id=549352 • NCATE: Home. (n.d.). Retrieved June 4, 2015, from http://ncate.org/ • NCES: Home (n.d.). Retrieved June 4, 2015, from http://nces.ed.gov/ • Reed, B., & Railsback, J. (2003). Strategies and Resources for Mainstream Teachers of • ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS. Northwest Regional Laboratory. • TESOL International Association. (n.d.). Retrieved June 4, 2015, from http://www.tesol.org/ • WIDA: Home (n.d.). Retrieved June 4, 2015, from http://www.wida.us/
Appendix Survey • Which of the following strategies do you use in your classroom? • Grammar Based ESL: instruction in English that teaches about the language, including its structure, functions and vocabulary • Communication-Based ESL: Instruction in English that emphasizes using the language skillfully in meaningful contexts. • Content-Based ESL: Instruction in English that attempts to develop language skills while preparing students to study grade-level material in English. Although using content as a means, these programs are still focused primarily on the learning of English, which distinguishes them from sheltered instructional methods. • Language Objectives • Simplified Language • Word Families • Group work – partner with English speaker • Providing assistance in when to use appropriate language • Think-pair-share • OTHER • Where did you learn the strategies you are using to include your ELL students into the mainstream classroom? • Are you seeing gains from these students by using these strategies? Are they meeting STAR benchmarking scores and reading on-grade level? • Are you familiar with WIDA, TESOL standards, and how to integrate ACCESS (ELL progress test) test scores into your classroom? • Interview Topics • How long have you been teaching? • Did you take an ELL courses in college? • Have you participated in any ELL professional developments? • Do you know what WIDA is and are you familiar with the Can-Do descriptors? • Do you understand the ACCESS scores and how to differentiate your lessons accordingly? • Are you familiar with the TESOL standards?
