CLS Presentation: Organization and Mobility Within Your English Language Learner Program

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What's ELPAC?

Guess who's back?

Hopefully it didn't take you too long to guess :)

I'm back with the freshest info on English Language Development and English Learners for you. It's ELD for You and Me!

Today's topic is California's ELPAC. What is it? What happened to CELDT? Why are they changing it? When are they going to start using it?

ELPAC stands for English Language Proficiency Assessments for California and it is replacing the California English Language Development Test (CELDT) as the new way of assessing English Learners' abilities in the domains of reading, writing, listening, and speaking.

There are a couple of reasons that a change was necessary for this particular assessment.

• The California English Language Development (ELD) Standards were adopted back in November 2012, but the CELDT wasn't changed to reflect the proficiency level descriptors used in the new standards. Instead of five levels of proficiency  (beginning, early intermediate, intermediate, early advanced, advanced) there are three: Emerging, Expanding, and Bridging. The new test will reflect this.
• The ELD Standards were changed to provide: fewer standards (those most necessary and essential), clearer standards, and higher standards (more closely alligned with CCSS)
• The CELDT test was administered at the beginning of the school year. By the time we received scores, they would often be almost half a school year old. This was a problem because at the beginning of the year, for placement purposes, we were using scores from the beginning of the previous school year. Scores would be over a year old and not an accurate reflection of a student's language ability. The ELPAC will be administered as a summative assessment (window from Feb-May) and we will be able to use more recent scores for placement purposes.

Basic administration facts about the ELPAC:

• Paper-pencil assessment
• Two separate assessments each year: Initial Assessment (IA) and Summative Assessment (SA)
• IA shorter than the SA
• Seven grades/grade spans: kindergarten (K), 1, 2, 3–5, 6–8, 9–10 and 11–12
• One-on-one administration for students in K and grade 1
• Four domains: Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing
• Group administration for Listening, Reading and Writing at grades two through twelve (2–12)
• Read-aloud by test examiner in the Listening domain at K and grades 1 and 2; recorded audio in the Listeningdomain at grades 3–12
• One-on-one administration of Speaking items to all students; real-time scoring of Speaking items by a trained test examiner
• All constructed-response items in the Writing domain (no multiple-choice items)

For more information, visit the ELPAC website at http://www.elpac.org.

The "Turtle" Graphic

This graphic, which I have heard lovingly referred to as the "Turtle" graphic, is an excellent visualization of how the California English Language Development Standards and the California Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts and Literacy are integrated and interdependent.

Outer Ring	The outer ring of this graphic gives us the four overarching goals of ELA/Literacy and ELD instruction. California's goals for each student by the time they complete high school is to: have developed college and career readiness, attained the capacities of literate individuals, become broadly literate, and have acquired the skills for living and learning in the 21st century.
White Field	The white field surrounding the "turtle" is designed to represent the context in which high-quality instruction occurs. The ELA/ELD Framework states that the context in which students are learning should be motivating, engaging, respectful (so that students can take risks), integrated (across the disciplines), and intellectually challenging (regardless of language proficiency level).
Circling the Standards	The small blue circles surrounding the standards are are the 5 key themes of the standards: meaning making, language development, effective expression, content knowledge, and foundational skills. These five themes exist at every grade level and increase in rigor and complexity as the CCSS spirals progress.
Center	In the center of the graphic, at the heart of instruction are the CA CCSS for ELA and Literacy. The CA ELD standards are embedded in this center circle. The standards provide teachers with year-end outcome statements for a wide range of student knowledge and abilities. The standards guide instructional planning and observation of student progress. The CA ELD standards provide English Learners with full access to the CA CCSS for ELA/Literacy as well as other content areas.

Academic Language Prezi

Here is the presentation I gave on Academic Language during our back-to-school staff development in August. Hope you enjoy! If you have any questions, feel free to comment below!  

NEW FREE MOOCs from Stanford Online Learning

Hola Gente! I've been away, learning my new curriculum for a few weeks, but I'm back with a whole new series of blog posts for you over the next few weeks! Most urgently, I wanted to share with you some new MOOCs that are free to anyone from Stanford Online Learning. All of the MOOCs I have taken from them have been high-quality and extremely relevant. Please take a minute to look at what's available. If you plan on signing up for one, let me know in the comments! Late to the game? Don't fear, you can always sign up after the start date (though within the first two weeks is preferable). EDUCATION

CONSTRUCTIVE CLASSROOM CONVERSATIONS: MASTERING LANGUAGE FOR COLLEGE AND CAREER READINESS (ELEMENTARY) Starts October 1 This fourteen-week course looks closely at student-to-student conversations and addresses ways to improve students' abilities to engage in the types of interactions described in the new standards. It consists of four sessions with three weeks between each session. Learning in this course relies heavily on participant contributions and comments, especially in the team collaboration setting. Learn More >

CONSTRUCTIVE CLASSROOM CONVERSATIONS: MASTERING LANGUAGE FOR COLLEGE AND CAREER READINESS (SECONDARY) Starts October 1 This fourteen-week course is focused on the Common Core State Standards and Next Generation Science Standards, which emphasize improving the quality of student-to-student discourse as a major feature of instruction. The sessions and assignments are designed for participants who teach or have access to classrooms in which they can gather samples of students’ conversation during lessons, and learn ways to improve students' abilities to engage in the types of interactions described in the new standards. The course includes resources and tasks for instructional coaches and others who support teachers and build school-wide capacity. Learn More >

SUPPORTING ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS UNDER THE NEW STANDARDS Starts October 1 In this seven-week course, participants will use a range of practical tools for gathering and analyzing language samples that show how students currently construct claims supported by evidence and/or reasoning. Learn More >

Characteristics of Long-Term English Learners

          Students become LTELs after many years of schooling in the United States. Olsen (2010) revealed that many students, in their formative, elementary schooling, received little to no ELD instruction, were provided with curriculum and course materials not adapted for use with ELLs, enrolled in weak language development program models, and or were given only given access to a narrowed version of the core curriculum. She further explained that a lack of continuity in programs, social segregation of linguistically homogenous groups, and transitional schooling, “spending some time

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in schools in one country, and some time in the United States, with movement back and forth over the course of their education,” results in the language gaps that plague students who eventually become LTELs (Olsen, 2010, pp.13-20). Olsen describes LTELs as students who generally struggle academically, have distinct language issues (high functioning social language in both their home language and English, but weak academic language knowledge and skills), and have limited background knowledge and schema. An interesting dichotomy that Olsen points out is that many LTELs want to go to college but are unaware that they are not on track to meeting their goal, while on the other hand, some LTELs have become so discouraged that they disengage, fall behind, and some eventually drop out.

            Students who become LTELs can often be difficult to identify, without knowledge of their educational background. They can often speak in a seemingly fluent manner, but they lack the academic English conventions, vocabulary, grammar, discourse formats and language functions to be proficient. Students with these language gaps have found coping strategies of non-participation, silence, and passivity in order to be undetected and unexposed. Many LTELs become discouraged, which can lead them to stop asking for help. Students in this category are often misplaced in interventions and support classes intended for struggling native English speakers (Olsen, 2012).

            Walqui, Koelsch, Hamburger, et al. (2010) discuss the need for focusing attention on the plight of middle school ELLs, due to the early adolescent years being a critical period of transition, socially, physically, and personally. Walqui, et al. (2010) explain that students at this stage are discovering their role in varying social groups, as well as their own families. Students are discovering and defining their personal identities and how they would like to be perceived by others. How students perform academically and socially have a significant impact on their continued motivation, interest in school and intellectual confidence. These findings are significant when coupled with the characteristics of LTELs and the social-emotional issues they face.

            In all three studies, it is evident that the problems facing LTELs are much greater than the current solutions available to them at this time. While not all of the problems are relevant to each LTEL, many of the issues discussed are present when assessing the barriers to success facing any group of LTELs. In order to understand how to best serve our diverse LTEL populations, it is important to understand which obstacles they are facing, so that we may more fully address and meet their needs. 

Experts in the Field of Long-Term English Learner Research

          There are two places in the United States where the majority of research around the issue of Long-Term English Learners is being done. One of these places is California and the other is New York. Both states have statistically significant numbers of English Language Learners, and more importantly LTELs. Dr. Laurie Olsen and Dr. Kate Kinsella are both doing their research out of California, and Dr. Kate Menken and Dr. Tatyana Kleyn are both from New York. The work that Menken and Kleyn have done was part of a project funded by the New York City Department of Education, Office of English Learners which took place from 2007-2009. Menken was the Principal Investigator and Kleyn was the Faculty Consultant and Co-Author for the project.

Dr. Laurie Olsen

Dr. Laurie Olsen

Dr. Laurie Olsen is an educator in the California Bay Area region. She is part of the Californians Together coalition which advocates for civil rights, equity, access to quality education for all students, but especially for English Language Learners. In her pivotal study, “Reparable Harm,” Olsen (2010) revealed that many students, in their formative, elementary schooling, received little to no ELD instruction, were provided with curriculum and course materials not adapted for use with ELLs, enrolled in weak language development program models, and or were given only given access to a narrowed version of the core curriculum. She further explained that a lack of continuity in programs, social segregation of linguistically homogenous groups, and transitional schooling, “spending some time in schools in one country, and some time [sic] in the United States, with movement back and forth over the course of their education,” results in the language gaps that plague students who eventually become LTELs (Olsen, 2010, pp.13-20). Olsen describes LTELs as students who generally struggle academically, have distinct language issues (high functioning social language in both their home language and English, but weak academic language knowledge and skills), and have limited background knowledge and schema. An interesting dichotomy that Olsen points out is that many LTELs want to go to college but are unaware that they are not on track to meeting their goal, while on the other hand, some LTELs have become so discouraged that they disengage, fall behind, and some eventually drop out.

            Students who become LTELs can often be difficult to identify, without knowledge of their educational background. They can often speak in a seemingly fluent manner, but they lack the academic English conventions, vocabulary, grammar, discourse formats and language functions to be proficient. Students with these language gaps have found coping strategies of non-participation, silence, and passivity in order to be undetected and unexposed. Many LTELs become discouraged, which can lead them to stop asking for help. Students in this category are often misplaced in interventions and support classes intended for struggling native English speakers (Olsen, 2012).

Dr. Kate Kinsella

Dr. Kate Kinsela

            Dr. Kate Kinsella is the foremost expert on teaching academic vocabulary in a formalized routine for maximum retention. She helped to develop Scholastic’s Read 180 program, and has most recently developed English 3D for Scholastic, designed specifically for meeting the academic vocabulary deficiencies of Long-Term English Learners. Kinsella offers many workshops on learning to deliver academic vocabulary to students at all levels. In her explicit vocabulary routine students are introduced to a word and its meaning several times and in several different ways, before they are given formalized assessment. They learn how to pronounce each word, are told the meaning of the word, and shown multiple examples of the word in context, then are given immediate practice in using the word. Finally, word knowledge is put further in to context through readings and various writing activities. Once a student has reached mastery of the word, they are asked to use the word orally, usually through a report or some other form of structured writing (Kinsella, 2012).

            Another important aspect of Kinsella’s work is in the field of academic discussion. It is not enough for LTELs to gain mastery of various academic words, but it is also important for them to obtain the language needed to hold and sustain academic discussions. She most often does this through the use of frames and modeling. Students are given different frames for various academic purposes, then are shown how they should be used, and in which settings. Then, students are asked to produce the language with a partner, or small group, before sharing with the class or on some other individual basis. Kinsella maintains that students’ interactions need to be structured and ELLs need proper language supports to further learning and language retention (Kinsella, 2012).

Dr. Kate Menken

Dr. Kate Menken and Dr. Tatyana Kleyn

            Dr. Kate Menken and Dr. Tatyana Kleyn are both researchers from New York, who have done extensive research on bilingual education and on Long-Term English Learners, as part of a study funded by the New York City Department of Education, Office of English Language Learners. The two phase project was designed to study the characteristics and needs of LTELs in the New York City school system. The study focused on students who had been in United States schools for seven or more years, were bilingual in English and Spanish, but had not been reclassified. Their goal was to come up with a program that would focus on biliteracy development for these students (Menken & Kleyn, 2009).

Dr. Tatyana Kleyn

            What these researchers found is that Long-Term English Learners are facing conflicting feelings over the value of their primary language and English, as well as conflicting feelings about their native culture over the dominant culture of America. The LTELs in their study wanted to be identified as English speakers, but also took pride in their cultural heritage and language. Unfortunately, as with many LTELs, these students had limited proficiency in their primary language and were uncomfortable with using it in an academic way, whether that is reading or writing. They could all articulate their perception of the value of spoken Spanish, but due to their lack of literacy in that language, often avoided any mention or application of written Spanish. Their research has given me great insight into the complicated cultural dichotomy our LTEL students are facing both at home and at school. Students need to have their native language affirmed and supported at a young age if we are to significantly reduce the number of languishing LTELs in our school systems (Menken & Kleyn, 2010).