BOSTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS Office of English Language Learners ACCESS, STEM and ELL Making sense of the...

BOSTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS Office of English Language Learners

ACCESS, STEM and ELLMaking sense of the acronyms to effectively

serve English Language Learners

Office of English Language Learners, February 2015


Office of English Language Learners-Vision All English Language Learner students in the Boston Public Schools will acquire 21st century bi-literacy skills and cross-disciplinary knowledge required to succeed in college and/or careers.

Latino STEM Alliance-Vision The Latino STEM Alliance partners with schools, private industry, community groups and academia to bring STEM experiences to underserved youth that otherwise would not have such an opportunity

Sociedad Latina-VisionSince 1968, Sociedad Latina has worked in partnership with Latino youth and families to end destructive cycles of poverty, health inequities, and lack of educational and professional opportunities in our community.

Photo via cityofboston.gov

Organization Visions


● Provide an Overview of English Language Learners in the Boston Public Schools.

● Provide a detailed explanation of the ACCESS exam and its relevance to English Language Learners and the Community as a whole.

● Provide a Model of STEM Instruction for English Language Learners within Supplemental Programming.

● Provide Strategies on how to engage English Language Learners in Supplemental Programming.

● Provide Strategies around providing Meaningful Summer Programming for English Language Learners.

Photo via cityofboston.gov

Objectives of the Training

Supplemental Programming: Engaging programming outside of the Normal School Day (i.e. Before/After School and Summer School/Programming).

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BOSTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Presenters John Braga Director of ELL Services and Supplemental ProgrammingBoston Public Schools-Office of English Language Learners

Sarah Abramson Program ManagerLatino STEM Alliance

Jonathan RodriguesCivic Engagement Coordinator Sociedad Latina


Introduction to ELL Students in the Boston Public Schools


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Linguistic Diversity in BPS▪ BPS students’ families are from over 100 countries

▪ BPS students speak over 80 different first languages

▪ 46% of BPS students speak a language other than English as their first language

▪ 42% of BPS students are either currently learning English (ELL) or mastered academic English while attending BPS (Former ELL*)

Data for K2-12 students as of January 5, 2015 “allwithtests” file from BPS OIIT. *Former ELL here refers to students in the 2 year monitoring period and beyond.

First Language of ELLs in K2-12 (BPS)

Asterisk indicates that BPS offers a language specific ELL program for those linguistic communities. Data for K2-12 students as of January 5, 2015 “allwithtests” file from BPS OIIT. 7


Language # %

Spanish* 9,372 61%

Haitian* 1,308 8%

Cape Verdean* 1,152 7%

Chinese* 837 5%

Vietnamese* 807 5%

Portuguese 295 2%

Arabic 260 2%

Somali 256 2%

French 128 1%

Other 985 6%

Total 15,400 100%

Distribution of ELLs by Grade (K2-12)

Data for K2-12 students as of January 5, 2015 “allwithtests” file from BPS OIIT. 8


Level Total ELL Percent of ELL

Elementary 8,814 57%

Middle 2,786 18%

High 3,801 25%

Total 15,401 100%

Appendix 1: How many BPS students need ELL services? (K2-12)

Data for K2-12 students as of January 5, 2015 “allwithtests” file from BPS OIIT. *As of this data file, there are 77 LEP students with a “blank” ELD level; these students are included as ELD Level 1 in this table. In addition, there are 4 students coded as LEP with ELD 6 or P. These students are excluded from this table.

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ELD Level* # % % by ESL Need

1 2,138 14% 54%

2 2,274 15%

3 3,940 56%

4 4,690 30% 46%

5 2,355 15%

Total 15,397 100% 100%


Access to ACCESSTraining


Performance Definition Criteria

Performance Criteria

Linguistic Complexity (Discourse)

Language Forms & Conventions (Sentence)

Vocabulary Usage (Word)

BOSTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS Office of English Language


ACCESS for ELLs Overview• ACCESS: Assessing Comprehension and Communication in English

(State-to-State)

• Lengthy test

• Focused on WIDA ELD Standards to monitor students' progress in acquiring academic English

• Assesses academic language

• Three tiers for each grade level cluster

Tier A: (ELD) Proficiency levels 1-3

Tier B: (ELD) Proficiency levels 2-4

Tier C: (ELD) Proficiency levels 3-5

• One third of test items replaced annually

• Administered once per year as required by No Child Left Behind

• Indicator of student’s ability to perform on state content

ELD Standards

Social & Instructional Language

Language of Language

Arts

Language of Mathematics

Language of Science

Language of Social

Studies

Academic Language

BOSTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS Office of English Language

Structure of the ACCESS Test


Each form of the test assesses the four language domains of Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing

Grades 1-12:

1. Listening: 20-25 Minutes-machine scored

2. Reading: 35-40 Minutes-machine scored

3. Writing: Up to 1 Hour-instructor scored

4. Speaking: Up to 15 Minutes-instructor scored

•  Kindergarten test is individually administered and takes an average of 40 minutes per student.


Sample of the Listening Assessment


ACCESS Test College/Career Access



It’s Your Future, Make It Count!

Electives/AP Courses

Greater Access to College

Scholarships

No Remedial English

Courses in College

Better Grades

Doing your best on the ACCESS Test means…


English Proficiency and MCAS Performance

• English Proficiency leads to Higher Scores on the ELA and Math MCAS

• 45% of ELL Students with ACCESS Levels 5 and 6 score Proficient or Advanced on the ELA MCAS. *

• 75% of High School ELL Students with ACCESS Levels 5 and 6 score Proficient or Advanced on the ELA MCAS.*

• 50% of ELL Students with ACCESS Levels 5 and 6 score Proficient or Advanced on the Math MCAS.*

• 65% of High School ELL Students with ACCESS Levels 5 and 6 score Proficient or Advanced on the Math MCAS.*

• *Approximately


Benefits to Full Bilingualism• Being Bilingual allows you to….

• Communicate fully in both languages.• Become a bridge for your community and

English-speaking communities.• Better advocate for your community by being

able to translate to English.• Have greater access to careers that require

bilingual speakers! (Careers that require bilingual speakers are usually high-paying jobs.)


Reflection Activity (15 Mins)In four sentences or less answer each question below.

Step 1: Answer each question individually in writing (5 minutes).

Step 2: Find a person you do not know in the room and discuss each question (5 minutes).

Step 3: As a whole group, we will discuss the relevance of each question (5 minutes).

Question 1: What is the ACCESS Exam?Question 2: Why is the ACCESS Exam relevant to ELL students?

Question 3: Why is the ACCESS Exam relevant to the community at large, including direct service providers?


STEM and ESL Instruction


Future of Programming (STEM and English Language Acquisition Instruction)

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The Office of English Language Learners seeks to transform before, after, and summer school instruction to achieve the following goals:

• Provide ELL students with before, after, and summer programming that is focused on STEM Skills and infuses English Language Acquisition instruction.

• Provide ELL students with a possible Career/College access focus around the STEM based activity (i.e. robotics)

• Provide ELL students with best practices around Language Acquisition to access the STEM content and acquire the English Language.


Robotics-ESL Program at TechBoston Academy (Example of Future Programming)

Structure of Program:

Part 1: Three hours of programming per week focused on Robotics:● Using the kits● Building Robots● Programming

Part 2: Three hours of programming per week focused on English Language Acquisition using the Robotics curriculum as the focus:● Building Robotics Vocabulary ● Reading and writing about topics related to the creation of robots

through on-line blogs● Discussing the process of building robots ● Listening to videos and demonstrations focused on robotics building


Robotics-ESL Program at TechBoston Academy (Example of Future Programming)


Goals

Goal 1: Provide ELL Students with access to STEM Activities.

Goal 2: Inspire ELL Students to Pursue STEM Related Careers.

Goal 3: Enhance the English Language Acquisition of ELL Students.

Goal 4: Pilot the LSA Robotics Program to observe and evaluate for future programming.

The Office of English Language Learners seeks to establish similar goals for Supplemental Services Programming to Promote 21st Century Learning Skills

and College/Career Access.



Student Selection of the Program • One cohort of up to 12 SIFE students will be chosen

for the Robotics-English Language Acquisition Programo SIFE: Students with Formal Interrupted

Education. • All students within the cohort will attend the same

school. • Ideally, all students within the cohort will be in the

same grade and will have the instructor of the program as a classroom teacher.

• LSA works with students in Upper Elementary and Middle School.

• Students within the program will receive ESL along with Robotics instruction.


ESL Instruction within the Program

The teacher of the Robotics-English Language Acquisition Program will use the LSA Curriculum to provide ESL instruction.

The ESL Instruction will consist of:Vocabulary Acquisition focused on Robotics and Mathematics within the curriculum. Writing activities focused on Robot Building and Computer Programming using Graphic OrganizersDialogue activities using Sentence Starters and Prompts to discuss the process of Robotics building.The use of media and videos to listen to and observe the process of Robotics building.


Challenges/CompetitionsBeginning in the spring, all of the schools which are part of the LSA network prepare for an inter-school competition, usually held the first Saturday in June.

The teams must build and program their robot to accomplish the challenge:

I.E. Students design a robot which could move wooden cubes across a 4 foot by 6 foot field

with obstacles to a goal.

The event lasts several hours and is a culminating event which the students enjoy.


Assessment Flow Chart

Weekly Participation

Score & Monthly Blog

School, District, State Assessment

Data

Culminating Robotics Challenge

Pre & Post Survey

Assessing the Robotics-Content Based ESL Program


Engaging ELLs in Your Current Programming



Strategies for Engaging ELLs• Hands-on learning

o Project based activities o Allows for students to be mobile and interact with their peers.

• Explicit Instructiono Identify the steps of each activity that is implemented in the class

from the start of the activity to the end

• Provide Rich Contento Content that is meaningful to the students, currently or will be in

the future

• Provide Systematic instruction in English o Identify essential vocabulary students will need to know to

understand the activity o Create a list or Word Bank of Essential Vocabulary

• Offer Support in the Native Language (if you are able to) o Provide Word to Word Translation when needed o Provide students with a Word to Word Dictionary

Resource: http://www.colorincolorado.org/


Techniques for Teaching ELL Students

• Teach Vocabulary o Pre-Teacho Focus on Cognateso Scaffold

• Teach Writing o Provide sentence stemso Provide student exemplars o Provide graphic organizers

• Monitor Progress o Use applicable rubrics o Determine the progress goal for each student

• Additional Techniques: Teaching Reading, Speaking and Listening, etc.



Strategies for Teaching Vocabulary• Pre-teach Vocabulary

o Role Playing o Using gestureso Show real objectso Point to pictures and drawingso Use the native language equivalent

• Focus on Cognates o Words in different languages that are derived from the same

original word or root. o 40% of all English words have similar cognates in Spanish.

• Scaffoldo Using graphic organizerso Use a word wall o Label drawings and pictures

• Other Strategies o Use technology o Encourage oral language o Model usage of words o Label objects in English and the Native Language



Strategies for Teaching Vocabulary

English to Spanish Cognates:

Example Word Wall

Point to Pictures and Drawings


Strategies for Teaching Writing • Provide Sentence Stems

o Create sentence stems that are appropriate to the activity.o Review stems that are appropriate to the activity. o Set a writing task o Have students share stems o i.e. I understand that….o i.e. It could be easier if….o i.e. I read that….o Sentence Stems can also be used for discussion activities (Listening and

Speaking). • Provide Student Exemplars

o Examples of the completed writing task from previous years/sessionso Review the Exemplar with students o Identify how this writing piece is an Exemplar in relation to a rubric.

• Provide Graphic Organizers o Using graphic organizers to help students plan and organize their writing. o Select a graphic organizer that is appropriate for the writing task, i.e.

Compare/Contrast, Cause and Effect. • Other Strategies

o Selecting important vocabulary words to be the focus of the writing activity.

o Engaging students in discussion activities first and then having them respond to the activity in writing. Resource: http://www.colorincolorado.org/


Strategies for Teaching Writing

Writing Graphic Organizer

Student Exemplar

Example Sentence Stems


Strategies for Monitoring Progress• Determine a student’s starting point or baseline

using an applicable rubric/pre-test.• Determine the gains the student is able to make

in the length of the program (i.e. 5 weeks, 10 weeks, etc)

• Create a S.M.A.R.T. Goal for the student after the Pre-test: o S.M.A.R.T.-Specific, Measurable, Achievable,

Results-Focused, and Time-Boundo i.e. The student will achieve a score of _______ by

the end of the program as determined by the _______ assessment.

o Reassess to measure progress toward the S.M.A.R.T. Goal (i.e. every week, month, end of the program, etc)


Strategies for Monitoring Progress-Academic Progress ELL Students



Strategies for Monitoring Progress-Oral Language Scoring



Strategies for Monitoring Progress-Analytic Scoring



Summer Programming and ELL Students



Recruitment • Identify the location of the program • Have fliers and applications created in English and multiple

languages (if possible) • Identify the outreach of the program

o One neighborhood in Bostono Two neighborhoods in Bostono Multiple or all neighborhoods in Boston

• Reach Out to families early between late February-March• Work with local Language Focused Community Based

Organizations to help promote the program. • Work with Representatives of the Boston Public Schools to help

promote the program. • Work with local schools to help promote the program. • Create a system to receive applications • Contact families of interested students to identify that a spot is

open for their son/daughter in the program. • Provide families with communication in the native/home

language if possible.


Family Engagement• Provide Handouts in English and the Native

Language (if possible) • Recruit and hire staff members that speak the

native/home language of a majority of the students in the program.

• Connect to the local Language Focused Community Based Organizations to assist with parent outreach and translation.

• Conduct multiple family events throughout the program to engage families in the programming o Showcasing projectso Family learning walks o End of the program celebration


Student Engagement • Create a schedule that students can understand and can

identify when each activity will take place during the day. • Create a mix of activities throughout the day to ensure student

engagement.o Reading and Writing Activities o Hands on Activities o Project Based Activities o Speaking and Listening Activities o Movement based activities (i.e. sports)

• Create outcomes and goals at the start of the programo Students will be able to_______ by the end of the programo Students will improve ________ (points or percentage) by

the end of the program o Pre-test

• Identify multiple ways to monitor student progress o Multiple check-ins o Post-test

• Use student data to evaluate the effectiveness of the program at the end of the session.


Project Based Learning• Identify the goals and outcomes of each activity. • Identify the learning experience of each activity. • Create activities that allow for movement and hands on

engagement. • Have students work in groups to complete the activity. • Create a step by step process for completing the project:

o Example Process Outline(Creating a bridge with popsicle sticks): Identify the Math Skills students will engage in. Identify the process for students to utilize the math

skills to create the bridge. Provide students with a process to create the

bridge. Provide a system and expectations for students to

work collaboratively. Provide students with a rubric the project will be

assessed with.


Project Based LearningHands-on ActivitiesCompleted Product

Student Engagement Grading Rubric


Project Based Learning-Group Activity• Using Chart Paper in groups of Two or Three:

• Create a Project Based Activity:o 1. Identify the Goals and Outcomes of the

Activity o 2. Identify the Learning Experience of the

Activity o 3. Summarize the Step-by-Step process to

complete the Activity.o Create an activity that allows for movement and

hands on engagement. o Feel free to use any format to complete this task

(agree on the format as a group) 15-20 minutes to complete the Presentation 5 minutes to review each Presentation as a

cohorto *You may use a current activity at one of

your programs as a starting point.


21st Century Learning Skills in ActionSIFE-STEM Invention Program:

● Students engage in hands on creation-based activities to improve students’ understanding of the core curriculum focused on National Frameworks (Common Core and Next Generation Science Standards) in STEM Content Areas)

● Example Project:○ Extreme Shoe-Teams are inspired by the work of Nike Co Founder William

Bowerman to develop innovative shoes, and then enter a mock, free-market economy.

21st Century Learning Outcomes-Learning and Innovation Skills within the Program:

● Think Creatively ● Work Creatively with Others● Implement Innovations ● Reason Effectively ● Use System Thinking ● Make Judgments and Decisions ● Solve Problems● Communicate Clearly ● Collaborate with Others

In partnership with Invent, Now Inc.


Evaluation of Programming• Evaluation of Programming should consist of multiple facets:

o Student Interest (i.e. Surveys)o Parent/Family Input (i.e. Surveys)o Teacher Input (i.e. Surveys)o Student Performance (i.e. Pre/Post Tests, Progress Monitoring) o Student Attendance o Student Retention within the program o Class and Whole Program Observations.

Assessment

Data

Observations Student

Attendance

Surveys/

InterestProgram Evaluation Chart:


Questions???????


Conclusion

Please feel free to contact any of the presenters with further questions or ideas:

o John Braga [email protected] Please email me if you would like a copy of the

presentation. o Sarah Abramson

[email protected] Jonathan Rodrigues

[email protected]

• Thank You and Have a Great Summer!!!• We are all working together to serve ELL Students

in the Boston Public Schools!

mailto:[email protected]



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