ReparableHarm:Fulfillingtheunkeptpromiseofeduca6onal

opportunityforCalifornia’sLongTermEnglishLearners

20thAnnualAdministratorELConference

SonomaCountyOfficeofEduca;on

LaurieOlsen,Ph.D.CaliforniansTogether

EnglishLearners

“Thereisnoequalityoftreatmentmerelybyprovidingstudentswiththesamefacili6es,textbooks,teachersandcurriculum…forstudentswhodonotunderstandEnglishareeffec6velyforeclosedfromanymeaningfuleduca6on…”

Lauv.Nichols,SupremeCourt

AnEnglishLearnerisnotanEnglishLearnerisnotanEnglishLearner…..

Theconceptofthe“LongTermEnglishLearner”

LongTermEnglishLearner

ESL Lifers

The 1.5Generation

The 5Plusers

Struggling Readers

Protracted EnglishLearners

III’s Forever

TurningtheTidesofExclusion:aguideforEducatorsandAdvocates

forImmigrantStudentsOlsenandJaramillo,1999

SecondaryELTypologies

• Newlyarrivedwithadequateschooling(includingliteracyinL1)

• Newlyarrivedwithinterruptedformalschooling‐“Underschooled”‐“SIFE”

• EnglishLearnersdevelopingnorma;vely(1‐5years)

• LongTermEnglishLearners• Overage

LongTermEnglishLearnersarecreated……..

LongTermEL

GAPhasincreased 2002‐2010CSTELA%Proficientandabove

EnglishOnly:EnglishLearners

33.4%gap‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐37.2%gap

“Thereisnoclear,easyreasonrevealedbydatawhystudentsareremainingintheLEPcategoryfor10+years.”

ColoradoDepartmentofEduca6on2009

“Whiledistrictswereunanimousinvoicingtheirconcernforsuchstudents(“LongTermEnglishLearners”),findingeffec6veinterven6onstomovetheselongtermstudentsalongtheproficiencycon6nuumremainsachallenge.”

CouncilofGreatCitySchools,2009

TheCaliforniansTogetherSurvey

Thesample:

• Datafrom40schooldistricts

• Dataon175,734EnglishLearnersingrades6‐12

• Thisis31%ofCalifornia’sEnglishLearnersingrades6‐12

TheDistricts

• Varyinsizefrom1,300studentstomorethan680,000

• VaryinEnglishLearnerenrollmentfrom9%to81%oftotalenrollment

• 13areurban,13aresuburban,14arerural

DatacollectedonEnglishLearners6‐12

• #ofyearssincedateofentry

• SecondaryELswhoenrolledinK/1

• 6+byCELDTlevel

• 6+byacademicfailure(Ds,Fs)

• Defini;on

• Placement

Acrossalldistricts59%ofsecondaryschoolELsarelongterm

(103,635insample)

Concentra6onofLTELsindistrictsvary

Defini6onsvary

• Nineof40haveaformaldefini;on

• Lengthof;me(years)ispartofeverydefini;on

• Thenumberofyearsusedinthedefini;onsvaryfrom5yearsto7+

• Sixdistrictsinclude“lackofprogress”orevidenceofacademicfailurealongwiththenumberofyears

Legalframework

• EnglishLearnerscannotbepermifedtoincurirreparableacademicdeficitsduringthe;metheyaremasteringEnglish

• Schooldistrictsareobligatedtoaddressdeficitsassoonaspossible,andtoensurethattheirschoolingdoesnotbecomeapermanentdeadend.

Howlongshouldittake?

• NCLBAMAO#1(1CELDTlevelperyear–4yearmodel)

• TheFiveyearModel:(1CELDTlevelperyearplusallowancefor2yearsatlevelIII)

• TheELSSAdatabylengthof;meinUSschoolsuses3yearsorless,4years,5years,6ormoreyears

• Linguis;cresearch(individualdifferences,butgenerally5‐7years)

• Educa;onprogrameffec;veness(5‐7yearsinawell‐implementedprogram;7‐10inweakprogramifatall)

Acon6nuumofacademicsuccess……LosinggroundonCELDTandAcademicFailure

NoprogressonCELDT,academicallystruggling

VeryslowprogresstowardsEnglishProficiency,doingokay(C’s)

Doingwellacademically,buts;llnotreclassified

Reclassifiedbutstruggling

Proposeddefini;on:AnEnglishLearnerinsecondaryschoolswho…..

HasbeenenrolledinUSschoolsformorethan6years

IsmakinginadequateprogressinEnglishlanguagedevelopment(e.g.,CELDTIIIorbelow,hasremainedatCELDTlevelfor2+years,orhaslostgroundonCELDT)

Isstrugglingacademically(e.g.,GPAbelowa2.0orgradesofDorFintwoormorecoreclasses;behindoncreditaccrual)

Step#1:Knowtheextentand

magnitudeoftheLTELissueinyourschools

Designateindicators/expecta;ons3rdgrade 4th‐5thgrades 6‐8grades 9–12grades

#yearsinU.S.schools

3+years

ProficiencyinEnglish

Growthof1levelperyear;AtlevelIII+

AcademicSuccess

BasicoraboveonCSTsinMath,ELA

Other(e.g.,socio‐emo;onal)

Ac6veengagementin

class

VUSDELMasterPlanAnnualExpecta;onsfor

EnglishLearners

Yearsin US

1year

2years

3years

4years

5years

6years

CELDT BEG EI INT INT EA ADV

CSTELA

FBB + FBB+ BB+ BB+ Basic+ Prof+

CSTMath

FBB+ FBB+ BB+ Basic+ Prof+ Prof+

STS Prof+ Prof+ Prof+ Prof+ Prof+ Prof+

Example:ModestoCitySchools

• ELsthathavebeeninU.S.School5yearsormore– S;llnotreclassified,mostareIntermediateandaboveonCELDTbutnotprogressing

– Strugglingacademically(atleastoneDorFgrade)andBelowBasicorLowBasicCST/ELA

– Characteris;csinclude:sociallyisolated,academicallydisengagedandunmo;vated,poorafendance,discouragedlearners,bookaversion,andneithertheynortheirfamiliesarefamiliarwithschoolexpecta;onsortheimplica;onsofschoolprogramonop;onsforthefuture

• Aformaldefini;on• Designatedannualbenchmarkindicators/expecta;ons

• Adatasystemthatcandisaggregateachievementdataby#ofyearsinU.S.schoolsandbyEnglishproficiencylevels

• AcalendarofregularreviewsofLTELdatatoinformandtriggerplanningANDtotriggersupportsforstudents

DistrictAc6onSteps

Reflec6on:

AreLongTermEnglishLearnersanissueinyourschoolordistrict?

Anysenseofthemagnitude?

WhendoyoubegintoseeELsbecomingLTELs?Whataretheindica;ons?

Whatdoyouconsider“toolong”toreachEnglishproficiency?

Step#2:

InvesKgatehowEnglishLearnersbecameLongTerm

DallasPublicSchools(2001)

• Es;matethat70%ofsecondaryschoolELsareU.S.born

• OverallacademicperformanceofLTELsdoesnotcon;nuetoimprove‐thereisaceilingintheirlevelsofacademicEnglishafainmentover;me.

FreemanandFreeman(2002)

• EducatedintheU.S.,7+years

• Seeselvesasbilingual,butonlyhaveacademicprepara;oninEnglish‐fewread/writeinL1

• DonotfeeltheyhavecompletecommandofEnglish

• SocialskillsinEnglish‐conversa;onallylikena;vespeakers

• Academicskillsnotasdevelopedasoralskills

“TheLongTermImpactofSubtrac6veSchoolingintheEduca6onalExperiences

ofSecondaryEnglishLanguageLearners”

KateMenken&TatyanaKleynNewYorkCityDept.ofEduca;on

forthcominginInterna6onalJournalofBilingualEduca6onandBilingualism

NYC/LTEL‐definiKon

• AfendedU.S.schools7+yearsands;lldesignatedEnglishLearners

• CompriseoneinthreeELsinNYC

Theresearchmethodology

• Indepthinterviewswith29LTELsgrades9‐12andinU.S.anaverageof10years.(mostlySpanishspeakers)

• InterviewswithschooladministratorsandteachersofLTELs

• Examina;onofacademicrecords

Districtandsiteinquiries(2004‐2010)

• Studentinterviewsretrievingschoolinghistories

• Studiesofcumula;verecords

• Interviewsandfocusgroupswithteachers

• StudentvoiceontheexperienceofbeingLTEL

• Surveys

Noservices‐mainstream

• (58cumrecordstudies)Threeoutoffourspentatleasttwoyearsin“noservices”ormainstream

• Whatmayappearonpapertobe“ELservices”maynotbeactuallydesignedforEnglishLearners

TrendsinCaliforniaschools2000‐2010

• Largeincreaseofstudentsinmainstreamplacement(noservices)

• Largereduc;oninprimarylanguageinstruc;on(from12%to5%)

• ApproximatelyoneintenwithELDonly

• ThemajorityinStructuredEnglishImmersion/ELDplusSDAIE–largeincrease(from35%to55%)

Comparison between EL groups over time

NYCstudyInU.S.‐inconsistentschooling

• 21of29studentsreceivedacombina;onofESLandbilingualprogramsovertheyears

• 7studentsreceivedonlyEnglishinstruc;on• Schoolhoppers,programshirers,temporaryabsenceofprograms

• Vastmajoritymovedinandoutofdifferentprograms‐withoutsystemicconsistency

• HalfhadacompletegapinELservicesatsomepointintheUSandwereinmainstreamfor1‐3years

NYCStudySubtracKveschooling

• VastmajorityreceiveEnglish‐onlyinstruc;onresul;nginlimitedornoliteracyskillsinL1OR

• Weakformsofbilingualeduca;on(earlyexit,transi;onal)resul;nginlimitedoraland/orwrifenproficiencyinL1

• L1skillsareweakenedover;meandeventuallyreplacedwithEnglish

• StudentsreportprogramsemphasizedEnglishreadingandwri;ng(eventhebilingualprograms)

Othercontribu6ngfactors

• Weaklanguagedevelopmentmodels

• Historiesofinconsistentprogramplacements

• Likelihoodofinconsistencyinimplementa;onwithinprograms

• Narrowedcurriculum‐par;alaccess

• Socialsegrega;on–linguis;cisola;on–lowexpecta;ons

• Transna;onalmoves–transna;onalschooling

NYCstudyThreecategoriesofLTELs

• Transna;onalstudents‐mainlyU.S.educated,butmovebackandforth

• ELswhohadinconsistentELprograms(e.g.,bilingual,ELD/SDAIE,mainstream)

• LTELsonthecuspofexi;ngELstatus(4of29)‐steadyprogress,justtookabitlonger‐around7years.

TransnaKonalinconsistentschooling

• !2of29studentsafendedschooloutsidetheU.S.inalanguageotherthanEnglishforafewmonthsandupto8yearsaltogether

• Interna;onalmovesorenoccurrepeatedlycrea;ngacycleofadjustmentandreadjustment(andnewdecisionsaboutplacementandprogram)

• TheschoolingoutsideU.S.tendedtobeforshortdura;onsandinconsistentanddidnotresultinL1literacy

Foryoutodo…..

• TakeasampleofyourLTELsandreviewtheirhistories

• InYOURdistrictandschool–aretherepafernsoftransna;onalmovement?Aretherepafernsof“noservices”?Aretherepafernsinthekindofprogramstheyreceived?

Step#3:

UnderstandtheneedsandcharacterisKcsof“LongTermEnglishLearners”

StrugglingEnglishproficientorna;vespeakers

ImmigrantandNorma;veEnglishLearners

StandardEnglishspeakers

StrugglingRFEP

Theyhavedis;nctlanguageissues

• Highfunc;oninginsocialsitua;onsinbothlanguages–butlimitedvocabularyinboth

• PreferEnglish–areincreasinglyweakintheirhomelanguage

• Weakacademiclanguage–withgapsinreadingandwri;ngskills

NYCStudyLanguageproficiencyandpreferences

• Majorityusebothlanguagesequallyinconversa;on‐contextisthefactorinchoice

• Frequentcodeswitching

• Whenspeaking,LTELsorensoundlikena;veEnglishspeakers‐strongoralproficiencyforsocialpurposes

• Studentsoverwhelminglyfavorandreportbeingmorecomfortablereadingandwri;nginEnglish

• Mostare“stuck”inprogressingtowardsEnglishproficiency

• SomearelosinggroundinEnglish

Downtherabbithole…….

• BasiconCST‐ELA

• ReasonablefluencyinEnglish

• CELDTProficient

• ProficientonCSTinELA

• AdvancedlevelonCELDT

BigdiscrepancybetweenCELDTProficiencyandBasiconCST/ELA

PercentEnglishLearnersafainingthesebenchmarksstatewide

AcademicPerformance

• SeveralgradelevelsbelowactualgradelevelinbothEnglishandL1

• Cumula;vehighschoolGPAisverylow(D+average)

• MorethanoneinfivehaveFaverages

• Gradereten;onfrequent

• Learnedpassivityandnon‐par;cipa;on

• Mismatchinpercep;onofhowdoing,theiractualacademicskills,andtheirgoals

• Significant–butspofy‐gapsinacademicbackgroundknowledge

• Somearediscouraged,tunedout,droppingout

Foryoutodo…..

• Besurethereisunderstandingaboutwhatcons;tutessufficientEnglishproficiencyforacademicaccess–clarifytheterms

• AnalyzegradesandGPAs

• AnalyzeCELDTlevelsandgrowth/stagna;on/loss–wherearetheystuck?

• Shadow–checkforengagementandpar;cipa;on

Step#4:

CheckhowLTELsarecurrentlybeingservedinsecondary

school

NYCStudyLackofappropriateservicesinhigh

school• LTELstakesameESLclassesasotherELs(designedfornewarrivals)withnothingspecificallytargetedtotheirneedsLTELsarein“mainstream”forotheracademicclasses

• ManyLTELsafendforeignlanguageclassestaughtintheirL1anddesignedfornon‐speakersofthelanguage(mixedwithnon‐na6vespeakersandfocusingonbasicgrammarandvocabulary)

FromtheCaliforniansTogethersurvey

• OneoutoffourdistrictshavesomespecificapproachtoservingLongTermEnglishLearners

• ThemajorityofdistrictsplacetheirLongTermEnglishLearnersintomainstream(CLAD,SDAIE?)

• ThreedistrictsplaceLongTermEnglishLearnersbyCELDTlevelwithotherEnglishLearners

• Placed/keptinclasseswithnewcomerandnorma;velydevelopingEnglishLearners–byCELDTlevel

• Unpreparedteachers

• Noelec;ves–andlimitedaccesstothefullcurriculum

• Over‐assignedandinadequatelyservedininterven;onandreadingsupportclasses

PlacementsNOTdesignedforthem…..

TheNa;onalLiteracyPanel

“Instruc6onalstrategieseffec6vewithna6veEnglishspeakersdonothaveasposi6vealearningimpactonlanguageminoritystudents…..Instruc6oninthekeycomponentsofreadingisnecessarybutnotsufficientforteachinglanguageminoritystudentstoreadandwriteproficientlyinEnglish.”

OntheissueofintervenKons• CAL(“DoubletheWork”)‐readinginterven;onsdesignedforna;vespeakersaren’tappropriateforELs

• Na;onalLiteracyPanel‐goodliteracyandreadinginterven6onsworkforbothELandproficientstudents‐buttheyworkBETTERforEnglishproficientstudents(gapgrows)

• Fromthe1.5genera;onresearchoncollegestudents,andlinguis;csresearch‐appearsthatWRITINGmaybeamorepowerfulemphasisthanREADINGstrategiesforLTELs

Thingstoask…….

• WherearetheyplacedforEnglish?ELD?• Wherearetheyplacedforacademiccontent?• Whatinterven;onsandsupportclassesdotheyreceive?

• Aretheygevngaccesstoelec;ves?• AretheyinA‐Gcourses?• AreanyofthoseplacementsdesignedforLTELs?DotheyhaveappropriatesupportforELsuccess?

Step#5:

KnowtheresearchandundomisconcepKonsthatleadto

harmfulpracKces

Misconcep;on#1:“WeshouldjustfocusonEnglish–thesoonerandmorefullyimmersedinEnglish,thebefer.”

But……

DevelopmentofthehomelanguageinschoolalongwithEnglishbenefitsEnglishproficiencyandlong‐termacademicsuccess.Studentsreceivingbilingualinstruc6onperformatleastaswell,andojenbeferONMEASURESOFENGLISHPROFICIENCYthanstudentsinstructedmonolingually

Misconcep;on#2:

“EnglishLearnersdon’treallyneedspecialservicesorinstruc6on.Justgoodteachingandastandards‐basedcurriculumisenoughforallstudents.And,itsequitablebecauseeveryonegetsthesamecurriculum.”

JustgoodteachingISgoodforallstudentsbutnotsufficientforEnglishLearners.Theyneedinstruc6onalstrategiesandmaterialsthatareadaptedtohelpthemaccessthecurriculum;theyneedELD;andtheyneedrichorallanguagedevelopment

Misconcep;on#3:Englishismoreimportantthanothersubjects.Iftheyaren’tdoingwellinEnglish,weshouldspendmorehoursofthedaydedicatedtoEnglishlanguagearts.Thingslikescience,thearts,socialstudiescanwait.

Academiclanguageisbestlearnedinthecontextoflearningacademiccontent.And,withoutopportuni6estolearnscience,socialstudies(etc.),academicgapsarecreatedandschoolismoreboring.

Misconcep;on#4:

“Ifweletthemusetheirhomelanguage,theywon’tlearnEnglishorassimilate.Parentswhospeaktochildreninthehomelanguageareholdingthemback.”

Mo6va6on,opportunityandencouragementtouseanewlanguageisimportant,butpreven6ngachildfromusingtheirstrongestlanguagehasadetrimentalimpact.Parentsneedtousetheirstrongestlanguagetoenhancecommunica6onandconnec6on,andtofosterrichlanguagedevelopmentoverall.

REFLECTION• Doyouhearorseeevidenceofanyofthesebeliefs?

• DoanyoftheseseemtocreatechallengestostrengtheningyourprogramsforEnglishLearners?

• Whatistheresearchthatismostneededtobeunderstood?

• Whatprac;cesdoyouseegoingonthatseemmostflyinthefaceofresearch?

Step6:

DesignprogramstomeetLTELneeds

BasicPrinciples!

• Focusupondis6nctneeds

• Languagedevelopmentismorethanliteracydevelopment–LTELsneedboth

• Languagedevelopment+Academicgaps

• Crucialroleofhomelanguage

• Invite,support,insistthatLTELsbecomeac6vepar6cipantsintheirowneduca6on

• Maximumintegra6onwithoutsacrificingaccess

• Rigor,relevance,ac6veengagementandempoweringpedagogy

• Rela6onshipsmafer

• Anaffirming,inclusiveenvironment

• Urgency!

Step#7

PreventthecreaKonofLTELs

• Startwithanearlyfounda;onofrichlanguagedevelopment(PreK‐3)inbothEnglishandthehomelanguage(wherepossible)

• Afen;ontothealignment,ar;cula;onandtransi;onbetweenpreschoolandelementarygrades

• MakeroomforandprovideprofessionaldevelopmentrelatedtobuildingapowerfulORALlanguagefounda;onforliteracy

• Fullcurriculum–withlanguagedevelopmentacrossallcontentareas

Urgencyandopportunity

• Urgencytoaddresstheunderachievementandmiseduca;onofEnglishLearners

• OpportunityinthereleaseofpowerfulresearchspecificallyaddressingEnglishLearnerneeds

• Examplesfromdistrictsthatarepilo;ngnewapproachesforLTELswithimpact

Step#8:

Addressthesystemsissues

Theseare“systems”issues:

• Datasystemsthatdonot/cannotiden;fyandmonitorprogress

• Unpreparedteachers• Lackofappropriatecurriculumandmaterials• Confusionaboutwhatschoolsare“supposed”todo• Misunderstandingandlackofknowledgeoftheresearch

• Lackofclarityaboutwhatcons;tutes“EnglishProficiency”

• Abeliefthat“wecan’tdothat”

ProacKveDistrictPoliciesandSupport

• Adefini;onandsystemformonitoring• Designatedannualbenchmarkexpecta;onsbynumberofyearsandEnglishproficiency

• Inquiry• Researchbasedprograms–includingspecificresponsesforLTELs

• Disaggregatedata• Targetprofessionaldevelopmentforteachers• Createneededcourses• Studentandparentinforma;on

StatelevelrecommendaKons

• Astandardstatedefini;on

• Statemechanismstorequireandcollectdataforiden;fica;on,monitoring,planningandresponse

• RealELDmaterials!

• Research‐based,consistentmessagesasthefounda;onforaccountability

• Buildcapacityamongteachersandadministrators

• Ensurefullaccess

• Provideparentswithinforma;on

• Investinresearchandinnova;on

Step#9:

LeadershipandAdvocacy

Reparable Harm…..

Becausewithoutthepoweroflanguage,theydonothavea

voice!

THANKYOU!lolaurieo@gmail.com