1. March 22, 2013 Situation Report Webinar Larry Sigel, Partner Margaret Buckton, Partner © Iowa School Finance Information Services, 2013 1 2013 Legislative Session and Budget Cycle

2. Info Related to ELL Policy Debate: Dissecting ELL history, growth and what’s different for today for Iowa’s non-English Speaking students.

3. SF 404 ELL supplemental weighting Currently 0.22 weighting for ELL student programming for 4 years. Reimbursement of actual cost exceeding the weighting and exceeding the time may be requested from SBRC (meaning MAG, not cash) SBRC action less predictable and not as timely as in years past SF 404 would extend the weighting to 7 years (long phase in, but gets there) Passed the Senate, in Education Committee with Reps. Hanusa, Jorgensen and Gaines assigned 3

4. Limited English Proficient in Iowa… 4.76% of students LEP 23,820 LEP students, PK – 12 23 Iowa School Districts have more than 10% of their student enrollment LEP LEP population in districts ranges from 0% to 53%

5. Condition of Education Report 2012 5

6. Learning English complicated by several factors ELL masks a great deal of diversity in US Spanish first language of 79% of ELLs Asian languages a distant second Remaining students speak in excess of 400 languages Most research focused on English acquisition, not mastery of content

7. 16,171 Iowa ELL speak Spanish, with remaining 5,879 are very diverse, including 1,554 in the “other” category. Doesn’t address literacy in the student’s language of origin. 7

8. Parent Notification Regarding Title III Testing and Placement Section 3302 of the NCLB Act of 2001 requires that districts notify students’ parents of: the reason for placement in a program for ELL the student’s level of language proficiency, how it was assessed, and their level of academic achievement the methods of instruction used in the child’s educational program, use of English and the native language in that program, and other program options available within the district how the program will meet the needs and build on the academic strengths of the child how the program will go about teaching the child English and preparing him/her to meet academic standards for grade promotion and graduation 8

9. Parent Notification Regarding Title III Testing and Placement exit requirements for the program, expected transition rate of students from the program to programs not designed specifically for ELLs, and the expected rate of graduation for students participating in the program for special education students, how the program will fulfill requirements of the student’s IEP, and information regarding parental rights, including rights to remove the student from the program, to information about other program options, and to assistance in selecting from various programs and teaching methods if more than one is available. All information is to be provided in a language that the parent understands, to the extent practicable (Sec. 3302[c]). To meet this requirement, the Iowa No Child Left Behind Parent Communication Center (formerly the Iowa Translation Library) is available as an on-line resource at http://www.transact.com to provide necessary documents in 23 languages. 9

10. Research Review on ELL http://www.shastacoe.org/uploaded/Dept/is/gener al/Teacher_Section/EnglishLanguageLearners.pdf Edvantia; Research Review: What Research Says About Preparing English Language Learners for Academic Success, A review conducted for the Center for Public Education. October 2007 10

11. Three kinds of proficiency English Language Proficiency Academic English Language Proficiency Content Proficiency

12. English Language Proficiency English language proficiency refers to the ability to speak, read, write, and comprehend English language in general Arizona study of 89, K-3 non-English speakers found English (conversational) proficiency was achieved by about two thirds of the children after 4 years and by more than 90% after 5 years. Large-scale studies in California, however, indicate that it might take some ELLs 6 to 10 years to be reclassified as proficient, while some ELLs never achieve classification at the highest levels.

13. Academic English Proficiency Academic English proficiency refers specifically to the ability to speak, read, write, and comprehend academic English, which is characterized by academic and content specific vocabulary, complex sentence structure, and the processes of academic discourse (e.g., interpretation and analysis of data or text). Studies conducted to date indicate that it takes 4 to 7 years for ELLs to become proficient in academic English

14. Content Mastery Content mastery refers to students’ ability to demonstrate mastery of subject-area knowledge on academic measures Not much research in this area regarding the amount of time it takes to master content

15. Recommendations from Research Proficiency in academic English—the kind of language used in textbooks and classrooms but not necessarily in social situations—is the key to content-area learning. Professional development in meeting the educational needs of ELLs is an ongoing need. Teachers need to understand why and how to increase ELLs’ opportunity to learn academic English.

16. Recommendations from Research Continued At the program level, inclusion of some first-language instruction, when possible, can have long-term benefits for ELLs. Many of the attributes of effective schools can also support ELL achievement. Experts recommend basing assessment policies and ELL classification decisions on measures of students’ proficiency in academic English. However, the National Literacy Panel on Language-Minority Children and Youth concluded that valid and reliable measures of academic language proficiency still need to be developed.

17. Recommendations from Research Continued The methods currently used to classify and place ELLs may result in some students’ being pulled out of English language support programs too soon. To help these students get back on track, schools should monitor the academic progress of ELLs who exit language support programs and provide extra help when needed.

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19. DE Resources to help Educating Iowa's English Language Learners: A Handbook for Administrators and Teachers - The handbook gives Iowa educators a picture of the unique needs of English Language Learners (ELL). It offers a guide for providing equal access to the quality education available in the state. Educating Iowa's English Language Learners: A Handbook for Administrators and Teachers Guidelines: Iowa Guidelines for K-12 ELL Participation in Districtwide AssessmentsIowa Guidelines for K-12 ELL Participation in Districtwide Assessments 19

20. DE Resources to help Guides ▫ Our Kids English Language Learners in Your Classroom Our Kids English Language Learners in Your Classroom ▫ Our Kids English Language Learners in Your Classroom Presentation Our Kids English Language Learners in Your Classroom Presentation District Self-Study Guide: District Self Study Guide District Self Study Guide 20

21. Questions or Comments? Larry Sigel, ISFIS – Partner Cell: 515-490-9951 larry.sigel@isfis.net 21 Margaret Buckton, ISFIS – Partner Cell: 515-201-3755 margaret.buckton@isfis.net Iowa School Finance Information Services 4685 Merle Hay Road, Suite 209 Des Moines, IA 50322 Office: 515-251-5970 www.isfis.net