SLO Considerations for our Students: Reflections and Actions

Macro level Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte (Un dimanche après-midi à l’Ile de la Grande Jatte), Georges Seurat,

Micro level Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte (Un dimanche après-midi à l’Ile de la Grande Jatte), Georges Seurat,

Macro Level Considerations: Equal ACCESS for all learners Preparing to support diverse learners Reflective practice using evidence-based practices Building a culture of collaboration and community Opportunity to Learn (OTL) Evaluating Teachers of all learners Diane Staehr Fenner, PeterKozik and Ayanna Cooper (Leadership Fall 2014); Blank R., Smithson, J Improving Methods of Aligning Instruction to Standards and Assessments for English Language Learners and Analyzing the Relationship of Alignment to Student Achievement. Washington, DC: Council of Chief State School Officers.

One Question to Consider: How responsive is your Response to Intervention (RtI) system to ELL learners? Solari & Gerber (2008) found that interventions that incorporated instruction on at least two skills was more successful for ELLs than interventions that focused on one skill only.

Micro Level Considerations: Range of diversity: linguistic experiences, resources and needs Academic Content versus language proficiency Growth verses attainment Realistic goal setting Assessment considerations

One Question to Consider: Are you aware of the lower-faster/higher-slower general trajectory? Gary Cook’s study, WIDA, 2008

Another Question to Consider: Designing assessments: language versus content measures? Language vscontent

Another Question to Consider: Things a student can do without assistance Zone of Proximal Development Things a student cannot do even with assistance Are the goals attainable?

How does ACCESS for ELLs ® Fit into the Picture?

Part of the Mosaic: Weighted domains 35% Writing, 35% Reading, 15% Listening and 15 Speaking. Covers social instructional language, and language of Math, LA, SS and Science and not the content per se. Growth is neither linear nor consistent (lower faster/higher slower.) Bottom Line: Need it as a baseline tools to create & inform goals.

Formative Measurement tools: Academic Content Assessments: Representative of learning goals Pertain to the language of instruction Norm-referenced to ELLs Amplify language learning (expansive vs. diminutive) Bottom Line: These must be sensitive enough to allow students to show measurable gains.

Contact Information: Jacqueline A. Iribarren, Ph.D. Title III, ESL & Bilingual Ed Consultant (608)