English Language Learners in Schools By Luis Bonilla and Lynne Duffy

Rate Your Knowledge Fill in the Rate Your Knowledge form in regards to your familiarity with English language learners and the terms associated with bilingual education. As we present our information, use the form to fill in the information unknown to you. This will serve as a reference.

A Brief History Since 1980, the number of language minority Americans has increased at more than four time the rate of the overall population growth, the number of language minority children has increased even faster. 1990 census indicates that nearly one of every six school-aged youth regularly spoke a language other than English in their homes. In 1994-1995, there were an estimated 3.2 million Limited English Proficient students (LEP) in the US elementary and secondary schools (7% of total enrollment.) In CA, up to 36% speak another language in the home, 24% being LEP students. This has doubled in the past 10 years. Stats from “Rethinking Schools on line, Vol 12, No. 3, Spring, 1998.

Timeline 1839, Ohio became the first state to adopt a bilingual education law: German-English. (Followed by Louisiana in 1847 French-English, and New Mexico in 1850 Spanish-English) 1920s saw the dismantling of bilingual education programs. This led to alarming drop out rates and students falling behind in their academic studies. Bilingual Education act of 1968 Lau v. Nichols, which led to the Equal Educational Opportunity Act of 1974. The Bilingual Education Act of 1968 -- passed during an era of growing immigration and an energized civil rights movement -- provided federal funding to encourage local school districts to try approaches incorporating native-language instruction. Most states followed the lead of the federal government, enacting bilingual education laws of their own or at least decriminalizing the use of other languages in the classroom. Soon after, the Supreme Court recognized that leaving LEP students to "sink or swim" in English-only classrooms made "a mockery of public education" -- which must be equally available to all students. The court's decision in the landmark Lau v. Nichols case required schools to take "affirmative steps" to overcome language barriers impeding children's access to the curriculum. Congress immediately endorsed this principle in the Equal Educational Opportunity Act of 1974. Neither the Bilingual Education Act nor the Lau decision requires any particular methodology for teaching LEP students. That is, there is no federal mandate for bilingual education (although a few states mandate it under certain circumstances). What civil rights laws do require are educational programs that offer equal opportunities for LEP children. To enforce this principle, the federal courts and the federal Office for Civil Rights apply a three-step test to ensure that schools provide:

What is the law in Illinois? When an attendance center has an enrollment of 20 or more limited English proficient students of the same language classification, the school district must establish a transitional bilingual education program (TBE) for each language. (Section 14C-3 of the School Code) When an attendance center has an enrollment of 19 or fewer students of limited English proficiency from any single non-English language, the school district must provide a transitional program of instruction (TPI) for those students. (Section 14C-3 of the School Code)

Different types of Programs Program 1: Two-way developmental bilingual education (Dual Language) Program 2: Late-exit bilingual education and ESL taught through academic content Program 3: Early-exit bilingual education and ESL taught through academic content Program 4: Early-exit bilingual education and ESL taught traditionally Program 5: ESL taught through academic content using current approaches Program 6: ESL Pullout-taught traditionally Studies have consistently shown that developing ELLs native-language skills leads to higher levels of academic achievement as well as proficient bilingualism and biliteracy- increasingly valuable skills in today’s global economy. (NABE, 2004) Children’s backgrounds and needs are diverse; so are the aspirations of parents and communities. Some program models are appropriate in one situation, but not in others. (NABE, 2004) ELL- these would be our Spanish speakers in the classroom. * Teaching English is among the chief goals of every bilingual program in the United States, along with promoting long-term academic achievement in English and – in some cases – enabling children to develop fluent bilingualism and biliteracy. * The effectiveness of bilingual education in meeting these goals has been well established by research over the past three decades – not only for English language learners but also for native-English speakers acquiring another language. * The English-only, "sink or swim" method was a cruel failure for generations of immigrant and Native American children, leading to low academic achievement and high dropout rates. That's why the Bilingual Education Act was passed – with overwhelming bipartisan support – in 1968. * Bilingual education is closely associated with the civil-rights movement of that period. But it has a long history in this country dating back to the Colonial Period. During the 19th and early 20th centuries native-language instruction was at least as widespread as it is today – except that German, not Spanish, was most commonly used. * English was not "threatened" then or now. In two or three generations immigrants and indigenous minorities learned English and often lost their native languages. * Linguistic assimilation is, if anything, more rapid today than at any time in U.S. history. The trend is evident in the latest Census reports, and it's nothing to be applauded. Today, more than ever, we need multilingual skills to enhance national security and prosper in a global economy.

Longitudinal Research NCE 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 1 Dual Language NCE 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 2 Late Exit Bilingual 3 Early Exit Bilingual (Content) 4 Early Exit Bilingual (Language) Data aggregated form a series of 3-7 year longitudinal studies from well-implemented, mature programs in five school districts © Wayne P. Thomas and Virginia P. Collier, 1997 Average performance of native-English speakers making one year’s progress in each consecutive grade. Limited-English Proficient students who are provided with substantial instruction in their primary language (40%) successfully continue to increase their achievement in content areas such as mathematics, while they are acquiring their skills in English; in contrast, students who are quickly transitioned into English-only instruction tend to grow slower than the norming population (The Ramirez Report as prepared for the US Department of Education, 1991) This would make sense as these students receiving L1 instruction are developing cognitively and academically while acquiring English, while their English only counterparts are not fully understanding the instruction in their second language, English. 5 ESL Full Day 6 ESL Pull-out GRADE 1 3 5 7 9 11 © Wayne P. Thomas and Virginia P. Collier, 1997

Second Language Acquisition: Aspects of Language Proficiency Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills (BICS) 6 months to 2 years L2 The first, BICS takes 6 months - 2 years to acquire. The academic/cognitive language proficiency takes longer. Explain the underlying proficiency is that if you learn in one language, you don’t need to relearn in another, simply learn the rules and vocab and language structures of the 2nd language. You only learn to read once, after that, it is the application of reading to the new rules/language structures/vocabulary. L1 5 to 7 years CALP Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency Adapted from Jim Cummins by John Hilliard, IRC

The Realities Bilingual education is best? Bilingual programs are not always a possibility due to the population of the school. The number of ELL students are increasing across the country, especially in the state of Illinois. Educators have the research and knowledge as to how ELLs acquire English So…

How do we maximize learning? Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP) Model www.cal.org English language proficiency standards (ELP Standards) www.wida.us Teaching for transfer Strategies and delivery models Requiring all stakeholders to participate in the education of ELLs.

How do we measure proficiency and achievement? ACCESS for ELLs ISAT AMAO ACCESS for ELLs is a language proficiency test ISAT is the student achievement test Prior to 2008, the LEP students took IMAGE: Illinois measure annual growth in English. It was modified to test student achievement taking out extraneous language and adding graphics to help support the written language. AMAO Annual Measurable Achievement objectives. Using number of students who showed growth in English, the number of students who become proficient in English and the number of students who showed achievement as measured by the IMAGE.

Professional Development STANDARDS Professional Development + Technology Assessment Instruction C&I are embedded in the standards-based assessment system. The ELP standards are what you should teach (curriculum) and how you can deliver that. It is what the students will be assessed on. It is unlike the IL state standards, however in that there is not a list of what you need to teach. Rather it is samples of good teaching and assessment to get students to acquire academic English in the content areas. Throughout this presentation, I will ask you to tell me how certain ideas or concepts impact what you do in your classroom. Curriculum Curriculum and instruction are embedded in our standards-based assessment system.

Why are English Language Proficiency Standards Necessary? To provide a resource for stakeholders involved in the education of English language learners To establish a common yardstick, across the member states of the consortium, to define and measure how English language learners acquire language To meet compliance with Titles I and III of the No Child Left Behind Act This document is necessary for program teachers, but could also be used as a guide to gen-ed teachers as they have ELLs in their classroom. This idea is that it takes all stakeholders to teach ELLs in our schools, not just the ESL/bilingual teacher. When planning for integrated lessons, these standards could be used to help in planning or understanding how to differentiate for ELLs when considering their proficiency levels. IT also gives a a common definition to describe different students’ proficiency levels. I think teachers are beginning to wrap their heads around the ideas of tier a, b and c students. This is why

Education of the staff to ensure that all are responsible How does staff, student and community beliefs influence the culture of the school? Education of the staff to ensure that all are responsible Support teachers with PD that reflect SIP plan for the sub group of ELLs Educate the students. Educate the parents Educate the community at large. Opponents of bilingual education tell us that the public is against bilingual education. This impression is a result of the way the question is asked. One can easily get a near-100-percent rejection of bilingual education when the question is biased. Porter (1990), for example, states that "Many parents are not committed to having the schools maintain the mother tongue if it is at the expense of gaining a sound education and the English-language skills needed for obtaining jobs or pursuing higher education" (p. 8). Who would support mother tongue education at such a price? However, when respondents are simply asked whether or not they support bilingual education, the degree of support is quite strong: From 60-99 percent of samples of parents and teachers say they support bilingual education (Krashen, 1996). In a series of studies, Shin (Shin, 1994; Shin & Gribbons, 1996) examined attitudes toward the principles underlying bilingual education. Shin found that many respondents agree with the idea that the first language can be helpful in providing background knowledge, most agree that literacy transfers across languages, and most support the principles underlying continuing bilingual education (economic and cognitive advantages). The number of people opposed to bilingual education is probably even less than these results suggest; many people who say they are opposed to bilingual education are actually opposed to certain practices (e.g., inappropriate placement of children) or are opposed to regulations connected to bilingual education (e.g., forcing teachers to acquire another language to keep their jobs). Despite what is presented to the public in the national media, research has revealed much support for bilingual education. McQuillan and Tse (1996) reviewed publications appearing between 1984 and 1994, and reported that 87 percent of academic publications supported bilingual education, but newspaper and magazine opinion articles tended to be antibilingual education, with only 45 percent supporting bilingual education. One wonders what public support would look like if bilingual education were more clearly defined in such articles and editorials.