Improving
Educational Opportunities
for Latino Students
in Catholic Elementary Schools
Demographic Imperative
• Nationally:
– Fastest growing sectors: 2015: over half of our
students will be from culturally diverse backgrounds
– Vast majority of students who are ELL are Latino,
but many of other linguistic heritages
• Catholic Sector:
– Dioceses with highest number of empty seats are
located around the largest metropolitan areas with
large numbers of Latinos
– Number of Hispanics enrolled in Catholic schools has
remained stagnant in past 15 years
Opening thought
Two necessary and sufficient ingredients for
constructing social identities of achievement:
1) Normalize success
(Membership = Achievement)
2) Scaffold necessary behaviors and practices
Theresa Perry
Overview
I. Linguistic diversity as an asset
II. Knowledge, skills, and dispositions to
support bilingual students
III. Cultivating culturally responsive schools
I. Linguistic Diversity as an Asset
-
English proficiency = common goal
Affirming the home language as a strength
• Supports English proficiency
• Affirms the parents as primary educators
• Creates new opportunities
What’s in a name?
• English language
learners
• Limited English
proficiency
• English as a second
language
• Linguistically diverse
families
• Spanish speakers
• Bilingual
Hows does this apply to schools?
a) How do schools communities (not just
Catholic) treat linguistic diversity as an
asset?
b) How do schools communities (not just
Catholic) treat linguistic diversity as an
deficit?
II. Supporting Bilingual Students
Dispositions
- We are Catholic - All are welcome
- We expect success from all students
- We are all language teachers
II. Supporting Bilingual Students
Knowledge & Skills
- Knowledge of Language Acquisition
- Skills to support bilingual students
A) Stages of Language Acquisition
I)
Pre-production –listening and repeating in the
second language (500 words)
II) Early production – developing receptive and
active vocabulary (1000 words)
III) Speech emergence – communicating with
simple phrases and sentences (3000 words)
IV) Intermediate fluency – using more complex
sentences in speaking and writing (6000 words)
V) Advanced fluency – achieving cognitive
academic language proficiency
B) Socio-Cultural
I)
Different registers of text
(field, tenor, mode)
II)
Registers fit contexts
• Developing school-related language is simply a
matter of time and that it will be "picked up"
eventually
B) Socio-Cultural
Viewing language development as a
process of learning to control an
increasing range of registers suggests that
while all children are predisposed in a
biological sense to learn language,
whether or not they actually do, how well
they learn to control it, and the range of
registers and purposes for which they are
able to use it are a matter of the social
contexts in which they find themselves"
(Gibbons, 2002, p. 5)
Academic English Register
• “Academic English is a register of
English… characterized by the specific
linguistic features associated with
academic disciplines…” (Scarcella, 2003, p. 9)
• Reading and writing:
 Critiques
 Summaries
 Reports
 Case studies
 Research projects
 Expository essays
 Narratives
Academic English
• Powerful
– Where is academic English most essential?
• Dynamic
– Changing over time and setting
– Not acquired once and for all
C) Scaffolding: Verbal
Teachers use verbal scaffolding to prompt, guide, and
support English language learners by using a variety
of questioning techniques that promote higher levels
of thinking as students develop their language skills.
Apply
Practice
Model
Teach
Paraphrasing… Repetition…
Questioning
C) Scaffolding: Procedural
Procedural scaffolding refers to the use of
grouping configurations that provide different
levels of support to students as they gain greater
levels of language proficiency and skills.
Independent
Work
Whole
Class
Small
Group
Paired/
Partner
Second Language Learning
Cognitively Undemanding
Developing survival
vocabulary
Engaging in telephone
conversations
Following demonstrated
directions
Reading and writing for personal
purposes: notes, lists, sketches, etc.
Context Embedded
(Concrete)
Context Reduced
(Abstract)
Participating in hands-on
science and mathematics
activities
Understanding academic presentations
without visuals or demonstrations:
lectures
Making maps, models, charts,
and graphs
Solving math word problems without
illustrations
Solving math computational
problems
Taking standardized achievement tests
Cognitively Demanding
Review
Dispositions
• Catholic
• Expect success
• All teachers =
language teachers
Knowledge
A) Sequential
B) Socio-cultural
context
C) Scaffolding
Skills to support bilingual students
Instruction
–
–
–
–
Accessing / building prior knowledge
Small group work
Whole group work
Modifying texts and supporting writing
Accessing Prior Knowledge
What is this?
Relate background experiences and knowledge to the
content being taught
Who cares?
• Critical component in planning instruction
• Linking new information to relevant prior knowledge
• Learning should be made explicit so students
understand they are building on knowledge frameworks
acquired through prior schooling and life experiences
Accessing Prior Knowledge
How do we do this?
•
•
•
•
•
Charts
KWL
Lesson Connections
Student Journals
Questioning
Types of Prior Knowledge
• Academic
– Background knowledge built on traditional
schooling in core subjects
• Non-academic
– Background knowledge built on survival
experiences, i.e. real life
- On one hand, explicitly building on cultural
capital that students brings from home and
life
- At the same time, need to recognize that all
students do not come with the same
privileges
22
Building Prior Knowledge
• Read alouds
• Presenting the information explicitly- concept
definition maps
• Generate & plan discussions about the topic
• Using pictures
• Videos
• Guest speakers
• Field trips
• Anchor charts
Strategic small group work
1. Redundancy in directions
2. Require talk
3. High cognitive demands / low English
demands
4. Integrated into curriculum
5. Basic group dynamics
Find the difference game
Modifying Language in
Whole Class Setting
• Use schema-building: Incorporate prior
knowledge (general & specific) to
• make predictions
• ask questions
• visualize
• draw inferences
• confirm hypothesis
• demonstrate understanding
Modifying Language in
Whole Class Setting
• Clarify directions
– Verbally and visually
– Rewrite difficult texts into simpler terms
– Define /explain new & difficult words
• Teacher-guided reporting
– Use open questions
– Slow pace of dialogue
Modifying Texts
• Aim toward appropriate Language Proficiency
and Reading Levels
• Modify texts to make content more
comprehensible for students by:
– Using graphics
– Using outlines
– Using audio recordings
– Providing demonstrations
– Using alternate books or materials
Supporting Writing
1) Write aloud
2) Shared writing
3) Guided writing
4) Collaborative writing
5) Independent writing
III. Cultivating Culturally
Responsive Schools
- What does culturally responsive mean?
- Students’ identities, life experiences,
families, and backgrounds are
resources for optimizing learning
- Sociocultural learning theory
- Funds of knowledge
How does culturally responsive
teaching fit with Catholic identity?
• Mission and vision
• School philosophy
• Parish identity or religious charism
• How are we culturally responsive?
– Cultural celebrations
– Parent partnerships
Recap
I. Linguistic diversity =an asset
II. Knowledge, skills, and dispositions to
support bilingual students
III. Cultivating culturally responsive schools
Contact Information
Please feel free to contact us:
Melodie Hessling–
Martin Scanlan –
hesslingm@njms.org
martin.scanlan@mu.edu
GMCEC Website
References
• Cummins, J. (1981). The role of primary language development in
promoting educational success for language minority students. In
"Schooling and language minority students: A theoretical framework."
Los Angeles: California State University; Evaluation, Dissemination,
and Assessment Center.
• Echevarria, J., Short, D., & Vogt, M. D. (2008). Implementing the SIOP
Model through effective professional development and coaching.
Boston: Allyn& Bacon.
• Garcia, E., Jensen, B., & Scribner, K. (2009). The demographic
imperative. Educational Leadership, 66(7), 8-13.
• Gibbons, P. (2002). Scaffolding language, scaffolding learning:
Teaching second language learners in the mainstream classroom.
Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann
• Goldenberg, C. (2008). Teaching English language learners: What the
research does - and does not - say. American Educator (Summer), 823, 42-44