PROJECT NEXUS
A Title III National Professional Development Program
Funded by
The Office of English Language Acquisition of the U. S.
Department of Education
at $985,000 for five years for the
Bilingual/ESL Teacher Certification Programs of the
Teacher Education and Administration Department at
the University of North Texas
May 1, 2012 to April 30, 2017
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Project Goals
Goal 1
Enhance the knowledge base of middle and high school inservice teachers in mathematics and science from the two
surrounding local educational agencies (LEAs), Denton and
Lewisville, through customized professional development for
teachers to acquire the instructional skills and strategies to teach
academic content and language development and acquisition to
increase the academic achievement, graduation rates and entry
into postsecondary education institutions for middle and high
school ELLs.
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Goal 2
Enhance the knowledge-base of the UNT
education faculty in the mathematics and
science 9-12 teacher certification programs
through ongoing course content analysis and
advanced professional development to integrate
current evidence-based research and standardsbased instruction into the certification degreegranting programs for effective instruction and
assessment for ELLs.
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Goal 3
Analyze and evaluate project data to make
project improvement decisions in order to
impact the knowledge and skills of project
participants, and make instructional
improvement decisions in order to further ELL
content mastery and narrow the achievement
gap.
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Participating Schools
Denton Independent
School District
# of ELL
Students
Lewisville Independent
School District
# of ELL
Students
Denton High School
123 Delay Middle School
521
Ryan High School
161 Huffines Middle School
121
Calhoun Middle School
181 Hedrick Middle School
218
McMath Middle School
138 Killian Middle School
Strickland Middle School
115 Durham Middle School
109
Approximate number of
ELL students served in
Denton ISD each year
718 Approximate number of
ELL students served in
Lewisville ISD each year
1060
91
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Fall and Spring 2012-2016
* 4 days of professional development each school year for 40 teachers
(20 from Denton ISD and 20 from Lewisville ISD) on SIOP for Teaching
Mathematics and Science to ELLs at a Denton ISD site and Lewisville site
(includes materials). Each district will receive $100 per day for substitute
pay for each teacher who attends the training.
Fall of 2012- Fall 2016
*2 days of individual coaching for 10 teachers (1 day for 5 teachers
from Denton ISD and 5 from Lewisville ISD each academic year) whose
ELLs students are struggling the most with mathematics and science.
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Initial Professional Development Plan for In-service Teachers
Two-Day Professional Development Workshop Agenda
Day one – 8:30 AM to 3:30 PM

Introduction to Sheltered Instructional
Day two – 8:30 AM to 3:30 PM

Incorporating ELPs, lesson planning and unit
Observation Protocol (SIOP)
design (Biology, Algebra, Geometry, Physics

First and Second Language Acquisition
and Chemistry)

The Academic Language of

Strategies
Mathematics and Science

Practice and Application
Planning SIOP lessons with ELPS

Review, Assessment and Alternative

(Biology, Algebra, Geometry, Physics
and Chemistry)
Assessment

Lesson Delivery and Lesson modeling

Building Background
(Biology, Algebra, Geometry, Physics and

Comprehensible Input
Chemistry)

Evaluations and adjourn

Sneak preview of the follow-up

Evaluations and adjourn
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Additional Two-Day Professional Development Follow-up Workshop
Agenda
Day one – 8:30 AM to 3:30 PM


Instructional coach will work with
area
own content lesson plan based on
Questions and answers to address
problem areas for ELLs

Each group of teachers will
Lesson modeling targeting specific
demonstrate their mini lesson to the
mathematics/science problem
group as a whole.

Demonstration of effective
assessment for lesson objectives

Instructional coach will work with
teachers in small groups to develop
areas for ELLs


teachers in small groups by content
specific teacher concerns

Day two – 8:30 AM to 3:30 PM
The group critiques lesson using SIOP
Protocol instrument

Evaluation and Adjourn
Coach will summarize and offer expert
feedback

Evaluation and Adjourn
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Additional Benefits for In-service Teachers
ESL Supplemental Certification
ESL Certification Coordinators and campus
administrators from participating schools will
annually identify 12 teachers out of the 40 to
take the supplemental TExES examination up to
the fifth year. The grant will pay for the
examination registration fee of $120.
ESL
Supplemental
Certification
TExES Test Preparation
UNT will sponsor ESL Supplemental TExES exam
review sessions each year which will be
provided by Region 10 Education Service
Center.
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In-Service Teachers will have the option of registering for graduate
level courses related to the education of ELL Students
Summer
2013 to
Fall 2016
14 week
Spring
semester
courses
6 credit
hours
10 teachers each year (5 from Denton ISD and 5 from Lewisville)
can enroll in two web-based graduate level courses related to
ELLs and funded by the project.
EDBE 5590 – Pedagogy for Teaching ESL in Grades EC-12
EDBE 5570 – Assessing Content and Language in ESL and in
Bilingual Education
Tuition and fees will be paid with project funds and credits can
be applied toward a Master’s degree in Curriculum and
Instruction ($1,160 per course X 2 = $2,320)
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Fall 2012 and Spring 2013
*1 day of professional development on using SIOP for
coaching and informal assessment techniques. This is for
middle and high school campus administrators,
instructional coaches from participating schools as
applicable and Central Office Mathematics and Science
curriculum coordinators.
*second day of professional development will be on ELL
data-based decision making for the same participants
listed above.
Fall 2013 to Spring 2017 Onward
*Campus administrators and school coaches will observe
mathematics and science teachers’ classroom instruction
using the SIOP instrument.
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Participation of Math and Science
UNT Faculty Members
Fall 2012
* Two days of professional development for 20
mathematics and science education faculty members
Spring 2013
* Two days of follow up professional development for
20 math and science education faculty members
Fall 2013 to 2017
Faculty members implement SIOP and ELPS with
teacher candidates
Fall 2013 to 2017
* Faculty members present at state or national
conferences
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Participation of UNT Math and
Science Pre-service Teachers
Spring 2013 to 2017
10 pre-service teachers enroll in one of these two
courses EDBE 4470 – Assessing Language and
Content and EDBE 4490 – Pedagogy for Teaching
ESL EC-12 or 5 pre-service teachers enroll in both
courses. Project pays for their tuition and fees
($1060 per 3 hour course)
Summer 2013 to 2016
20 pre-service teachers participate in a two-day
professional development workshop as the one
described for in-service teachers the first two days.
Fall 2013 to 2016
Five pre-service teachers attend state or national
conferences with faculty or project staff
Spring 2013 to Spring 2017
Pre-service teachers access the web portal of
math and science resources.
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Project activities will be evaluated by GILD, an external evaluation team.
Below are some of the evaluation activities.
Formative Assessment and Evaluation
Summative Assessments and Evaluations For
Tracking Outcome-Based Results
Workshop evaluation and program participant
Number and percent of program completers passing
surveys.
the Texas Examinations of Educator Standards (TExES)
exam and obtaining Texas ESL certification.
Classroom observations using SIOP Observation
STAAR results in mathematics and science for ELLs
Protocol.
and non-ELLs, and Texas End-of-Course results in
selected mathematics and science courses for ELLs
and non-ELLs.
Checklists on ELPS and SIOP Model features for use
Data on enrollment and credits earned in Pedagogy
in analyzing curricula adaptations and syllabi
for Teaching ESL and Assessment of Content and
modifications.
Language for ESL and Bilingual Students.
Project Evaluation and Review Technique and
Number and percent of program completers placed in
Project Management feedback template for use in
LEAs, teaching ELLs after completion of the program
tracking and reporting on project activities.
and one year after project ends.
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Project NEXUS
Questions and Answers
Rossana Boyd, Project Director,
rossana.boyd@unt.edu
Karthigeyan Subramaniam, Co- Principal Investigator
Karthigeyan.Subramaniam@unt.edu
Office Tel. 940-565-2933
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