Foundations of English Learner
Education
Presented by:
Igone Arteagoitia, Ph.D.
National Clearinghouse for English Language Acquisition*
(NCELA)
Charter School Directors Meeting
Washington D.C.
March 3-4, 2014
*NCELA is supported by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of English Language Acquisition (OELA), awarded to
Leed Management Consulting, Inc. in Silver Spring, Maryland, in collaboration with Synergy Enterprises, Inc. and the
Center for Applied Linguistics.
Eliminating achievement gaps between ELs
and non-ELs is NOT a requirement by law,
or indicator of a school's success or failure
in meeting this goal.
Presentation Outline
 English Learners in Charter Schools
 English Learner Education
English Learners in Charter Schools
subtitle
Data on English Learners in
Charter Schools
 Four states with highest number of charter schools are among
the top 5 with highest Hispanic student1 enrollment (AZ, CA,
FL, TX)
 Estimate: 16.5% of charter students are English learners (ELs),
but such data are reported to be incomplete and/or
ambiguous (Department of Education, 2008)
 Missing data due to non-reporting and interpretational issues
 2013-14 first year for Department of Education to collect
school-level data (rather than district-level) on EL enrollment
 Four evaluation studies on Latinos and ELs in charter schools
1 Nearly
half (45%) of all U.S. Hispanic children are EL students (Kohler & Lazarin, 2007).
Evaluation Studies




CREDO (15 states and DC)
RAND (8 states)
NYC charter schools (one city, 54 schools)
Mathematica (22 middle schools)
English Learner Education
Research on Teaching English Learners
 Generally effective practices are
likely to be effective with ELs BUT
ELs require additional (instructional)
supports
 ELs need early and ample
opportunities to develop
proficiency in English
 Home language can be used to
promote academic development
Source: Goldenberg (2013)
Structures of Support
Supporting
English
Learners
Instruction
for ELs
Effective
Teachers and
Leaders
Conducive
School
Environments
Engaged
Parents and
Communities
System-wide capacity
Structures of Support
Supporting
English
Learners
Instruction
for ELs
Effective
Teachers and
Leaders
Conducive
School
Environments
Engaged
Parents and
Communities
System-wide capacity
Instruction for ELs
 Recent shift in educational goals due to
college and career readiness standards
 New standards and assessments for English
learners require:
 teaching and assessing language and
content
 complementary and reinforcing content
and English Language Development
instruction and assessment
 English learners can achieve standards
without “native-like” control of conventions
and vocabulary
Recommendations
 Schools should:
 Understand implicit language demands of the new
standards
 Support explicit academic language development
 Provide complementary ELD instruction
 Support native language and literacy development
 Practice ongoing formative assessment
Structures of Support
Supporting
English
Learners
Instruction
for ELs
Effective
Teachers and
Leaders
Conducive
School
Environments
Engaged
Parents and
Communities
System-wide capacity
Effective Teachers & Leaders
 Under ESEA, all teachers,
including teachers of ELs, must
be “highly qualified”
 Three areas of state and
district policy:
 Identifying effective
teachers
 Using information in human
resource policies
 Using information to ensure
equity
Recommendations
 Schools and districts should:
 Align instructional models and teacher
qualifications (e.g., bilingual programs)
 Examine current HR Policies
 Credentials
 Leadership of program
 Professional development programs for teachers of ELs
 Determine targeted actions
Structures of Support
Supporting
English
Learners
Instruction
for ELs
Effective
Teachers and
Leaders
Conducive
School
Environments
Engaged
Parents and
Communities
System-wide capacity
Engaged Parents & Community
 Barriers to involvement:
 Language barriers
 Miscommunications about cultural perspectives on
parent-teacher involvement and how students learn
 Previous negative experiences with schools
 Feelings of intimidation
 Unfamiliarity with school system
Source: Nicolau & Ramos (1990)
Recommendations
 Schools should:
 Learn about the cultures and language of EL
families
 Build relationships with "experts" who work with EL
communities
 Create an open-door policy (between
principal/parents)
 Provide basic information regarding school policies
and regulations in home languages
 Create a targeted program that considers
participants’ needs
 Create a translated EL newsletter
Structures of Support
Supporting
English
Learners
Instruction
for ELs
Effective
Teachers and
Leaders
Conducive
School
Environments
Engaged
Parents and
Communities
System-wide capacity
Conducive School Environment
 Programmatic school environment
 Segregation vs. inclusion
 Socio-emotional environment
 Bullying
Recommendations
 Schools should:
 Consider programmatic models
 Increase learning time opportunities
 Promote EL involvement in extracurricular activities
and gifted programs
 Value linguistic and cultural diversity
 Foster collaboration among stakeholders
 Evaluate the school environment
 Provide professional development about linguistic
and cultural diversity
 Communicate about issues that arise
School Showcase
 El Sol Science and Arts Academy,
Santa Ana, CA
 Rigorous recruitment of teachers that “reflect
students and families”
 Three teachers per grade level
 After-school program makes the school a
community center
 Promotes parent involvement in nonconventional
ways
School Showcase
 YES Prep Gulfton, Houston, TX
 Rigorous hiring process but generous PD
opportunities
 Expanded school schedule
 Students visit 20 colleges & universities before
graduating
School Showcase
 Raul Yzaguirre School for Success, Houston, TX
 All HS teachers receive training to teach ELs
 Employs a full-time parent coordinator to
develop a parent curriculum
 Annual home visits
 Matriculates nearly 100% of HS graduates to
higher education
 RYSS “grows” its student body, with high student
retention rates
Takeaways: Structures of Support
 Multi-faceted process
 Four structures of support




Instruction for ELs
Effective teachers
Engaged parents and communities
Conducive school environments
Closing Statement
Schools that effectively meet the needs of
English Learner students follow this
multifaceted approach to provide them
with the tools they need to “learn English
in a timely manner and receive
meaningful access to the rest of a
school’s instructional program”
Source: Mansukhani & Chinchilla (2013)
References
 Adelman, H.S. & Taylor, L. (2008). Rebuilding for Learning: Addressing Barriers to
Learning and Teaching and Re-engaging Students. New York, NY: Scholastic Inc.
 Casteel, C. J., Ballantyne, K.G. (2010). Professional Development in Action:
Improving Teaching for English Learners. National Clearinghouse for English
Language Acquisition & Language Instruction Educational Programs.
 Center for Research on Education Outcomes. (2009). Multiple Choice: Charter
School Performance in 16 States. Washington, DC: Author.
 Clair, N. (2011). Charter Schools and ELLs: An Authorizer and School Leader
Guide to Educating ELLs. Chicago, IL: National Association of Charter School
Authorizers.
 Coleman, R. and Goldenberg, C. (2012). The Common Core Challenge for English
Language Learners. Principal Leadership, 46–51.
 Council of Chief State School Officers. (2012). Framework for English Language
Proficiency Development Standards corresponding to the Common Core State
Standards and the Next Generation Science Standards. Washington, DC: CCSSO.
References (cont.)
 Goldenberg, C. (2013). Unlocking the research on English Learners: What we
know—and don’t yet know—about effective instruction. American Educator, 37
(2), 4-11.
 Government Accountability Office. (2013). Education Needs to Further Examine
Data Collection on English Language Learners in Charter Schools. GAO-13-655R.
Retrieved from: http://www.gao.gov/products/gao-13-655r
 Han, Y. (2012). From survivors to leaders: Stages of immigrant parent involvement
in schools. In E.G. Kugler (Ed.). Innovative voices in education: Engaging diverse
communities(pp. 171-186).Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield Publishing.
 Kim, Y. (2011). Developing a model of effective English teaching for pre-service
teacher education. ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED520808.
 King, K., Artiles, A., Kozleski, E.(2013). Professional Learning for Culturally
Responsive Teaching. The National Center for Culturally Responsive Educational
Systems.
 Kohler, A.D. & Lazarin, M. (2007). Hispanic education in the United States. National
Council of La Raza, Washington, D.C
References (cont.)
 Lazarín, M. (2008). A Race Against the Clock: The Value of Expanded Learning
Time for English Language Learners. Center for American Progress. Retrieved from:
http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/education/report/2008/12/16/5345/
a-race-against-the-clock/
 Lazarín, M, Ortiz-Licon, F. (2010). Next Generation Charter Schools: Meeting the
Needs of Latinos and English Language Learners. Center for American Progress.
Retreived from:
http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2010/09/pdf/charter_schools.pdf
 Lyons, J.J. (2014). “Opportunity Lost: The promise of equal and effective
education for emerging bilingual students in the Obama administration.” BUENO
National Policy Center for Bilingual & Multicultural Education.
 Mansukhani, S., Chinchilla, F. (2013). Serving English Learners: A Toolkit for Public
Charter Schools. Retrieved from:
http://www.publiccharters.org/publications/serving-english-language-learnerstoolkit-public-charter-schools/
References (cont.)
 Nicolau, S., and C.L. Ramos. (1990). Together Is Better: Building Strong
Relationships between Schools and Hispanic Parents. New York: Hispanic Policy
Development Project.
 TESOL International Association. (2013). Overview of the Common Core State
Standards Initiatives for ELLs. Alexandria, VA: Author.
 Vera, E. M., Israel, M. S., Coyle, L., Cross, J., Knight-Lynn, L., Mallem, I., Bartucci, G.,
Goldberger, N. (2012). Exploring the Educational Involvement of Parents of
English Learners. School Community Journal, 22(2), 183-202.
 WIDA. (2012). WIDA’s 2012 Amplification of the ELD Standards. Washington, DC:
Author. Retrieved from: http://wida.us/standards/eld.aspx
Resources for CCSS Instruction and
English Learners
 Academic Language Development Network
http://aldnetwork.org/
 Education Connections (Center for Applied
Linguistics/ University of Oregon)
https://www.obaverse.net/welcome/edconnect
 Understanding Language (Stanford University)
http://ell.stanford.edu/
Professional Development Programs to
Support Academic Language
Development
 Guided Language Acquisition Design (GLAD)
http://www.projectglad.com/
 WIDA LADDER http://ladder.wceruw.org/
 Quality Teaching for English Learners (QTEL)
http://qtel.wested.org/
 Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP)
http://www.cal.org/siop/
Department of Education Resources
 National Clearinghouse for English Language Acquisition (NCELA)
http://ncela.ed.gov/
 National Clearinghouse for English Language Acquisition (NCELA) Nexus
askncela@leedmci.com
 U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics,
Common Core of Data (CCD), “Local Education Agency School Universe
Survey,” 2010-11. See Digest of Education Statistics, 2012.
 US Department of Education. (2012) . Providing Effective Teachers for All
Students: Examples from Five Districts. Washington, DC. Retrieved from:
http://www2.ed.gov/rschstat/eval/teaching/providing-effectiveteachers/report.pdf
 US Department of Education Family and Community Engagement webpage:
http://www2.ed.gov/parents/academic/help/partnership.html
Thank you!
*NCELA is supported by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of English Language Acquisition (OELA),
awarded to Leed Management Consulting, Inc. in Silver Spring, Maryland, in collaboration with Synergy
Enterprises, Inc. and the Center for Applied Linguistics.