PREPARING ELEMENTARY TEACHERS TO BE
EFFECTIVE TEACHERS OF ENGLISH LEARNERS:
USING EVIDENCE OF CORE TEACHING
PRACTICES TO EVALUATE PRESERVICE
PROGRAM IMPACT
Nancy Dubetz and Kathleen Camacho
nancy.dubetz@lehman.cuny.edu
Lehman College, City University of New York
Paper presented at the 2014 NYSATE/NYAACTE Conference
Saratoga Springs, New York
October 15-17, 2014
PROGRAM EVALUATION FRAMEWORK
• Intended curriculum v. Experienced curriculum
• Using Core Teaching Practices as lens to investigate
how:
• candidates experienced preservice program,
• graduates teach ELs during first two years
• Math Up v Traditional Program Graduates
• Attitudes Toward Teaching ELs
OVERVIEW OF MATH UP PROGRAM
• Four cohorts of elementary teacher candidates
• Emphasis in math preparation and teaching special populations
• Graduate Coursework begins in senior year and encompasses a fifth year of
graduate study
• Clinically rich internship model
• Support for Mentors
• Math content and informal assessment strategies (Keeping Learning on Track)
• Preparation & ongoing support for co-teaching
• Emphasis on Danielson Framework for Teaching in Candidate Evaluation
• Electronic Portfolio of Key Assessments (
THE INTENDED CURRICULUM
1. What conceptions about teaching linguistically diverse learners are
communicated through course descriptions?
2. What kinds of clinical experiences/assignments with ELLS were incorporated in
course or program content?
3.
What is communicated about linguistic diversity in relation to other diversities?
4.
What proportion of courses can be identified as having a major focus on
linguistically diverse students and what was the nature of the content focus?
5. What is the degree of emphasis on linguistically diverse students across courses as
evidenced by texts topics, and assignments?
6.
To what degree are the needs of linguistically diverse students integrated or
separated in course work?
7.
Did candidates tap any additional resources to prepare them to teach ELs?
EVIDENCE OF COURSE CONTENT FOCUSING ON
LINGUISTICALLY DIVERSE LEARNERS/BILINGUAL
LEARNERS/ELLS
Program
Artifact
Program or
Course
Description
Course
EDE_744
Differentiate
between cultural
and linguistic
differences as
well as processes
of language
development
and disabilities in
the school
mathematics
environment.
Develop
knowledge and
skills in providing
culturally and
linguistically
responsive
language and
mathematics
instruction for
learners with
disabilities.
Goals or
Outcomes
Sessions/
topics
Readings
Assignments/
How they are
evaluated
Fieldwork/clini
cal
experiences
Al-Hassan, S.,
Gardner, I.
(2002).
Involving
immigrant
parents of
students with
disabilities in
the
educational
process.
Teaching
Exceptional
Children,
34(5), 52-58.
Interns grouped
and assigned to
journal article that
they have to
present in class.
These topics are
for all struggling
students and
some student
presented
activities for ELLs
as they facilitate
their article.
Required to work in
after school
program at PS _,
which has a lot of
ELLs. Required to
make assessment,
review, and
provide assignment
for students for the
coming week.
Discussions
Mi
sc.
FINDINGS FOR COHORT 2
• 6 credits of front loaded coursework focusing on preparation for EBLs/ELs
summer prior to year long internship (bilingualism & ESL methods)
• Key assessments for these courses as artifacts of portfolio
• 50% of program courses include goals and outcomes related to teaching
linguistically diverse students
• Majority (16 of 17) placed in classrooms for internship with ELs + one field
experience working with an EBL/ELL required of all
• Attention to linguistic diversity embedded in coursework and candidate
evaluation as one of multiple diversities
EVIDENCE OF COURSE CONTENT
FOCUSING ON LINGUISTICALLY DIVERSE
LEARNERS/BILINGUAL LEARNERS/ELLS
Goals/Examples
“Themes of LUTE: Knowledge and appreciation of diversity in individuals and in sociocultural contexts as foundation for learning and teaching. Through fieldwork, readings,
ground interaction, students will learn to adapt activities to reflect the individual needs
and background for diverse learners.”
Sessions/Topics
“Teaching ALL children, equity in mathematics education- For underserved populations,
including Ells.”
Discussions (note: documented through interview)
“For every lesson, we focused on academic language and tying this to good instruction
with bilingual readers or struggling students and developing strategy lessons for reading.
INVESTIGATING THE
EXPERIENCED CURRICULUM
METHOD FOR STUDYING PROGRAM EFFECTIVENESS
• Mixed Method Triangulation Design/Data Transformation Model (Crestwell &
Clark, 2007)
• Qualitative Data Analysis
• coding artifacts from electronic portfolios & observations of classroom practice
using Core Teaching Practices (CTPs)
• Quantitative Data Analysis
•
•
•
•
demographic & contextual information
pre/post attitude survey data
frequencies of CTPs
Non parametric (chi squares, Mann Whitney test) & parametric measures (t-tests)
CORE PRACTICES
• Practices that occur with high frequency in teaching,
• Practices that novices can enact in classrooms across different curricula or
instructional approaches,
• Practices that novices can actually begin to master,
• Practices that allow novices to learn more about students and about
teaching,
• Practices that preserve the integrity and complexity of teaching, and
• Practices that are research-based and have the potential to improve
student achievement.
(McDonald, et al, 2013)
CORE TEACHING PRACTICES FOR
TEACHERS OF ENGLISH LEARNERS
Engaging English Learners with Academic Language
Using Learner Resources to Enhance Learning
• Building on Background Knowledge
• Capitalizing on ELs’ Full Linguistic Repertoire
• Using Funds of Knowledge that ELs Bring to Their Learning
Providing Comprehensible Input to ELs
CORE TEACHING PRACTICES FOR
TEACHERS OF ENGLISH LEARNERS
Promoting Oral Language Development
•
•
•
•
Oral language development emphasis to support reading/writing development
Scaffolding Class Discussions
Meaningful Practice Opportunities
Promoting Student to Student Interactions
Using Culturally and Linguistically Responsive Formal and Informal
Assessment to Analyze Learning
PRELIMINARY RESULTS OF EXPERIENCED
PRESERVICE CURRICULUM
Core Teaching Practices (see case study)
• Core Teaching Practices evident in artifacts of candidate learning
• Frequency of individual CTPs is dependent on the kind of artifact
• Some CTPs are more common than others
• Particular applications of a CTP more common
Attitudes
• Attitudes not affected by Childhood language (N=55)
• No significant change in attitudes between beginning and end of program
(N=29)
PRELIMINARY RESULTS OF PROGRAM
IMPACT IN FIRST YEAR OF TEACHING (N=11)
• CTPs are evident in the lessons of first year teachers
• Number of ELs in an internship experience might make a difference in the
application of CTPs once graduates enter teaching.
• Number of ELs in first year classrooms might not make a difference.
• More CTPs are evident in lessons taught in PreK-grade 2 than in grades 3-7.
• Attitudes at the end of the program do not appear to be related to whether
and how frequently first year teachers applied CTPs in their lessons.
QUESTIONS
1. Does preparing teachers with core teaching practices relate to learners
language development (NYSESLAT)?
2. How can front loaded instruction in core practices for effective teaching of
ELs be integrated explicitly across program coursework and key
assessments measuring student learning?
3. How might field and internship experiences be designed to enhance
preparation for teaching ELs?
4. How effective is embedding the evaluation of candidates’ ability to plan
for and teach linguistically diverse students in evaluating their ability to be
effective for a range of learner diversities?
5. Is being a good teacher enough? (deJong & Harper, 2005)
REFERENCES
Creswell, H. W. & Clark, V. L. P. (2007). Designing and conducting mixed
method research. Thousand Oaks. CA: Sage.
deJong, E. & Harper, C. (2005). Preparing mainstream teachers for English
language learners: Is being a good teacher enough? Teacher Education
Quarterly, 32 (2), 101-124.
McDonald, M., Kazemi, E. & Schneider Kavanagh, S. (2013). Core practices
and pedagogies of teacher education: A call for a common language and
collective activity. Journal of Teacher Education, 64 (5), 378-386.
Pugach, M. C., & Blanton, L. P. (2012). Enacting diversity in dual certification
programs. Journal of Teacher Education, 63 (4) 254-267