Quality Teacher & Education Act
Impact & Innovation Awards 2013
IMPACT STRATEGY #1
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Achievement: to ensure that every student who leaves CEC has the foundation necessary to enter
comprehensive elementary or middle schools to set a foundation leading to their graduating from high
school ready for college or career with the tools to succeed.
Impact was on all students in our one-year newcomer school. Students enroll throughout the school year
and need strategic scaffolding for their English Language Development.
While our students typically do well in math computation, they struggle with math problems that involve
English. So we employed the Experiential Learning approach, a cycle of learning focused on developing
listening and oral skills. The theory is that students learn and retain English most effectively through action
– their experience. For 45-50 minutes each day, students are guided through phases of an experience that
entail a pre-activity phase explicitly introducing the terms, vocabulary, and basic knowledge students need
to succeed in the activity. In the activity phase, data is collected to measure student progress in the quantity
and quality of their use of the target math terms, vocabulary, and language frames. Teachers modified and
differentiated the lesson so that students with advanced English skills were given more complex sentence
frames while newly-arrived newcomers spent more time learning basic vocabulary. In the post-activity
phase, teachers meet in cross-grade level teams to reflect on what the students are producing, both in oral
and written assessments, so that activities can be modified to better support the students in understanding
the key math vocabulary and terms. This cycle helps to anchor the learning from the activity and pre-activity
phases.
Students developed an increased understanding of the math terms. The Experiential Learning approach
allowed students to make sense of target terms in a way that they were better able to recall and use use the
terms.
IMPACT STRATEGY #2
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The District Goal that was targeted was Achievement. Our aim was to ensure that every student who leaves
CEC has the foundation necessary to go onto comprehensive elementary or middle schools to be successful
in their access in graduating from high school ready for college and/or career with the tools necessary to
succeed.
The impact was on all the newcomer EL students at our school. At CEC, math is used as another vehicle for
language development. We see that math computation is often an asset for many of our newcomer
students, but we realize that to prepare them for higher-level, complex math and mathematical thinking, we
must first teach the academic language of mathematical problem solving. To do this, we used the
Developmental Reading approach to reading for 45-50 minutes each day. Students focus on (1)
comprehensible, practical vocabulary, (2) structured grammar, and (3) texts utilizing carefully controlled
verb tenses focused on key math problem solving terms. Data is collected to measure student progress
through additional language activities that guide students through repeated practice built around matching
vocabulary to pictures, building basic phonemic skills, developing basic word-attack skills, and focusing a
great deal on comprehension of key math terms and texts. Lessons are modified and differentiated so that
students with more advanced English skills are given more complex sentence frames while newly-arrived
newcomers focused on learning basic vocabulary. Teachers meet periodically in cross-grade level teams to
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Quality Teacher & Education Act
Impact & Innovation Awards 2013
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reflect on the student data so that they can refine or modify the reading and writing literacy activities and to
hone in on the most effective math terms to teach.
Students were able to develop a stronger understanding of English reading. The Developmental Reading
approach gave access to students to make sense of vocabulary and text. This allowed our newcomers to
better understand and form meaning in comprehensible terms.
CEC had a 10.8% increase in math. In moving forward, our staff will review and refine the key math terms
that were selected as a focus in our Developmental Reading approach. Further, we will reevaluate the
Developmental Reading cycle to explore any improvements that may be necessary, especially in addressing
the needs of the new newcomers.
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