Foundational Components
of a
NYS ESL Program
By The Northern ESL PLC
https://sites.google.com/site/northerneslplc/
Foundational Components of a NYS ESL Program
ELL Identification Process http://www.p12.nysed.gov/assessment/nysitell/
Administer the Home Language Questionnaire
(HQL) to all students who register for the first time in NYS schools.
Conduct an Informal Interview.
Administer the NYSITELL to all students whose HLQ indicates a language other than English.
The English proficiency level is determined by the NYSITELL upon identification and subsequently
by the NYSESLAT, administered annually. http://www.p12.nysed.gov/assessment/nyseslat/
Mandated Programs
English as a Second Language (ESL) instruction is developmental, not supplemental.
Currently, once in an ESL program, parents do not have the right to decline their child’s participation in
an ESL program.
ESL instruction must be provided by a certified ESL teacher.
New York State Assessments
ELLs may receive testing accommodations for all State exams except the NYSESLAT. This also
extends to former ELL students for up to 2 years. Accommodations are listed in the School Administrators’
Manual for state assessments. http://www.p12.nysed.gov/assessment/sam/sci/ils1851-14.pdf ELLs may use
bilingual glossaries for all state assessments, except NYSESLAT. Order glossaries at the beginning of the
school year for students’ use during their classes and on local exams as well as for state assessments. NYS
Bilingual Glossaries are located here: http://www.p12.nysed.gov/biling/bilinged/bilingual_glossaries.htm
The NYSESLAT, administered annually, determines English language proficiency of ELL students
and is the only criterion to determine proficiency. Multiple measures may not be used.
http://www.p12.nysed.gov/assessment/nyseslat/
Awarding Credit for Languages Other than English (LOTE) to LEP/ELL
http://www.p12.nysed.gov/ciai/lote/documents/lote-qa.pdf
Schools may award ELLs the required credit for LOTE based on years of schooling in a language other than
English, either outside the United States or in a bilingual education program in the U.S. Schools may award
ELLs three to five Regents credit for documented continued school attendance and residence in an otherthan-English speaking environment, provided that the experience occurs at age 11 or older and that the
residence resulted in direct contact with that environment and its people. At age 12, the school may award
four credits under the above conditions, and at age 13, the school may award the maximum of five Regents
credits. No more than five units of credit of languages
other than English may be awarded for school attendance in an other-than- English speaking environment,
regardless of the length of experience. In cases where there are no available records to document the
schooling experience, schools may rely on information provided by the parents or guardians in the Home
Language Questionnaire, on interviews with the student and his/her parent or guardian and on information
gathered from a diagnostic assessment of the students' native language literacy skills.
(Page 1 information was adapted from information found here: http://www.kenton.k12.ny.us/cms/lib/NY19000262/Centricity/Domain/18/Brochure_NYSED_Regs-Policies_10.pdf)
ESL Time Requirements, Awarding HS Credits for ESL, ESL Graduation Requirements and ESL
Language Proficiency Levels are in the process of being changed by the NYS Board of Regents.
Changes to CR Part 154
http://www.p12.nysed.gov/biling/docs/CRPART154Overview-webversion.pdf 9/15/14 Power Point
Ensuring Equal Educational Opportunities for ELLs; Enhance and Strengthen Commissioner’s Regulations CR Part
154
http://www.regents.nysed.gov/meetings/2014/September2014/914p12a3.pdf
Discussion of public responses to Proposed Changes to CR Part 154
http://www.regents.nysed.gov/meetings/2014/September2014/914p12d7.pdf
Under certain circumstances, allow school districts to apply for a waiver of the requirement that a minimum of
15% of the required professional development clock hours for all teachers and a minimum of 50% of the
required professional development clock hours for all Bilingual and English as a Second Language teachers be
dedicated to certain areas related to the needs of English Language Learners. Other changes…
http://www.regents.nysed.gov/meetings/2014/September2014/914p12d8.pdf
Identification & Exit Procedures for Bilingual Special Ed. Students
http://www.regents.nysed.gov/meetings/2014/October2014/1014p12a3.pdf
New Graduation Requirements for ELLs
NYS Bilingual Common Core Initiative
New Terminology:
New Language Arts Progressions: Formerly English as a Second Language Learning Standards
Home Language Arts Progressions: Formerly Native Language Arts Learning Standards
New Language Acquisition Levels:
5 Levels of Language Progressions (Entering, Emerging, Transitioning, Expanding and Commanding) Formerly 4
Levels (Beginning, Intermediate, Advanced and Proficient)
New Theoretical Foundations:
-Integration of content and language in new language development.
-Bilingualism is a point of departure for all language instruction and a goal for all language learners.
-Intended as a guide for Education Leaders, Content Areas, ESL, Bilingual, and LOTE teachers to provide
accessible Common Core instruction to students of various language proficiency and literacy levels.
See: https://www.engageny.org/resource/new-york-state-bilingual-common-core-initiative
http://njtesol-njbe.org/handouts11/Field_Differentiating_Instruction_handout.pdf (Created for New Jersey
TESOL, but the charts are still valuable)
English as a New Language
Units of Study Chart, K-8 (Effective in the 2015-16 school year)
1 Unit of Study-at least 180 minutes/week
http://www.regents.nysed.gov/meetings/2014/September2014/914p12a3.pdf
Beginner/Entering
2 Units of Study
Low
Intermediate/Emerging
2 Units of Study
2 Units of Study
Intermediate/Transitioning
1 unit Stand-alone
English as a New
Language
½ Unit as Stand-alone
English as a New
Language
½ Unit either Standalone English as a New
language or Integrated
English as a New
Language and ELA
½ Unit as Stand-alone
English as a New
Language
½ Unit either Standalone English as a New
language or Integrated
English as a New
Language and ELA
Advanced/Expanding
1 Unit of Study
1 Unit Integrated
English as a New
language and ELA or
another content area
Proficient/Commanding
½ Unit of Study
1/2 Unit Integrated
English as a New
Language and ELA or
another content area
or such other services
that monitor and
support the student’s
language development
and academic progress
For at least 2 school years
1 unit Integrated
English as a New
Language and ELA
1 Unit Integrated
English as a New
Language and ELA
1 Unit Integrated
English as a New
Language and ELA
Units of Study Chart (9-12) (Effective in the 2015-16 school year)
Beginner/Entering
Low
Intermediate/Emerging
3 Units of Study
2 Units of Study
Intermediate/Transitioning
1 Unit of Study
Advanced/Expanding
1 Unit of Study
½ Unit of Study
Proficient/Commanding
For at least 2 years
1 unit Stand-alone
English as a New
Language
1 Unit as Stand-alone
English as a New
Language and ELA
1 Unit either
Integrated English as a
New Language or
Stand-alone English as
a New Language
½ Unit as Stand-alone
English as a New
Language
½ Unit either Standalone English as a New
Language or Integrated
English as a New
Language
1 Unit Integrated
English as a New
Language and ELA
½ Unit Stand-alone
English as a New
Language
½ unit Integrated
English as a New
Language
1 Unit Integrated
English as a New
Language
½ unit Integrated
English as a New
Language or such other
services that monitor
and support the
student’s language
development and
academic progress
English as a New Language Earning Credits (Effective in the 2015-16 school year)
A Beginner/Entering student shall earn credits as follows:
1 unit of ELA credit for Integrated English as a New Language and ELA and
I unit in the Content Area for completion of each Integrated English as a New Language unit of study and
1 unit of elective credit for completion of a second Stand-alone English as a New Language Unit of Study
A Low Intermediate/Emerging student shall earn credits as follows:
1 unit of ELA credit for Integrated English as a New Language and ELA or
I unit in the Content Area for completion of each Integrated English as a New Language unit of study or
1 unit of elective credit for completion of a second Stand-alone English as a New Language Unit of Study
An Intermediate/Transitioning student shall earn credits as follows:
1 unit of ELA credit for Integrated English as a New Language and ELA or
I unit in the Content Area for completion of each Integrated English as a New Language unit of study or
1 unit of elective credit for completion of a second Stand-alone English as a New Language Unit of Study
An Advanced/Expanding student shall earn credits as follows:
1 unit of credit in a content area for successful completion of English as a New Language unit of study in a content
area other than ELA.
A Proficient/Commanding student shall earn credits as follows:
½ unit of credit for completion of Integrated English as a New Language or such other services that monitor and
support the student’s language development and academic progress.
Definitions of New Terminology
English as a New Language program shall mean a research-based program comprised of two components: a
content area instructional component in English (including all core content, i.e. English language arts, math,
science, or social studies) with home language supports and appropriate scaffolds, and an English language
development component (Stand-alone and/or Integrated English as a New Language).
Integrated English as a New Language shall mean a unit in of study or its equivalent in which students receive core
content area (i.e., English language arts, math, science or social studies) and English language development
instruction.
Stand-alone English as a New Language shall mean a unit of study or its equivalent in which students receive
instruction in order to acquire the English language needed for success in core content courses. A student shall not
receive Stand-alone English as a New Language in lieu of core content area instruction.
The ESL Teacher as a Language Development Expert
ESL teachers are language development experts who work with ELLs to help them acquire fluency in English
through reading, writing, listening and speaking. Many school leaders are aware of ESL teachers’ expertise in
language development, academic vocabulary, scaffolding and culture while others still are not. As a result of
CCSS and the NYS Blueprint for ELL Success, leaders are also becoming aware that ELLs are everyone’s
kids, so they are likely to promote an inclusive school culture of shared responsibility that fully supports ELLs
as well as ESL teachers.
The ESL teacher has much to offer in the changing environment of Common Core Standards and a
movement toward integrative English and content instruction. Soon NYSED will change from using four
levels to five levels of language progressions for ELLs: Entering, Emerging, Transitioning, Expanding and
Commanding. We will need to know what these levels mean, what a student is capable of doing at each level
and what scaffolding strategies to use to help them move from one level to the next. The ESL teacher can
provide school leaders and content teachers with this information as well as how long it generally takes a
student to become proficient in English, although each student is different, and there is a difference between
learning social language and mastering academic language. New York State recently provided Scaffolding
Guides which are located here: https://www.engageny.org/resource/scaffolding-instruction-englishlanguage-learners-resource-guides-english-language-arts-and
ELL Scaffolding Guides
http://elschools.org/sites/default/files/Final%20ELL%20Guide.pdf A Guide to Support ELLs by
Expeditionary Learning
Students at each level of language progression can earn high school credits for taking an ESL class in NYS,
and the September 2014 changes to CR Part 154 by the NYS Board of Regents outline how these credits can
be earned. In addition, graduation requirements were changed for ELLs!
In a co-teaching setting, ESL teachers can work with content teachers by assisting them in teaching academic
vocabulary in their content areas and offering them support in creating lessons that teach both academic
language and content together. It is important to designate time for teachers to collaborate.
The ESL teacher’s role is key when the school is determining whether a student is challenged by a language
difference vs. a learning disability. The ESL teacher can provide valuable expertise in this area including
questions to ask and the characteristics of both language differences and learning disabilities:
What to do Before a Formal Referral to SPED for an ELL Student?
http://www.ocmboces.org/tfiles/folder2743/What%20to%20do%20before%20referral.pdf
ELL Checklist for IEP Team
http://www.ocmboces.org/tfiles/folder2743/ELL%20Checklist%20for%20IEP%20Teams%20rev-7-16.pdf
Differentiating Language Difference from Language Disability
http://www.ocmboces.org/tfiles/folder2743/Differentiating%20Lang%20Diff%20from%20Lang%20Dis.p
df
http://www.p12.nysed.gov/specialed/RTI/parent.htm A Parent’s Guide to RtI
ESL teachers are positioned to be of great value to administrators and content teachers as they are recognized
and utilized to assist in embracing the school’s cultural diversity.
ESL PROGRAM BEST PRACTICES
Pull-out ESL classes for
Beginner and
Intermediate Students
The number of
students in ESL class
should not exceed
the number of
students in a general
ed. classroom
Activate Prior
Knowledge and Build
Background Knowledge
Make Input
Comprehensible.
Print assignment and
directions on the board.
Explicit and Implicit
Academic Vocabulary
Instruction
Differentiate
Instruction
Through Scaffolding
Techniques
Anchoring instruction
by strategically using
research-based
practices (e.g.,
multimedia, visuals,
and graphic organizers)
Articulate specific
language objectives and
content objectives.
Practice & show samples
of completed
project/assignment
Provide Bilingual
Picture
Dictionary/Glossary;
Label classroom
objects for Beginners;
Work with a buddy
Build strategic
competence by
teaching students to
engage with text in
multiple ways
Cooperative Learning:
provide opportunities
for students to discuss
content and problemsolve with peers.
Shelter Instruction
Observation Protocol
SIOP
Thematic Instruction
including all four
domains (R, W, L & S)
and both language and
content.
Provide sufficient
response time.
Districts and schools
use data from
diagnostic tools and
formative assessment
practices in order to
monitor ELL’s content
knowledge as well as
new and home
language development
to inform instruction
Use of Technology:
Use digital media and
principles of universal
design of learning (UDL)
to reduce learning
barriers
(Entering, Emerging,
Transitioning)
Give ESL credits to ESL
students at the HS
level and grades for
ESL at the Middle
School Level
Every teacher is a
teacher of ELLs and
needs to plan
accordingly
http://www.misd.net/bilingual/ELL.
pdf
Annual professional
development for school
leaders, classroom
teachers and others
https://www.graphite.org/toppicks
All school boards and
districts/school leaders
are responsible for
ensuring that
the academic, linguistic,
social, and emotional
needs of ELLs are
addressed
Design and deliver
instruction that is
culturally and
linguistically appropriate
for all diverse learners
Some items were adapted from NYS Blueprint for ELL Success
http://www.regents.nysed.gov/meetings/2014/January2014/114p12d2.pdf
BICS and CALP
BASIC INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATIONS SKILLS (BICS) is the form of language that is
commonly associated with conversations in the hallway, or before class or at some kind of recreational or
social event. It takes approximately 2-3 years for students to become proficient in BICS. BICS is also
manifested in relation to concrete concepts. Many times teachers are confounded by the fact that their ESL
students have developed BICS proficiency but appear to have little success in the formal classroom setting.
That’s because the students have not yet developed CALP.
COGNITIVE ACADEMIC LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY (CALP) is what your student must develop
if they are going to be able to make sense out of the abstract concepts you are trying to teach them. And
COGNITIVE ACADEMIC LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY can take up to 7 or perhaps 10 years to
acquire! If a student has developed CALP in their native language, then our job is to facilitate the transfer of
CALP by giving the student new labels for the abstract concepts they are familiar with!
Explaining BICS and CALP
by Judie Haynes
Classroom teachers need to understand the difference between social language and academic language
acquisition. Here is a simple description of BICS and CALP as theorized by Jim Cummins.
http://www.everythingesl.net/inservices/bics_calp.php
How Long Does It Take to Learn English?
by Judie Haynes
The most frequently asked question of ESL professionals by mainstream teachers, administrators, and
even politicians concerns how long it should take English language learners to acquire English.
http://www.everythingesl.net/inservices/_long_does_take_learn_english_55843.php
Comprehensible Input and Output
by Judie Haynes
How do newcomers learn English? Can they soak up language by sitting in the mainstream classroom?
Learn how Comprehensible Input and Output are important to the acquisition of a second language.
http://www.everythingesl.net/inservices/comprehensible_input_output_70140.php
Pre-production and the Silent Period
by Judie Haynes
If your new English language learner is not speaking, don't worry. Most newcomers go through a stage
during which they do not produce language. This doesn't mean they are not learning.
http://www.everythingesl.net/inservices/pre_producti_silent_period_93415.php
Collaboration and Co-teaching for ELLs
ELLs can benefit from co-teaching and collaboration when the ESL teacher and the general
classroom teacher co-plan and co-teach a lesson together. Important ingredients include: Sharing of
expertise, interdependence, communicating, mutual goals, meeting students' needs. Providing time
to collaborate is essential to co-teaching success for ELLs.
http://www.ocmboces.org/tfiles/folder2642/CO-TEACHING%20MODELS.pdf
Collaboration and Co-teaching Models for ELLs
http://www.ocmboces.org/tfiles/folder2642/MARCH%2011%20CO-TEACH%20HANDOUT14.pdf
Building Co-teachers' Identities of Competence
https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/collaborative-teaching-ntn
Video-Effective Co-teaching
http://www.esboces.org//site/Default.aspx?PageID=410
Co-Teaching for ELLs, Eastern Suffolk RBERN
http://coteachingforells.weebly.com/index.html
Weebly, Collaboration & Co-Teaching For ELLs
http://www.sagepub.com/books/Book238828
Collaboration and Co-teaching for ELLs, Leader’s Guide
https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/teacher-collaboration-for-ccss-ells-nea
Collaboration to Plan a CCSS Lesson for ELLs
Further Assistance Available at:

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

Mid-State RBERN http://rbern.ocmboces.org/ Online training coming soon!
New York State Office of Bilingual Education and Foreign Language FAQs
http://www.p12.nysed.gov/biling/bilinged/faq.html
EngageNY https://www.engageny.org/
The ESL Rural Mural https://sites.google.com/site/eslruralmural
Links:
Dr. Virginia Rojas - Dr. Rojas conducts professional training on effective programs and strategies for
English learners from pre-school through grade 12 for ESL and classroom teachers alike. As an ASCD
faculty member (www.ascd.org)
Colorin Colorado - Administrators play a crucial role in creating an environment in which ELLs can
succeed. This section offers school leaders — particularly those with new ELL populations — ideas and
strategies to make that happen. Resources include articles, recommended reports, professional books,
and expert interviews. If you're looking for ideas on how to effectively teach English language learners
in all grades, you've come to the right place!
Northern ESL PLC - This network consists of ESL professionals from northern and central New York who
meet to socialize, share, and collaborate for the benefit of English Language Learners in smaller, rural
school districts. The goal of this group, which meets quarterly, is to form a strong and structured group
of ESL professionals in a comfortable and social way that will serve to build on professional capabilities
for the present and future.
DSF Consulting - Many teachers struggle with how to effectively teach their English Learners challenging
content while these students are learning academic English. Diane Staehr-Fenner and her team provide
support to teachers so that their ELs will achieve academic success. Diane is originally from Central NY
and she returns to the area often. Her company is certified in NYS state as a woman-owned business.
Kenji Hakuta - Stanford University's Understanding language site. Understanding Language aims to
heighten educator awareness of the critical role that language plays in the new Common Core State
Standards and Next Generation Science Standards.
Stanford ELL Modules - We proudly share all of the course materials that previously supported the
Stanford Online CLAD Program. During the 9 year period from 2003 to 2012, the program certified over
2,500 teachers, making them eligible to work with English language learners in California. Although this
program is no longer offered, we are now releasing our online resources to the public free of charge.
Education Week, Learning the Language - Veteran education reporter Lesli Maxwell has worked both
inside and outside of major school systems. Join her now as she delves into the educational, policy, and
social issues surrounding English-language learners in U.S. schools.
Laura Stevens Website - Developed by an ESL teacher in the northern region of NYS, this site offers
helpful information including a Weekly ESL Update, a blog, information for teachers, and professional
development slide shows.
NYSTESOL - NYS TESOL is an association of professionals concerned with the education of English
language learners at all levels of public and private education in New York State. Our interests include
classroom practices, research, program and curriculum development, employment, funding, and
legislation.
TESOL - TESOL International Association’s mission is to advance professional expertise in English
language teaching and learning for speakers of other languages worldwide.