Fernanda Brendefur, Ed.D. Idaho State Department of Education

208-332-6905 fmbrendefur@sde.idaho.gov

Title III-LEP Bootcamp Session 4: Office of Civil Rights ELD Program

Basics

Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964

No person in the U.S. shall, on the grounds of race, color, or national origin be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.

Module 1 – Foundations 2

Castañeda v. Pickard (1981) This case developed a 3-prong test for evaluating compliance with non-

discrimination provisions

Module 1 – Foundations 3

Schools must have an educational program based on a legitimate theoretical foundation for language minority students

Prong 2 Prong 3

Prong 1 The program must be implemented in a manner to be effective and evaluated to determine its educational benefits

If the program is shown not to be effective in overcoming language barriers, it needs to be modified.

Sound Educational Theory

Prong 1

Evidence-Based

Module 4 – Effective Curriculum and Instruction 5

Definition: The integration of professional wisdom with the best available empirical evidence in making decisions about how to deliver instruction. (Grover J. [Russ] Whitehurst, Former Assistant Secretary, Educational Research and Improvement, U.S. Department of Education)

Research-Supported

Module 4 – Effective Curriculum and Instruction 6

NCLB defines scientifically-based research as: A. Involving the application of rigorous, systematic, and

objective procedures to obtain reliable and valid knowledge relevant to education activities and programs; and

B. includes research that: i. employs systematic, empirical methods that draw on

observation or experiment ii. involves rigorous data analyses that are adequate to test the

stated hypotheses and justify the general conclusions drawn

Research-Supported

Module 4 – Effective Curriculum and Instruction 7

iii. relies on measurements or observational methods that provide reliable and valid data across evaluators and observers, across multiple measurements and observations, and across studies by the same or different investigators

Research-Supported

Module 4 – Effective Curriculum and Instruction 8

iv. is evaluated using experimental or quasi-experimental designs in which individuals, entities, programs, or activities are assigned to different conditions and with appropriate controls to evaluate the effects of the condition of interest, with a preference for random assignment experiments, or other designs to the extent that those designs contain within-condition or across-condition controls

Research-Supported

Module 4 – Effective Curriculum and Instruction 9

v. ensures that experimental studies are presented in sufficient detail and clarity to allow for replication or, at a minimum, offer the opportunity to build systematically on their findings

vi. has been accepted by a peer-reviewed journal or approved by a panel of independent experts through a comparably rigorous, objective, and scientific review (§ 7801 [37])

More Clarity Needed

Module 4 – Effective Curriculum and Instruction 10

To clarify what research is considered scientifically-based, USED proposed that, when considering funding for educational practices or programs, priority be given to programs supported by research that uses “an experimental design under which participants—e.g., students, teachers, classrooms, or schools—are randomly assigned to participate in the project activities being evaluated or to a control group that does not participate in the project activities being evaluated.” (U.S. Department of Education, 2003a, p. 62446)

Scientific Research is part of Evidence-based Education

Module 4 – Effective Curriculum and Instruction 11

From: Scientifically Based Research: NCLB and Assessment, Policy Report by Sandra Zucker (2004)

Results for Various Programs

Module 1– Foundations 12 Adapted from: Thomas, W. & Collier, V. (1997). Language Minority Student Achievement and Program Effectiveness. Washington DC: National Clearinghouse for Bilingual Education.

General Pattern of Bilingual Education Student Achievement on Standardized Tests in English

Nor

mal

Cur

ve E

quiv

alen

ts

Grade Level

61(70)* Two-way bilingual

52(54)* Late-exit bilingual and content ESL

40(32)* Early-exit bilingual and content ESL

34(22)* Content-based ESL

24(11)* ESL pullout traditional

K 2 4 6 8 10 12 0

10

2

0

30

4

0

50

60

*Note 1: Average performance of native-English speakers making one year's progress in each grade. Scores in parentheses are percentile ranks converted from corresponding NCEs.

*Note 1

Effective Implementation

Prong 2

Time Is there appropriate time allocated to ELD services to ensure effective

English language development among ELs? Has the district done an analysis of their data to determine the most appropriate program

services and the amount of time students will be served in English language development courses?

Staff Is there a system in place to ensure that staff are adequately qualified to assist ELs

with becoming proficient in English and experiencing success in academic content classes? Do teachers within the language instruction program(s) have the appropriate qualifications?

Are teachers who deliver instruction in students’ native language fluent in the language of instruction?

Are teachers who deliver ELD instruction licensed with a state certification or other endorsement?

If teachers within the language instruction program are also teaching academic content courses (English, mathematics, science, etc.), do they have a state endorsement or certification in the content area?

Do all teachers with ELs in their classes (content or ELD) understand their responsibility to ensure these students can access their instruction?

Do all teachers receive professional development for learning and implementing best practices for instruction for ELs?

Forte, Schlicher, & Faulker-Bond, 2011

Curriculum and Resources Is there curriculum in place to ensure effective English language

development among ELs? Is the curriculum scientifically research-based?

Does the adopted curriculum address the four subdomains of language acquisition (listening, speaking, reading and writing)?

Does the curriculum also address the area of comprehension?

Does the curriculum address social language?

Does the curriculum address academic content language?

Are the resources used with ELs effective for English language development both in ELD programs and content areas? Do the resources support and add to the core curriculum (both ELD and content)?

Do the resources meet the specific linguistic needs of ELs?

Are the resources used above and beyond the regular core ELD and content curricula?

Sample ELD Curriculum & Resources National Geographic—Reach & Edge Cornerstone Milestones Access English Treasure Chest Oxford Picture Dictionary (content areas) Heinle Picture Dictionary Imagine Learning Rosetta-Stone

Program Effectiveness

Prong 3

Design and Evaluation Is there a system in place to evaluate the effectiveness of the ELD program?

Does the program have clearly defined goals by which to measure whether or not it is working?

How are program goals evaluated?

Can it be shown that the program is being implemented with sufficient resources to ensure it is functioning as intended?

Can it be shown that the program is being implemented with sufficient resources to ensure it is functioning as intended?

What is considered a reasonable amount of time for ELs to learn English? Does it difference by age, grade, time in program?

Is this estimation based on scientifically based evidence?

What is the process for changing the program if it is found not to be effective?

• Forte, Schlicher, & Faulker-Bond, 2011

Passing the OCR Test

ELD Program Evaluation

http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/ellresources.html

Office of Civil Rights Website

Questions???

January 4, 2012 3:00-4:00pm

Session 5: Title III Program Basics