Cultural and Linguistic Competency: Strategies for Establishing a Learning

Environment based on Students' Needs

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About NDTAC

Contract between U.S. Department of Education and the American Institutes for Research John McLaughlin

Federal Coordinator, Title I, Part D, Neglected, Delinquent, or At Risk Program

NDTAC’s Mission: Develop a uniform evaluation model

Provide technical assistance

Serve as a facilitator between different organizations, agencies, and interest groups

Join our listserv at: http://www.neglected-delinquent.org/nd/forms/listserv1.asp

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Cultural and Linguistic Competency: Strategies for Establishing a Learning

Environment based on Students' Needs

Presenters:

Carlos Rodriguez, Ph.D. American Institutes for Research

Ana Diaz-Booz Principal, School of International Business (SIB), Kearny High Educational Complex San Diego, CA

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Statement: ELLs who speak English are ready to be mainstreamed.

This is a myth. Oral communication skills are not the same as

academic language skills needed for classroom success.

Gaps in vocabulary and syntactic knowledge may hinder future academic progress.

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Statement: Most ELLs have learned English by middle and high school.

This is a myth. Among language-minority students, roughly 51% of

those who spoke English with difficulty failed to complete high school, whereas only 18% of those who spoke English very well did not complete high school.

Carlos Rodriguez, Ph.D.American Institutes for Research

Between the age of 3 and 21

Enrolled or preparing to enroll in K-12

Speak a native language other than English or comes from an environment where another language is dominant

Have difficulties in speaking, reading, writing, or understanding the English language so as to deny the individual:

◦ The ability to meet the state’s proficient level of achievement on state assessments (described in section 1111(b)(3) of NCLB)

◦ The ability to successfully achieve in classrooms where the language of instruction is English (Source: Section 9101 of Title IX)

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ELL placement is often associated with ◦ Increased likelihood to dropout of high school (Kanno &

Cromley, 2010)

◦ Decreased likelihood to advance to postsecondary education (Kanno & Cromley, 2010)

◦ Not being prepared for postsecondary education opportunities (Callahan, 2010)

If ELL students attend PSE, they are◦ More likely to attend 2-year colleges ◦ More likely to enroll in non-credit earning courses (e.g.,

ESL courses and developmental/remedial courses)◦ Less likely to persist in college (Kanno & Cromley, 2010)

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Source: US Census Bureau, Census 2000

Anchored in Federal legislation, Supreme Court decisions and State laws since the 1970s

Intended to Equalize Educational Opportunity by reducing achievement barriers due to language ability of children

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About 57 percent were born in the United States, while 43 percent were born elsewhere

Levels of language proficiency, socio-economic standing, academic expectations, and immigration status vary by student

No one approach or policy that will meet the educational goals and needs of this population

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Children can be misdiagnosed as having a learning disability

Overrepresentation of ELL students in special education has been linked to the size of the ELL population as the lack of adequate language support programs

Oral language proficiency may take 3 to 5 years to develop where as academic language proficiency may be developed over 3 to 7 years

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ELL students need home language support over the 4 to 7 years that academic English can take to develop

Those who have had at least 4 to 7 years of dual language schooling outperform comparable students in monolingual programs

Supporting a child’s first language while teaching English would include an enrichment bilingual/ESL program that addresses the full spectrum of students’ developmental needs

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Professional staff need to be well trained to meet the needs of ELLs

◦ Students with limited English proficiency are often the least likely of all students to have a teacher who is actually prepared to instruct them.

Native speakers are essential if students are non-English speakers

Programs for ELL students need to address the unique cultural characteristics of these students, their families, and their communities

Differentiates instruction

Includes the use of the native language

Provides explicit language instruction in both languages

Prepares teachers with enough knowledge of primary and secondary language acquisition to anticipate potential barriers to ELL students’ comprehension

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ELL Instruction is NOT simply providing translations or speaking slower and louder

ELL instruction is grounded in developing communicative competencies to develop cognitive and academic growth

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“A set of congruent behaviors, attitudes, and policies that come together in a system, agency, or among professionals that enables effective work in cross-

cultural situations.”

Issued by DHHS in 2000

Correct inequities that exist in provision of health care services for a diverse population

Provide the first national and uniform approach to educate primary health care providers in cultural competencies

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Culturally competent care

◦ Relationship between client and provider, i.e., educator and student

Language access services

Organizational supports for cultural competence

◦ How the environment is organized

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Culturally-blind agencies are characterized by the belief that helping approaches traditionally used by the dominant culture are universally applicable; if the system worked as it should, all people --regardless of race or culture --would be served with equal effectiveness.

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Engage students in challenging, theme-based curriculum to develop concept development

Draw on student’s background—their experience, cultures and languages

Organize collaborative activities and scaffold instruction to build students academic proficiency

Create confident students who value learning and themselves

Understand these basic concepts when working with ELL students:

Comprehension precedes production

Comprehension emerges in stages and it varies by each individual student, therefore, differentiation of instruction is required

Effective Strategies for Supporting Effective Strategies for Supporting English Language LearnersEnglish Language Learners

School of International Business (SIB)

Kearny High Educational Complex

San Diego, CA

Ana Diaz-Booz, Principal

School of International Business (SIB)School of International Business (SIB)Site InformationSite Information

Located in urban San Diego 465 Students (total students at complex - 1850) 75% qualify for free or reduced lunch 45% Latino, 17% African American, 14%

Vietnamese, 14% Caucasian 34% English Language Learners (ELL) 80% of ELLs test at the “intermediate” or below

level on the California English Language Development Test (CELDT)

Results of ELL ProgramResults of ELL Program

Highest Academic Performance Index for ELs in the district – 50 points higher than the average

94% Graduation Rate

CAHSEE 10th Grade Census 2009

All Students

SIB

ELL Students

SIB

ELL Students

District

English 89% 79% 34%

Math 95% 92% 44%

Strategy #1Strategy #1

Know your students as individualswith distinct needs

Specific Supports for ELLsSpecific Supports for ELLs

Immediate Identification and proper placement

Regular monitoring of academic progress

Engagement of parents in primary language whenever possible

Cultural awareness

Strategy #2Strategy #2

Provide the school structure to best support English Language Learners

Specific Supports for ELLsSpecific Supports for ELLs

Allocate more resources/personnel to the students with the highest need

Balance class sections so that ELLs have many strong models of English around them

Provide spaces and equipment that “force” teachers and students to interact

Openly discuss the need to support ELLs with all students

Strategy #3Strategy #3

Choose teachers carefully and train them well.

Specific Supports for ELLsSpecific Supports for ELLs

Start building teacher capacity during the hiring process

Place the most skilled teachers with ELLs

Incorporate participation strategies for daily teacher-student and student-student interaction

Specific Supports for ELLsSpecific Supports for ELLs

Provide staff development that explicitly teaches the “how”

Implement a curriculum that truly incorporates literacy strategies across the curriculum

Work with teachers on obtaining and analyzing individual student data