BEST PRACTICES

FOR TEACHING LEP STUDENTS

Title III

Professional Development

Q & A minus A (Activity)

• Brainstorm questions/issues that need to be addressed

• Overview of Legal Requirements

• Effective Strategies to boost language learning (Sheltered Instruction)

• Other

OVERVIEW

• Legal Requirements

• Instructional Strategies

–Content ESL

–Sheltered Instruction

• Writing Strategies for ELLs

• Other

LEGAL STANDARDS

Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964

Lau v. Nichols CastaCastaññedaeda Standards OCR Policy No Child Left Behind WV Policy

WV Policy 2417

• Adopted in May 2003• Outlines Standards for English Language Proficiency• Framework for Professional Development• http://wvconnections.k12.wv.us

IDENTIFICATION AND ASSESSMENT

District has procedures in place for identifying and assessing all language-minority students who are in need of an alternative language services in order to participate meaningfully in the recipient's educational program.

Possible elements:

Timeframes Person(s) responsible & qualifications Criteria for eligibility

PLACEMENT & PARTICIPATION

Educational Model includes goals to provide English Language Development/Acquisition ServicesOpportunity to learn English in a timely

manner Provides for meaningful access to the

district’s academic curriculumOpportunity to gain academic knowledge

and skills

(Effective Implementation)STAFFING

District ensures that the staff serving ELL students are appropriately trained and available in sufficient numbers to effectively implement the district’s educational approach.

(Effective Implementation) RESOURCES

District ensures timely availability of adequate resources, such as equipment and instructional materials, to effectively implement its instructional approach.

SPECIAL EDUCATION

District ensures that ELL students are not inappropriately placed in special education services because of their inability to speak and understand English.

District considers ELL student's proficiency in the primary or home language and in English to determine the proper evaluation.

ELL students are provided with opportunities to access other district programs:

Gifted and Talented Services Honors and Advanced Placement

Parent Involvement

• Supporting the Home Language

• Communicating with parents

• Cultural Awareness

EXITING ELL STUDENTS

District provides ELL Students services until they are proficient enough in English to participate meaningfully in the regular education program.

Exit criteria is defined in Policy 2417: 2 years of Level 5 on WESTELL 1 year of Mastery or above on RLA WESTEST

• Students should continue to receive services until they can read, write, speak and comprehend English well enough to participate meaningfully in the district’s program.

Content ESL

and

Sheltered Instruction

How will LEP Students catch up?Research indicates the “average LEP student” will require: 6 months to 2 years to acquire social language and 3-5 years to learn academic language

Average 3-year “learning curve”

LEP 3-year “learning curve”Beginning skills gap

Year 1 Year 2 Year 3

Key Strategies for Accelerating Learning

Content ESL Goal: Language through Content• Vocabulary Instruction• Activating Prior Knowledge

Sheltered Instruction Goal: Content with Language Supports• Scaffolded Instruction• Advance Organizers

Content ESL

Role of ESL teachers/programs

• Stage 1- “Survival”

• Stage 2- Pre Teaching Vocabulary, Modifying Instruction/Assessment

• Stage 3- Scaffolding Content

• Stage 4 – Reducing support

Activity

Read the following sentence.

I went to the toshokan yesterday to pay my fines.

What is a toshokan? Have you determined the meaning of the word? Why or why not?

If this is regular occurrence in the classroom, what is the cumulative effect on student learning?

•LEP students need both types of Vocabulary Instruction:

– Teaching the concept/meaning of English words that the student already understands in his/her native language

– Teaching the concept/meaning of English words that the student does not understand in his/her native language

• Cloze– when words are omitted according to a category (e.g. all nouns, or words

with the long a sound, or all uses of the present participle), it exercises higher level thinking skills as students work to identify the commonalities between the omitted words.

• Cognates– Cognates are words in different languages related to the same root, e.g.,

education (English) and educación (Spanish). Using cognates whenever possible in speech and writing with ELLs has several benefits: activates prior language knowledge along with other visual information, may help students understand the meaning of a passage

• Word Maps– word map is a graphic organizer that is helps students think about new

words and concepts in a variety of ways. Some word maps expand on definitions, while others focus on uses of the word or other forms and parts of speech

ACTIVATING PRIOR KNOWLEDGEThink-Pair-Share Activity

• Describe three things you would expect to see or experience in a communist country.

• Why was this task difficult or easy? How did your prior knowledge of the concept assist your ability to articulate your responses?

• ACTIVATING PRIOR Knowledge– Help students remember information they already have about

a particular topic. – Help students discover and frame what they already know

about a particular topic. – Assist the teacher in determining instructional starting points

based on students’ existing knowledge.

Sheltered Instruction

Types of Sheltering Strategies

• Pacing• Presentation of Material• Materials• Assignments• Environment• Reinforcement• Classroom Assessment• Grading

Learning skills and knowledge cannot occur in isolation. Learning is dependant on the context in which it is learned, and what is learned in one context may not always transfer to another. Good assessments appropriately reflect the learning context. Also, the more authentic or “real life” the purpose, materials, content, and assessment, the more meaning it will have to the student.

Alternatives to Classroom tests      Portfolios      Projects      Performance-based testing

Working in small groups, LEP students can demonstrate their knowledge of the content by:      applying skills to real world problems      critiquing small group presentations      presenting a chronology of written and taped work

Modifications for Classroom assessment 

      allowing extra time to complete or respond to the test      simplifying directions in English      limiting the number of items assessed      also providing additional clarification during or after the test      allowing the students to use dictionaries or word lists      allowing the students to respond orally to the test questions

Tips to consider for Classroom assessment

      using primary sources from classroom materials such as charts, graphics, cartoons, and works of art      including questions from small group discussions in class      including teacher observations, student self-reflections, and parent judgments of their own child’s progress      designing assessment task that require different ways of demonstrating knowledge or skill like, exhibits, dramatic renditions, interviews, observations, self-reflections, and a variety of writing samples.

Thanks for your support of students with limited English proficiency in

West Virginia!

Amelia Davis CourtsW.V. Dept.of EducationBldg. 6 Room 318, 1900 Kanawha Blvd.Charleston, WV 25305(304) 558-2691aadavis@access.k12.wv.us