2nd Annual Washington Charter Schools ConferenceELL Word: Demystifying ELL Law, Legalese & Learning NeedsMay 8, 2015

Angel Rodriguez and Melissa Katz

Objectives

Participants will learn:The laws that govern the education of English Language Learners and the national ELL landscapeThe rationale and process for starting one’s own ELL consortiumIdeas for ELL programming and instructional practices

Group Norms• Everyone has a voice and is expected to participate• Judgment free zone• Ask the hard questions• Be respectful of each other• Share and learn from each other

Why ELLs?

• Think-Pair-Share

• Achievement gap within the achievement gap• Bilingualism is an asset• Equity in access and fairness of programs• Title III AMAOs

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Alphabet Soup: Important ELL TermsELL: English Language Learner

EL: English LearnerEB: Emergent Bilingual

LEP: Limited English ProficientEP: English Proficient

ESL: English as a Second LanguageENL: English as a New Language

SLA: Second Language AcquisitionELD: English Language Development

L2: Second Language

NL: Native LanguageHL: Home Language PL: Primary Language

L1: First Language

True or False?ELLs are students from homes where a language other than English is spoken.

In the United States, 15% of students in K-12 are considered ELLs.

Lau vs. Nichols is the 1974 Supreme Court case brought about by Latino families against the NYC school district.

Charter schools must demonstrate that they have a well-defined program to support academic success and ELD for ELLs.

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ELL Statistics in the US

Source: http://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator_cgf.asp

National High School Graduation Rates

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New York State Demographics

Buffalo (4,799)

Rochester (3,259)

Syracuse (3,339)

Brentwood (5,742)

Hempstead (2,147)Yonkers

(3,362)New York City (158,094)

Utica (1,736)

Central Islip (2,025)

Newburgh (1,605)

Spring Valley (East Ramapo) (2,503)

Top ELL Districts

# of ELLs

New York City 158,094

Brentwood 5,742

Buffalo 4,799

Rochester 3,981

Yonkers 3,362

Syracuse 3,339

Spring Valley 2,503

Hempstead 2,147

Central Islip 2,025

Utica 1,736

Newburgh 1,605

Of the approximately 2.7 million public school students in New York State, 8.9% are English Language Learners.

Source: Public School ELL Counts as of May 31, 2013

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* Big 4: Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, and Yonkers ** ROS: Rest of State

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New York State is linguistically diverse, with

over 200 languages

spoken by our students.

2013-14 Top 10 ELL Home Languages

New York State Demographics

Spanish, 61.3%

Chinese, 10.2%

Arabic, 3.9%

Bengali, 2.9%

Haitian Creole, 1.7%

Russian, 1.6%

Urdu, 1.7%French, 1.3%

Karen, 0.9%

Nepali, 0.8%Other, 13.8%

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Source: Public School ELL Counts as of May 31, 2013

Overall ELL Population in WA

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Note: There may be more students who speak another language besides English but who passed the WELPA placement test.

Source: http://www.k12.wa.us/legisgov/2011documents/educatingenglishlanguagelearners.pdf

WA State ELL Demographics

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Source: http://www.k12.wa.us/legisgov/2011documents/educatingenglishlanguagelearners.pdf

What Governs ELL Education?• Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prevents discrimination by government agencies

that receive federal funds. It outlawed major forms of discrimination against African Americans, women and other forms of racial segregation

• Under the U. S. Supreme Court’s interpretation of the Civil Rights Act Lau v. Nichols (1974), local school districts and states have an obligation to provide appropriate services to ELLs

• The Equal Educational Opportunities Act (EEOA) (1974) requires SEAs and school districts to take “appropriate action to overcome language barriers that impede equal participation by [their] students in [their] instructional programs.”

• Language Instruction for LEP Students and Immigrants Title III under the No Child Left Behind Act consolidated the 13 bilingual and immigrant education programs formerly entitled by Title VII

Accountability

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• Charter schools should aim to enroll comparable numbers of ELLs and SWDs

• Charter schools must outline ELL and SWD supports/programming

• ELLs must demonstrate sufficient English and academic progress – No Child Left Behind

• Annual Measurable Achievement Objectives (AMAOs)– ELLs must move up proficiency levels, score proficient, and

achieve annual yearly progress (AYP) on other state exams– Schools must inform parents if they met or did not meet AMAOs

What Does This Look Like in WA?English Language Proficiency (ELP) Standards

Home Language Survey

Washington English Language Proficiency Assessment (WELPA) (formerly WLPT)Placement TestAnnual Test

English Proficiency LevelsBeginning (Level 1)Intermediate (Level 2)Advanced (Level 3)Transitioning (Level 4)

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NYC Charter Schools’ELL Consortium

• The New York City Charter Schools' ELL Consortium was created by the New York City Charter School Center in collaboration with several local charter schools in New York City in 2008.

• We believe that providing quality education for our ELL students is important work. The ELL Consortium creates opportunities for school leaders and teachers to come together to access and share information about designing and implementing academic programs that support the effective education of ELLs.

• The overarching goal of the ELL Consortium is to build charter leaders' and teachers' capacity to deliver high quality instruction to ELL students to raise their overall achievement and performance

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Rationale for Consortium

• Tap into the collective expertise of your charter sector;

• Pool resources to support professional development services for ELLs;

• Minimizes the sense of isolation that many charter ESL teachers have; and,

• Use Title III funds that otherwise would not have been spent.

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Responsibilities• Identifying the lead applicant/consortium leader• Building key partnerships• Understanding the accountability requirements

associated with the creation of the consortium• Informing your charter sector about the plan to start

the consortium• Selecting member schools• Getting school leaders commitment • Roles & responsibilities of member schools• Advantages & disadvantages

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Accountability Requirements for the Consortium Schools

• Identify students for ELL services;• Have well developed academic program that provides ELLs

with access to the general education curriculum• Meet or demonstrate significant progress towards statewide

AMAO requirements—progress towards English Language proficiency & grade-level benchmarks for math and ELA.

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Qualities of the Ideal Lead ApplicantHas a consistent track record for serving ELLs well

(academic & social-emotional success);School leader is willing to share resources &

knowledge with the charter sector; and,School leader has the capacity & is willing to

complete the paperwork and compliance requirements necessary to make the consortium a success.

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Key Partnerships

• Your authorizer;• Your state education department’s office of

bilingual education;• Charter support organizations;• Community based organizations that advocate

for immigrant families;• Your local school district; and,• Funders.

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Selecting Consortium Member Schools

School leader MUST have demonstrated a commitment to serving ELLs well;

School has dedicated staff to work with ELLs;Has historically enrolled ELLs & has put some systems

in place to support them; and,Has a deep understanding of the accountability

requirements associated with receiving Title III funds & being part of the consortium

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Roles & Responsibilities of Member Schools

• Hire a dedicated person to work with ELLs;• Implement & monitor process for effectively identifying ELLs;• Include ESL teacher(s) in all school-wide planning for

curriculum, instruction & assessment;• Use data to systematically monitor the academic performance

& English language proficiency of ELLs in their schools;• School leader must be willing to provide additional resources

to support ELLs; • Serve as a resource & partner to other member schools; • Provide data to lead applicant in a timely manner; and,• Attend all consortium workshops & trainings.

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Consortium ActivitiesConduct workshops & trainings;Participate in job fairs;Purchase materials & resources (build professional library); Build professional network & pipeline for ESL professionals;Advocate for meaningful policies to support the education of

ELLs in charter schools; and,Partially cover registration costs to national or statewide

conferences on ELLs.

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Types of Programming Content based ESL

Generally taught by an ESL teacher Focus on English language development, academic content and vocabulary

Transitional Bilingual Generally taught by a bilingual teacher Students receive native language support and transition into “mainstream” classes after approximately 3

years Dual Language

Generally taught by a bilingual and/or ESL teacher Students receive 50% of instruction in English and 50% in another language (native language) Goal is for students to be fully bilingual and biliterate

Sheltered Instruction Generally taught by content and ESL teachers ESL methodology is incorporated into all content taught

Newcomer Program Generally taught by ESL teachers Generally for adolescents Students receive intensive English and literacy instruction and transition into “mainstream” classes after 1-

3 semesters

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Washington State Programs

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Best Practices: Programming

• Schedule ELLs and SWDs first (“big rocks”)– Students should not be pulled out during core

subjects• Content based• Inclusion

– Avoid unnecessary segregation of ELLs– Beware: ESL teachers are NOT aides

• Schedule co-planning time– ESL teachers are SLA experts and can align ELP

standards with CCLS

Best Practices: Instruction• Visual aids• Explicit modeling• Using the native language as a resource• Culturally responsive teaching• Many opportunities for peer interaction• Explicit academic vocabulary (tier 2 vocabulary)

instruction• Acoustic highlighting (vary pitch, emphasize words,

slower speech)• Music (songs, poems, chants, etc.)• Total physical response (TPR)

True or False?ELLs are students from homes where a language other than English is spoken.

In the United States, 15% of students in K-12 are considered ELLs.

Lau vs. Nichols is the 1974 Supreme Court case brought about by Latino families against the NYC school district.

Charter schools must demonstrate that they have a well-defined program to support academic success and ELD for ELLs.

Q&A

Contact Information

Angel Rodriguez The New York City Charter Schools’ English Language Learners Consortium

c/o Family Life Academy Charter School14 W. 170 Street, Bronx, NY 10452

(718) 410-8100 (O)arodriguez@flacsnyc.com

http://theellconsortium.wikispaces.com/

Melissa Katz, ELL SpecialistNew York City Charter School Center

111 Broadway, Suite 604New York, NY 10006

mkatz@nyccharterschools.orghttp://www.nyccharterschools.org/ells