Adolescent Literacy: Addressing the Needs of English-Language Learners

Diane AugustCenter for Applied Linguistics

Demographic Information In the 2002-2003 school year, about

11% of K-12 students were identified as limited English proficient.

Adolescent English-language learners comprised 6.4% of the student population in secondary schools and the proportion is expected to grow.

Between 1992-1993 and 2002-2003, the total K-12 enrollment grew by 11%; the ELL enrollment grew by 85%.

Demographic Information English-language learners in the United States

are overwhelmingly from low SES backgrounds.

In 2000, 60% of ELLs in grades 6 to 12 were poor. These rates were nearly twice as high as the rates for English proficient students in comparable grades.

SES dramatically influences the rate of English acquisition-- with poorer children taking much longer to acquire these skills (2-5 years for oral proficiency and 4-7 years for academic English).

Demographic Information There are many more native-born limited

English proficient adolescents than foreign born limited English proficient students. 57% of all LEP adolescents are US-born

children, second or third generation. This suggests that these students are not

being educated very well. Also suggest that need for differentiated

programming for this population.

Demographic Information There is a serious disparity between the

distribution of resources and the distribution of language-minority students. Higher proportion of foreign-born

immigrants are found in secondary schools than in elementary schools.

Spending on language programs is concentrated at the elementary school level.

Importance of Tailoring Interventions to this Population Findings from the National Literacy indicate

teaching specific reading and writing elements can be beneficial to second-language learners.

However, the effects observed in these studies were smaller than those found by the comparable National Reading Panel studies, and this was particularly true for reading comprehension.

The smaller effect sizes, particularly for reading comprehension, suggest the potential importance of building greater knowledge of oral English simultaneously with literacy. It also suggests the need for modifications to ‘mainstream’ literacy practices for this population of students.

Effective Teacher Training

Important to prepare content area teachers to teach second-language learners Provide an endorsement or

coursework related to teaching ELLs Important that English-as-a-second

language teachers have content area knowledge

Effective Professional Development

SIOPP Model Teachers present curricular content

concepts aligned to state standards through strategies and techniques that make academic content comprehensible to students. While doing so, teachers develop students’ academic English language skills across the four domains--reading, writing, listening, and speaking.

Effective Professional Development Quality Teaching for English-

language learners (grades 8-12) Work with both teachers and

professional developers Professional development for

teachers Participation/observation Implement with mentoring/coaching Implement with consultation

Professional Development

Title III National Professional Development Program Next completion: Spring 2007 Estimates $35 million Five year grants Grants to IHEs (with LEAs, SEAs) Improve professional qualifications of

teachers

Effective Instruction Value of native language instruction

Meta-analysis of all acceptable studies that compared English-only instruction with instruction that used some native language

15 acceptable studies that generated 71 effect sizes across 26 samples

Bilingual education has a statistically significant positive effect on reading in English.

Effective Instructional Programs

Bilingual and Dual Language Programs

Newcomer Programs Using content area curriculum to

teach content knowledge and language and literacy Current Work of the National Center

Effective Assessment Practices For Accountability Purposes

Ensure students can take accommodated assessments for 3-5 years, including assessments administered in students’ first language

For Instructional Purposes Align assessment with high standards

and use assessments on an ongoing basis to improve achievement

National Literacy Panel of Language Minority Students and Youth

Develop an objective research review methodology

Search the research literature on the development of literacy for English language learners

Analyze the research literature Develop a final report with

recommendations for research

National Literacy Panel of Language Minority Students and Youth

Funding Institute of Education Sciences With some additional support

fromNational Institute for Child

Health and DevelopmentOffice of English Language

Acquisition

National Literacy Panel on Language Minority Children and Youth

Panelists Diane August, Principal

Investigator Timothy Shanahan, Chair Fred Genesee Esther Geva Michael Kamil Isabelle Beck Linda Siegel Keiko Koda David Francis

Claude Goldenberg Robert Rueda Margarita Calderon Gail McKoon Georgia Garcia

Senior Research Associates

Cheryl Dressler Nonie LeSaux

Senior Advisors Donna Christian Catherine Snow Frederick Erickson

National Research and Development Center on English-language Learners

Focus on adolescent literacy Collaboration among institutions

University of Houston Center for Applied Linguistics University of Texas, Austin Harvard Cal State Long Beach

National Clearinghouse on English Language Acquisition http://www.ncela.gwu.edu/ NCELA collects, analyzes, synthesizes and

disseminates information about language instruction educational programs for English language learners and related programs. It is funded by the U.S. Department of Education's Office of English Language Acquisition, Language Enhancement & Academic Achievement for Limited English Proficient Students (OELA) under Title III of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001