Curricular Investigation

#2By: Kristyn Reisert, Nina Gilkes,

Peggy Zeng, Madeline Combs

WHY is it important to identify ELLs in a school?

HOW are ELLs identified?… Federal Law states: “School districts and charter schools must have a system to determine the language(s) spoken in each students home and to objectively identify students who need language support services due to their limited proficiency in speaking, reading, writing, or understanding English.” http://ecs.force.com/mbdata/mbquestNB2?rep=ELL1403

Each state within the United States describes its own way of identifying ELLs. Within each state, each school district uses their own variation of the state’s requirements.

In the following slides, you will read about:

1. Best practices of identifying ELLs, as stated by Debbie Zacarian in Colorín Colorado

2. NYS Process for identifying ELLs

3. School District (P.S.197 Brooklyn) process for identifying ELLs (and samples)

Kristyn Reisert

What steps are needed for effectively identifying ELLs?According to Debbie Zacarian: http://www.colorincolorado.org/article/ell-identification-information-administrators Step 1. Home Language Questionnaire/ Survey· given to ALL students at initial registration· used to determine who may require testing for ENL services· includes questions about child’s language use with family

members and prior schooling· if any part of the HLQ suggests a language other than English is used at home, student is required to be assessed for ENL services by law

Kristyn Reisert

What steps are needed for effectively identifying ELLs?According to Debbie Zacarian: http://www.colorincolorado.org/article/ell-identification-information-administratorsStep 2. Identification Testing: Determines student ability to speak, listen, read and write in English.

This assessment is used for:· Identifying a student's need for ENL services· Establishing an ELL's English proficiency level· Determining the number of ELLs in a district and their English language and learning needsThere are a variety of assessments used for identification. In NYS, we use the NYSITELL.

Kristyn Reisert

What steps are needed for effectively identifying ELLs?According to Debbie Zacarian: http://www.colorincolorado.org/article/ell-identification-information-administratorsStep 3. Assessment in Primary Language· Determines student’s proficiency in L1 (first language).

Can student read and write or only speak and listen?· Helps in planning and implementation of bilingual/ Dual Language

program.

Kristyn Reisert

How does NYS identify ELLs?How do our school districts identify ELLs?

We looked at the NYS process and our own school districts to find out how ELLs are identified and what criteria is used to classify an ELL...

Kristyn Reisert

http://www.p12.nysed.gov/biling/docs/ELLIDChartGuidance7.1.15.pdfReferences

HOW ARE ELLs IDENTIFIED?

Initial ELL Identification Assessment

References http://www.p12.nysed.gov/biling/docs/ELLIDChartGuidance7.1.15.pdf

http://www.p12.nysed.gov/biling/docs/ELLIDChartGuidance7.1.15.pdfReferences

References http://www.p12.nysed.gov/biling/docs/ELLIDChartGuidance7.1.15.pdf

References http://www.p12.nysed.gov/biling/docs/ELLIDChartGuidance7.1.15.pdf

http://www.p12.nysed.gov/biling/docs/ELLIDChartGuidance7.1.15.pdfReferences

Criteria our DISTRICT uses to classify a student as a potential ELL student:(P.S. 197)1.Home language survey

2.Interview between the student and the ESL teacher

3.New York State Identification Test for English Language Learners (NYSITELL)

Peggy Zeng

Home Language Survey● If 1 or more of the answers

for questions 1-4 AND 2 or more answers for questions 5-8 is another language other than English then the student is considered to be an ELL student.

● If parent states that English is the primary language, then the student is not considered an ELL.

● However the ESL teacher can still do an interview to decide whether the student classifies as an ELL.

Peggy Zeng

Home Language Survey Samples:

Madeline Combs

Home Language Survey Samples (cont):

Madeline Combs

INTERVIEW with ESL teacher● ESL teacher meets with the student and has an interview with the student.

- Questions are usually asked in order to elicit a response from the student, such as what is your favorite shape?, how old are you?, or what is your favorite thing to do in school?, etc…

- If student is unable to answer the questions during this interview, then they will move onto the final step in ELL identification.

- If student answers clearly, fluently and with understanding to the question, then the student will not be considered an ELL.

* This step in the ELL identification can be subjective. There is no one set of questions or correct answer, results are based on ESL teachers discrepancy whether student will continue to the final step in identification.

Peggy Zeng

NEW YORK STATE IDENTIFICATION TEST FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS (nysitell)The NYSITELL is administered based on different 8 levels and timeframes. These levels correlate to what the student is expected to know at their current grade and timeframe.

Level I students are tested on 2 modalities:

- Listening

- Speaking

Level II to VIII students are tested on 4 modalities:

- Listening

- Reading

- Writing

- Speaking

**** Each level and timeframe may have different raw scores due to the amount of questions that differ at each level and timeframe.

Peggy Zeng

NEW YORK STATE IDENTIFICATION TEST FOR eNGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS (nysitell)

● These were the ranges of raw scores needed at each proficiency level for the 2015 NYSITELL.

● Each total raw score is calculated by the 4 modalities tested, besides level I which was calculated on the 2 modalities tested.

● You can find more information on the NYSITELL at http://www.p12.nysed.gov/assessment/nysitell/nysitellguiderevw.pdf

Peggy Zeng

Discussion Questions:- If you were in charge of making the Identification Assessment for ELLs in your school, what would you include in the exam? What would you be mindful of? How would the exam be scored?For more info see: https://www.ets.org/s/about/pdf/ell_guidelines.pdf

- What kind of information do you think you would learn about a student through an assessment in their primary language? What are the pros and cons of this assessment?

- Are there any ways you think parents of ELLs can get more involved in the process of evaluation past the Home Language Survey?

- Do you think that modifications should be made to the process of ELL identification and evaluation based on each individual case because of culture and traditions?

Madeline Combs