Common Core, ELLs, and the Changing Role of ESL Educators

John Segota, CAEAssociate Executive Director for Public Policy & Professional Relations

TESOL International Association

2015 NCTE Conference

Overview

• CCSS/NGSS and English Language Proficiency

• Impact of Paradigm Shift• The Role of the ESL Educator• New Roles in the New Paradigm• Key Challenges for ESL Educators• Redefining Preparation


• Approximately 13,000 members in over 150 countries

• 100+ affiliates worldwide


Resources

Prof. Devel.

StandardsAdvocacy

Research

Next Generation of Standards & Assessments

College- & Career-Ready Standards• CCSS• NGSS• State

standards

CCRS Assessments• PARCC• Smarter

Balanced• State

assessments

English Language Proficiency Standards• WIDA• State

standards

ELP Assessments• ACCESS• ELPA 21• State

assessments

Major Instructional Shifts

ELA Math Science• Regular practice with complex

text and its vocabulary

• Building knowledge through content-rich informational texts

• Emphasis on reading, writing, and speaking that is grounded in evidence from the text

• Provide opportunities for student access to the different mathematical (discourse) practices described in the CCSS

• Support mathematical discussions and use a variety of participation structures

• Focus on students’mathematical reasoning, NOT on students’ flawed or developing language

• Developing and using models

• Constructing explanations (for science) and developing solutions (for engineering)

• Engaging in argument from evidence

• Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information

Stanford, University. April 19, 2012. Language, Literacy and the Common Core.

ELP Standards

Define:– Expected progressions of English language

acquisition

– Elements, forms, or functions of language to be developed

– Levels of accuracy, complexity, or fluency to be attained

Valdes, Kibler, & Walqui, 2014

ELP Standards

Establish for parents, policy makers, school administrators, and practitioners:

– Ways that English learners are assumed to grow in their use of English over time

– Language abilities to be expected at different levels of development

– Aspects of language that will need to be measured in determining progress


WIDA English Language Development Standards

Standard 1 English language learners communicate for Social and Instructional purposes within the school setting

Standard 2English language learners communicate information, ideas and concepts necessary for academic success in the content area of Language Arts

©WIDA 2012

WIDA English Language Development Standards

Level 1

•Entering

Level 2

•Emerging

Level 3

•Developing

Level 4

•Expanding

Level 5

•Bridging

Level 6

•Reaching

Levels of Language Proficiency

©WIDA 2012

Standards and Assessments for ELLs

Content Standards (CCSS

and NGSS)ELP Standards

ELP Assessments & ELP Test Items

National Content-Area Assessments

& Test Items


Old Paradigm

Content Language

Mos

tly v

ocab

ular

y,G

ram

mar


New Paradigm

DiscourseText (complex text)

ExplanationArgumentation

PurposeTypical structure of text

Sentence structuresVocabularyPractices

Cont

ent

Language


New Paradigm

Two Key Challenges for ESL Educators

1. Language practices required by the new standards

2. Inclusion of ELLs in new standards-aligned instruction


Language practices requiredby CCSS/NGSS

Disciplinary Practices

disciplinary practices related to conceptual

understanding

disciplinary practices related to analytical

tasks

disciplinary language practices


Disciplinary Practices in Math & Science

CCSS Key Standards for Mathematical Practice

NGSS Scientific and Engineering Practices

1. Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them.

2. Reason abstractly and quantitatively

3. Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others

4. Model with mathematics

5. Use appropriate tools strategically

6. Attend to precision

7. Look for and make use of structure

8. Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning.

1. Ask questions (for science and defining problems (for engineering)

2. Develop and use models

3. Plan and carry out investigations

4. Analyze and interpret data

5. Use mathematics and computational thinking

6. Construct explanations (for science) and design solutions (for engineering)

7. Engage in argument from evidence

8. Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information


Disciplinary Practices in CCSS - ELA

CCSS Key Practices for ELA1. Support analyses of a range of grade-level complex

texts with evidence2. Produce clear and coherent writing in which the

development, organization, and style are appropriate to task purpose, and audience

3. Construct valid arguments from evidence and critique the reasoning of others

4. Build and present knowledge through research by integrating, comparing, and synthesizing ideas from texts

5. Build upon the ideas of others and articulate their own when working collaboratively

6. Use English structure to communicate context-specific messages

Council of Chief State School Officers, 2013

Sample Embedded Analytical Tasks

Key CCSS ELA Practice 1: Support analyses of a range of grade level complex texts with evidence

– Render an understanding of what has been read through assembling details and ideas

– Use evidence to make inferences beyond what is explicitly stated

– Extract evidence from a variety of text structures

– Build both vocabulary and content knowledge through comprehension of texts

Sample Embedded Receptive Language PracticesKey CCSS ELA Practice 1: Support analyses of a range of grade level complex texts with evidence

– Comprehend text being read aloud or silently– Comprehend talk about the meaning of a text

being read aloud or silently– Comprehend oral and written classroom

discourse about investigating text for details as well as assembling those details both orally and in writing

Sample Embedded Productive Language PracticesKey CCSS ELA Practice 1: Support analyses of a range of grade level complex texts with evidence

Communicate orally and in writing ideas, concepts, and information related to the reading of complex literacy and informational texts and evidence-supported analysis, including:

• Identifying evidence within a text• Explaining the meaning of particular details• Explaining the meaning of the text as a whole• Creating written and oral analyses of on-level text• Presenting and explaining evidence to others• Answering questions by providing details from textual analysis

Success for ELLs

Content Development Language Development

Content Area Teacher

• Subject area knowledge & expertise

• Academic objective writing skills

ESL Teacher

• Language development knowledge & expertise

• Language objective writing skills

Inclusion of ELLs in NewStandards-Aligned Instruction

• How much (and what kind) of language do students need to be placed in an inclusive Standards-based classroom environment?

• What criteria should be used to make such decisions?

• What should classrooms look like?

• What curricula can best facilitate linguistic and intellectual/academic development?


Implementation of CCSS: Systemic Approach

The triangle of interaction: Critical components for effective EL educationStaehr Fenner and Segota, 2012

2013 Convening Questions

1. What are ESL educators’ current roles in implementing the CCSS for ELs?

2. What should ESL educators’ roles be to ensure that ELLs achieve with the CCSS?

3. What are the most promising strategies to support ESL educators as they teach the CCSS?

TESOL Findings

Most ESL Educators– Understand the importance of academic

language

– Are experts in language development

– Are impacted by lack of recognition and uniformity in the TESOL field

TESOL Findings

Most ESL Educators– Work with content area teachers in an

open-ended way– Maintain various roles and status in

schools– Have no clear role in the school’s CCSS

implementation

New Roles in the New Paradigm

• ESL Educators– Experts– Advocates– Consultants

• Principals and Administrators– Supporters– Buffers– Pedagogical leaders

New Roles for ESL Educators

• Co-teaching or closer collaboration with content-area teachers

• Professional development providers for content-area teachers

• Developing push-in models in which ESL teachers are in the classroom with content-area teachers

Maxwell, 2013

Redefining Preparation

Teacher preparation must be re-conceptualized for the new paradigm so that ESL educators are able to:

– Understand how and why language is used in various disciplines

– Create opportunities for learners to engage in language-rich disciplinary Practices in both ESL and content-area classroom settings

– Engage in effective collaboration with other educators (and vice-versa)


Advancing Professional Expertise

ESL educators must– Be conscious of the theories that underline

practices, and re-examine both to arrive at a richer and more thorough understanding of possibilities, opportunities, and challenges

– Address what pedagogical scaffolding needs to be provided for students so that they can participate in practices that are beyond their current levels of development


2015 Convening Findings

What is happening now?• Greater shift towards more collaboration and

co-teaching

• ESL educators asked to provide more professional development for their peers

• In some cases, more support happening at district levels

• ESL educators not necessarily included in planning teams

2015 Convening Findings

Pre-service programs need to prepare ESL educators for new role and context

– New demands of college- and career-ready standards

– Support and preparation for effective collaboration

– Peer-teaching techniques– Field experience– Leadership development

What’s next?

• What’s needed in teacher education and preparation?

– Revision of TESOL P-12 ProfessionalTeaching Standards

• What tools and resources are needed for ESL educators in this new paradigm?

• What else?

More information

http://www.tesol.org/CommonCore

John Segota, [email protected]

Twitter: @JohnSegota

SlideShare.net

http://www.tesol.org/CommonCore

mailto:[email protected]

Education

Common Core, ELLs, and the Changing Role of ESL Educators