Miami Prepares For Impact Of Common Core Standards On ELLs

Posted on October 8, 2012 by Katherine Leal Unmuth

School districts around the country are scrambling to phase in the Common Core State Standards. The consensus seems to be that more teacher training and professional development is needed, especially because the new standards are much more rigorous.

But are districts considering their English language learner population as they phase in the changes?

I recently wrote a piece about how the Miami-Dade Public Schools are trying to address how the changes will impact ELLs. The district held training about the common core and ELLs for 200 teachers in the English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) program over the summer. In addition, the school district has developed pacing guides for teachers that include notes on how lessons can be adapted for ELLs.

“We are modeling for the teachers how to make the instruction very explicit and very concrete,” said Beatriz Pereira, executive director of bilingual education and world languages at Miami-Dade. “The standards are extremely high.”

In Miami, the common core standards have been implemented in kindergarten through third grade. Miami-Dade has about 70,000 ELL students district wide.

Some teachers feel there needs to be more training on how to teach ELLs–not just for ESOL teachers, but also for core subject area teachers and teachers who are not solely dedicated to teaching ELLs.

“The common core standards for ELLs sound great,” said Gustavo Rivera, a history teacher at Miami Springs High School and member of the Hispanic Educators Committee of the United Teachers of Dade. “It’s all very nice until you get to the area of application. How do you apply them? That, to me, is the most worrisome.”

You should ask your local district about the training they are offering to teachers on the common core–and if any time is spent addressing how the standards impact ELLs. Is the school district putting time into addressing the group?

EWA hosted a conference last week about the impact of the common core on ELLs along with the University of California, Berkeley, and Stanford University’s ”Understanding Language” initiative. Click here to view videos from the seminar. To read tweets from the conference, look up the hashtag #ewaell.

- Understanding Language. Stanford University.

- Colorin Colorado

- Council of the Great City Schools.

High schools Embrace Latino-themed Organizations On Campus

Posted on October 2, 2012 by Katherine Leal Unmuth

High schools are beginning to recognize that clubs and organizations specifically targeted toward Latino youth are one way to increase student engagement.

The Winston Salem-Journal in North Carolina reports that Mount Tabor High School recently launched a Latino Achievers program geared at instilling students’ pride in their heritage and making them aware of educational opportunities. Last school year, the program served 800 Hispanic students in six area high schools.

The program brings successful Latino adults, including those in professions such as nursing and interpreting, on campus to speak with students. They also are provided other academic support.

A school counselor reached out to the local YMCA about the program, which helps operate the program with support from the United Way. The Latino Achievers program is administered in cities across the United States.

The students feel “someone cares about them and wants to invest in their future,” Mount Tabor counselor Corey Daniel told the newspaper. “We need them to care about their community, and we need their community to care about them.”

Similarly, in the Dallas suburb of Irving, Texas, students and teachers created the Latinos Stand Up organization for Hispanic families, providing opportunities for students such as college visits. The League of Latin American Citizens, or LULAC, also has a youth leadership program with local site chapters throughout the United States.

I have noticed that these organizations can draw criticism based on the fact that they target once specific ethnic group.

Are you seeing similar organizations form in your communities? Are the groups being met with any resistance or controversy?

Report: Less than 6 Percent of Illinois Pre-K Teachers Trained to Teach ELLs

Posted on September 25, 2012 by Katherine Leal Unmuth

A new study by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, found that very few pre-K teachers in Illinois have been trained to teach English language learners. The study also raised further concerns with its survey results, which found that few of those educators are interested in acquiring that training.

English language learners account for one-third of Hispanic schoolchildren in the state. About 20 percent of the Illinois kindergartners are ELLs–most of whom are Spanish-speaking.

The state has made a big push for expansion of bilingual education. By 2014, the state wants state-funded, school district-based, pre-k classes with 20 or more English learners to be led by a teacher certified in either bilingual instruction or English as a second language, in addition to being trained to work with pre-K students.

The UC-Berkeley researchers surveyed 354 preschool programs and 307 educators representing about 2,600 teachers. It encompassed programs serving nearly 65,000 students, 27 percent of whom are ELLs.

Their results show that the state’s goals have yet to match up with reality. Currently, in predominantly Latino communities, the ratio of English language learner students to trained bilingual teachers is 50 students per every one teacher.

Fewer than 6 percent of all pre-K teachers surveyed are currently are dually endorsed with bilingual/ESL and early childhood certifications, compared with about 9 percent of teachers in high-Latino communities. The researchers conclude that this disparity raises concerns about teacher quality.

In addition, the survey shows that about 45 percent of administrators see little need for teachers to have ESL training. In heavily Latino communities, about 42 percent of administrators saw a significant need for the training. In both cases, they were reluctant because of the costs associated and the time commitment that would be required.

“…Preschool itself isn’t a silver bullet,” Margaret Bridges, a senior researcher at UC-Berkeley’s Institute of Human Development, said in a press announcement about the study. “Quality matters. And as classrooms become more diverse, the cultural and linguistic competencies of teachers are very real factors in a child’s academic success.”

The study is part of the New Journalism on Latino Children project based at UC-Berkeley, and produced in partnership with the Illinois Early Learning Council and the Chicago-based Latino Policy Forum.

California Eyes Tracking Long-Term English Language Learners

Posted on September 19, 2012 by Katherine Leal Unmuth

A common misconception about English language learners is that they are new immigrants. In fact, many middle and high school students who carry the label have been attending American schools for years without reaching English proficiency. In some cases, they are even U.S.-born.

The academic struggles of these students raises plenty of questions, including this one: Why are they stuck in the system? But in order to find solutions, schools must first acknowledge that the problem exists, instead of insisting these limited English proficient students are newcomers. In Texas, I found that many school administrators adhered to the new immigrant theory. In some cases, as one bilingual education program director told me, they were just unaware of the reality in their own schools.

However, a growing number of researchers are addressing a population known as long-term English language learners. These students speak English, but have not picked up the academic skills necessary to be considered proficient.

Lesli Maxwell of Education Week reports that California may soon become the first state to truly acknowledge that they have a problem. The California Legislature approved requiring school districts to report annual data on the long-term students, in addition to identifying students at-risk of falling into the category. Gov. Jerry Brown will consider signing the bill on Sept. 28.

Because the state has such a large population, it could spur other states to take similar actions.

Part of this action was prompted by a two-year-old report, “Reparable Harm,” by the group Californians Together. The organization found that about 59 percent of ELLs in grades 6-12 had been enrolled in U.S. schools more than six years, had been at the same English proficiency level two or more years, and performed at low levels on the state’s English language arts exam.

Reporting requirements will inspire more efforts to close the gaps, said Laurie Olsen, the researcher who wrote “Reparable Harm.”

“That’s why the legislation is important, because right now what’s happening is haphazard, and it’s not of the quality and coherence we need in order to see real, systemic improvement,” she told Education Week.

The publication reports that the causes are a lack of academic language and students not being engaged in school. But school officials in Tracy, Calif., already are taking action. They created the Academic and Language Support Program, which offers an elective to long-term students in addition to their English classes focused on academic English.

For now, California is in the position of setting an example for the nation.

- “Study finds ELL students languising in Calif. Schools.” Education Week.

- “Reparable Harm: Fulfilling the unkept promise of educational opportunity for California’s Long Term English Learners.” Californians Together.

- Research Reports: Long-term ELLs. Colorin Colorado.

English Language Learners Struggle on NAEP Writing Exam

Posted on September 18, 2012 by Katherine Leal Unmuth

English language learners in the eighth and 12th grades scored significantly lower than English-proficient speakers on the latest results from the 2011 National Assessment of Educational Progress–known as the “Nation’s Report Card.”

Even proficient speakers struggled on the exam. Only about a quarter of all students taking the exam scored at or above the proficient level. The exams were scored out of a total possible score of 300.

- In the eighth grade, ELLs scored a 108, versus 152 for students who were not ELLs . Hispanic eighth-graders scored an average of 136 on the exam, while white students scored a 158. The average score for all students combined was a 150.

- In the twelfth grade, ELLs scored an average of 96, compared with a score of 152 for non-ELLs. Hispanic twelfth-graders scored an average of 134, compared with an average of 159 for white students. The average score of all students combined was a 150.

- In the eighth grade, about 1 percent of ELLs performed at or above the proficient level, compared with 14 percent of Hispanic students and 34 percent of white students.

- In the twelfth grade, 1 percent of ELLs performed at or above the proficient level, compared with 11 percent of Hispanic students and 35 percent of white students.

For the first time, students were able to take the exam on laptops that provided basic word processing functions. ELLs were less likely to use the thesaurus function than the English proficient students. Moreover, students who used the thesaurus tool scored higher on the writing tests than those who did not.

Related Links:

- NAEP: 2011 Writing Results.

- “The Nation’s Report Card Releases Results from an Innovative, Interactive Computer-Based Writing Assessment.” National Assessment Governing Board.

- “ELLs Trail Significantly on National Writing Exam.” Learning the Language. Education Week.

- “NAEP Shows Most Students Lack Writing Proficiency.” Education Week.

Latino Children Hurt by Chicago Teachers’ Strike

Posted on September 14, 2012 by Katherine Leal Unmuth

With her two daughters kept out of school because of the Chicago teachers strike, Patricia Rodriguez was left with no other option than to take them with her to her job at a local laundromat this week. The Chicago teachers’ strike affected nearly 180,000 Latino children enrolled in the school district, many from disadvantaged families, Fox News Latino reports.

“I’m lucky that I can take them to work with me because they can sit in the chairs, but I know that families had to leave kids home alone today or stay home and miss work to be with them and that’s not fair,” Rodriguez told Fox, of her 8- and 13-year old daughters. “The teachers want more and more money and while they fight for that, it’s us, the parents, that are spending money today that we don’t have either. It’s not a big thing today but what about tomorrow and next week if they don’t go back?”

The news outlet reported that both girls said they’d prefer being at class to hanging out at the laundromat.

Many education policy experts are lamenting the negative impact on the mostly low-income Latino and black families missing out on school. Every day counts for such children.

Matthew Chingos of the Brookings Institution wrote that poor students couldn’t afford to miss class. He noted that research has shown that teacher absenteeism–leaving students with substitute teachers– has a negative impact on academic performance. Being out of the school during the summer can also put students behind.

“In other words, the consequence of being out of school is to increase the already unacceptable large achievement gap between low-income students and their affluent peers,” writes Chingos.

The Education Trust also released a statement from Vice President Amy Wilkins calling the effect on the district’s poor, mostly Latino and black students, “tragic.”

“This strike needs to end now,” she wrote. “And the agreement that ends it needs to be one that creates conditions to boost Chicago’s dismal achievement, particularly among its low-income students.”

An article in The Huffington Post noted that the strike could prompt more Latino families to consider enrolling their children in charter schools, which are still open during the strike.

However, up until this point not as many Hispanics have chosen charter schools, said Juan Rangel, the CEO of the United Neighborhood Organization. UNO runs a group of charter schools in Illinois, and serves more than half of Latino children attending Illinois charters. Many are English language learners.

“”I think part of the problem is charters across the country have not been able to attract a lot of Hispanic students and English language learners,” Rangel said.

- “Charter School Options for Latinos Gain Attention Due to Chicago Teachers’ Strike.” The Huffington Post.

- “In Chicago, Latino students and families brace for teachers’ strike.” NBC Latino.

NCLR Spotlights Four Pre-K Programs Successful With Latino Children

Posted on August 27, 2012 by Katherine Leal Unmuth

The National Council of La Raza has released a new report listing best practices for use by early education programs seeking to improve their services for Hispanic children and English language learners.

The civil rights group profiled four programs from around the country that are making progress and made policy recommendations for replicating those models elsewhere. According to NCLR, the programs highlighted exemplify the key areas of professional development, student assessments, language instruction and family engagement:

Youth Development, Inc., of New Mexico. The program provides Head Start to 1,600 children, of whom about 76 percent are Latino. The organization’s professional development goes beyond federal training requirements by providing ongoing lessons throughout the year on topics such as dual-language instruction. Community college professors also lead sessions. Other supports include mentor-coaches who develop goals with beginning teachers and observe classroom instruction.
The Latin American Montessori Bilingual Public Charter School in Washington, D.C. The LAMB charter school offers dual-language classes from pre-K through fifth grade. The school has three ways of assessing children: only in their home language; in a language that the children are proficient in, even if it isn’t the home language; or both languages the children know. The school uses formal assessments such as DIBELS and informal assessments including student portfolios and weekly plans.
East Coast Migrant and Seasonal Head Start Program in southern Florida. This program with 60 sites serves primarily Mexican migrant farm worker families and focuses on providing dual-language instruction. The group developed a curriculum for toddlers and pre-K students that gradually increases the amount of English used. Learning benchmarks are used, classrooms are labeled in both English and Spanish, and home visits are conducted.
The Concilio in Dallas. This group formed in 1981 works closely with the Dallas Independent School District to increase Hispanic parent involvement . The organization operates the Parents Advocating for Student Excellence program at 29 schools and four prekindergarten sites in the district. Past graduates of PASE recruit parents of preschool students to attend a series of 30 meetings during the school year focused around lessons and activities. Parents who participate must complete homework assignments tied to the sessions.

- “Best Practices in Assessments.” NCLR.

- “Best Practices in Language Instruction.” NCLR.

- “Best Practices in Family Engagement.” NCLR.

- “Expanding early education for Latino children imperative, group says.” Early Years blog, Education Week.

SPLC Files Civil Rights Complaint Against Louisiana District

Posted on August 23, 2012 by Katherine Leal Unmuth

With Latino populations burgeoning in the South, the Southern Poverty Law Center has started filing complaints against school districts alleging discrimination against Latinos and Spanish-speaking families. The most recent action came this week, when the civil rights organization filed a federal complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Department of Education against the school system in Jefferson Parish, La. The complaint alleges that the district has not provided interpreters for Spanish-speaking parents. It is similar to complaints previously filed against the Wake County Public Schools and Durham Public Schools in North Carolina.

The issue is critical because Latinos have only recently become a growing population in the South, and school districts are dealing with new challenges as a result. For example, Latino students make up about 17 percent of the students in the Jefferson Parish school district, and limited English proficient students are about eight percent of the enrollment. In its complaint, the organization described how a 7-year-old boy in the Louisiana district had to interpret for his mother at a parent-teacher conference, but was ill-equipped to do so. The mother, who has two other children, no longer attends conferences or open houses because the district doesn’t make Spanish services available.

“Jefferson Parish public schools must end these discriminatory practices and recognize that these students have the same rights as English-speaking families,” said Jennifer Coco, a staff attorney for the SPLC’s Louisiana office, in a SPLC news release. “This is about ensuring every student in the district has an opportunity to succeed and that all parents have a meaningful opportunity to participate in their child’s education.”

The official complaint is on behalf of 16 Latino families, and also says that employees harass children about their citizenship status. The organization describes how a high school graduate was told she needed a social security number in order to graduate. Another student alleges a teacher called him a “wetback” during classes, but the employee was never disciplined.

District officials told the The Times-Picayune that they make English language learners a top priority and the population’s academic performance is improving. ”JPPSS is committed to providing support for all parents with (limited English proficiency) regardless of their primary language,” school system spokeswoman Monica Pierre told the newspaper. Pierre added that policy manuals in Spanish are available to parents.

The SPLC has filed two other complaints this year against the school district for discriminatory actions against black students.

The Civil Rights Act requires that districts provide parents information that they can understand in their language. That information can include written and verbal information about discipline, special education services, events and conferences. They also want more bilingual parent liaisons.

The SPLC also is noted for tracking hate groups across the United States, many of which discriminate against Latinos. It also takes on immigrant justice issues, many of which arise in the South. The growth of Hispanic immigrants in the region has sparked tensions, leading to the passage of laws regarding immigration status in Alabama and Georgia. Courts recently blocked parts of the laws in both states. The Justice Department also recently announced a new civil rights unit will open in Alabama that will address issues including immigrant rights.

- “Jefferson Parish school system subject of third civil rights complaint this year.” The Times-Picayune.

- “Louisiana schools accused of discrimination, complaint says.” Fox News Latino.

Illinois Law Boosts Bilingual Education Programs

Posted on August 10, 2012 by Katherine Leal Unmuth

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn signed a law on Thursday that aims to strengthen the state’s bilingual education programs by ordering a report on their effectiveness and by creating ways to increase parent involvement.

The law, House Bill 3819, was sponsored by state representative Linda Chapa LaVia and state senator Iris Martinez. ”Parents of non-English speaking students want–and need–to feel a greater stake in navigating their child’s education,” Rep. Chapa LaVia said at the ceremony, reported Fox News Latino. “This new law opens the door to such innovations as ‘parent academies’ to accomplish that.”

The law supports the creation of parent academies for parents of bilingual students that will be held in Spanish. These programs are intended to help immigrant parents navigate the school system. The academies will focus on teaching parents about topics including understanding standardized tests, encouraging reading at home, promoting homework completion, building character and encouraging a relationship with their child’s teachers.

It also requires that bilingual programs’ success rates be evaluated by the Illinois Advisory Council on Bilingual Education and that the findings be delivered in a report to the state superintendent by January 2013. The report will evaluate whether bilingual programs should be modified to increase student success and boost parent involvement. It also asks the council to address how bilingual parent advisory committees at the school district level can be used to increase parent input on the programs’ effectiveness.

Fox reported that Illinois State Board of Education figures show that in 2010, about 183,000 students did not speak English as their first language. They made up almost 10 percent of all students. About 80 percent of the students were Spanish-speaking.

Governor Quinn added that the law “will keep Illinois on the cutting edge of bilingual education programs to ensure that every student is ready for the workforce,” reported Fox.

- “New Illinois law to evaluate bilingual education.” AP.

- “Illinois law strengthens bilingual education.” WREX.

- House Bill 3819.

- Illinois Advisory Council on Bilingual Education.

New York to Award Special Recognition to Bilingual High School Graduates

Posted on August 2, 2012 by Katherine Leal Unmuth

New York state will begin awarding a state seal of biliteracy to high school graduates who demonstrate that they are proficient in two or more languages. The state follows California, which in January became the first state in the country to award a similar seal.

Students must demonstrate they are proficient in listening, speaking, reading and writing another language.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that he had signed a bill into law this week enacting the new seal. It will be attached to diplomas and high school transcripts and will go into effect on September 1. ”Giving the proper credentials for those students who are proficient in English and a second language will be instantly recognizable as an achievement of language proficiency for both colleges and employers,” bill co-sponsor State Senator Joseph Robach said in a press release.

California recently awarded its first seals to the graduating Class of 2012 and more than 10,000 students earned the distinction. The Press-Enterprise newspaper in California reported that many students and school administrators hope the seal will help their odds of finding work. ”We feel it strengthens students’ ability to work in our community and in other communities where there’s a bilingual population,” San Bernardino schools spokeswoman Linda Bardere told the newspaper.

According to the California Department of Education, about 70 percent of the students earning seals showed Spanish proficiency. To earn a California seal in a second language, students must meet certain criteria. Graduates must have a “C” average in their English language arts classes and show English proficiency on the eleventh grade California Standards Test.

In addition, they must also demonstrate proficiency in the other language by earning a three or higher on an Advanced Placement exam, passing an International Baccalaureate exam with a four or higher, or taking four years of foreign language courses in high school and earning a “B” average or higher.

- “Governor Cuomo signs bill to recognize high school graduates who demonstrate proficiency in multiple languages.” Press Release.

- “New State celebrates ‘biliterate’ students.” The Press-Enterprise.

- “State Schools Chief Tom Torlakson announces more than 10,000 students earn new state seal of biliteracy.” California Department of Education.

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