Teachers who work with English as a Second Language learners will find ESL/ESOL/ELL/EFL reading/writing skill-building children's books, stories, activities, ideas, strategies to help PreK-3, 4-8, and 9-12 students learn to read.
Rights, Students
Are California's Reading Textbooks Adequate for Teaching English Learners?
by University of California's Linguistic Minority Research Institute / Robert Calfee
Calfee, R. (2006). Are California's Reading Textbooks Adequate for Teaching English Learners? University of California Linguistic Minority Research Institute: Santa Barbara, CA.
Topics Covered:
Access, Equity, and Adequacy;
Tags:
Bilingual Instruction;
Comprehension;
Curriculum;
Differentiated Instruction;
Fluency;
Instructional Programs;
Rights, Students;
Struggling Readers;
Transfer of Literacy Skills;
Vocabulary;
Writing;
Target Population: Elementary School
Research Questions the Report Poses: Are California's Reading Textbooks Adequate for Teaching English Learners?
Summary: In 2002, the California State Board of Education adopted programs that required publishers to meet the language arts needs of ELLs. This article is a review of the ELL supplement, the Teacher's Edition for the supplement, and two of the reading series included with the supplement. It also surveys 57 elementary school teachers on their experiences with the materials and the related professional development.
Findings:
- The materials offered little specific ELL assistance to students of teachers, and what was offered was contrary to best practice.
- The professional development for ELL instruction was limited in both time and scope.
- The "supplement strategy" mandated by the Board was practically unworkable.
Policy Recommendations:
- Design an instructional support system that helps teachers deal with student diversity
- Directly address the issues of effective instruction for ELL students
- Advise how to manage student differences and time allocation
- Develop a program of ongoing professional development
Descriptive Study of Services to LEP Students and LEP Students with Disabilities
U.S. Department of Education. (2002). To assure the free appropriate public education of all children with disabilities: Twenty-fourth annual report to Congress on the implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Act. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Education.
Zehler, A. M., Fleischman, H. L., Hopstock, P. J., Pendzick, M. L., & Stephenson, T. G. (2003). Descriptive study of services to LEP students and LEP students with disabilities (No. 4 Special topic report: findings on special education LEP students). Development Associates, Inc.: Arlington, VA.
Topics Covered:
Assessment and Accommodations;
Learning Disabilities and Special Education;
Tags:
Instructional Programs;
Intervention;
Placement;
Rights, Students;
Summary:
The number of ELL students in U.S. schools continues to rise, but learning a new language may not be their only challenge. How do schools help ELLs with disabilities?
The U.S. Department of Education commissioned a report — A Descriptive Study of Services to LEP [Limited English Proficient] Students and LEP Students with Disabilities — that surveyed schools and districts nationally to identify characteristics of and services provided to ELLs. Part of the study focused on the services offered to ELLs who are also students with disabilities and their participation in standards and assessment systems.
English Language Learners with Disabilities: Identification and Other State Policies and Issues
by National Association of State Directors of Special Education
Keller-Allen, C. (2006). English Language Learners with Disabilities: Identification and Other State Policies and Issues. Project Forum, National Association of State Directors of Special Education: Alexandria, VA.
Topics Covered:
Assessment and Accommodations;
NCLB and AYP;
Tags:
Bilingual Instruction;
Language Proficiency;
Rights, Students;
Target Population: Elementary, Middle, High School
Research Questions the Report Poses: What are the current state policies and practices related to ELLs with disabilities?
Summary:
Most school districts do not have plans in place for identifying and addressing learning disabilities in ELLs. Project Forum selected and studied seven states with large or growing ELL populations. They interviewed both special education and English language learner staff to find out what policies and practices are happening at the state level and what policies they would recommend to improve the quality of education for ELLs with learning disabilities.
Findings:
State-level personnel reported that they:
- Lacked qualified personnel trained in ELL or bilingual education to manage state-wide ELL needs;
- Lacked appropriate assessment instruments in languages other than English;
- Cultural barriers in communicating with ELL parents; and
- Sustaining collaboration between bilingual education and special education personnel
Policy Recommendations:
- Local accountability - Local planning areas that submit special education program plans to the state should be required to detail their process for the referral, identification, assessment and service delivery to ELLs with disabilities.
- Clear policies and guidance - States should create a comprehensive policy for ELLs with exceptionalities (including gifted education) based on current research followed by extensive guidance to localities.
- Teacher training and licensure - States should facilitate and/or require all teachers to be trained to some extent in ESL strategies and language acquisition. Further, policies should be in place that require any teacher who serves at least one ELL to be trained in the appropriate ESL or bilingual education strategies necessary in order to meet the language development as well as academic needs of the students.
- Coordinated policies between special education and ELL professionals - States should consider developing policies that require and set parameters for communication and collaboration between ELL and special education professionals at the point of entry to and exit from special education as well as during the monitoring process while ELLs are being served in special education.
- Download full report (64KB PDF)*
To order a hard copy of the report, contact:
Nancy Tucker at NASDSE, 1800 Diagonal Road, Suite 320, Alexandria, VA 22314 Ph: 703-519-3800 ext. 326 or Email: nancy.tucker@nasdse.org
How Far Behind in Math and Reading are English Language Learners?
by Pew Hispanic Center / Rick Fry
Fry, R. (2007). How Far Behind in Math and Reading are English Language Learners? Pew Hispanic Center: Washington, D.C.
Topics Covered:
Data (Demographics, Facts, and Figures);
Tags:
Content Areas: Math;
Language of Instruction;
Language Proficiency;
Latino ELL Students;
Rights, Students;
Transfer of Literacy Skills;
Vocabulary;
Writing;
Target Population: Elementary, Middle, High School
Research Questions the Report Poses: How Far Behind in Math and Reading are English Language Learners?
Summary: Through the use of NAEP data, this study seeks to examine the achievement gaps between ELL students and White, Black, and Hispanic non-ELL students. This study looks specifically at math and reading scores at the 4th and 8th grade levels both nationally and on a statewide basis in the states with the top 10 ELL populations.
Findings:
- The ELL achievement gap widens at higher grades.
- Nationally, ELL students tend to trail further behind their peers in reading than in math.
Policy Recommendations:
None given
To order a hard copy of the report, contact:
n/a
Perceptions of College Financial Aid Among California Latino Youth
by The Tomas Rivera Policy Institute / Maria Estela Zarate and Harry P. Pachon
Zarate, E.Z., and Pachon, H.P. (2006). Perceptions of College Financial Aid Among California Latino Youth. Tomas Rivera Policy Institute: Los Angeles, CA.
Topics Covered:
Higher Education and Careers;
Tags:
Latino ELL Students;
Rights, Parents;
Rights, Students;
Target Population: Post-Secondary
Research Questions the Report Poses: Are Hispanic students well-informed about their financial aid options for higher education? How does knowledge about financial aid affect Hispanic students' choices to pursue higher education?
Summary: Despite surveys and research showing that Hispanic parents and students alike both consider college to be both important and valuable, many Hispanic students do not pursue higher education. This report makes the assertion that if Hispanic students and their parents were better informed about the concepts involved with and procedure surrounding financial aid that more Hispanic students would pursue college.
Findings:
- 98% of respondents in the survey said that they felt it was important to have a college education
- 38% of respondents did not feel the benefits of college outweigh the costs
- Not being able to work and incurring debt were the opportunity costs associated with going to college
- The opportunity costs associated with going to college were not being able to work and incurring debt
- More than 50% of the respondents incorrectly thought students have to be U.S. citizens to apply for college financial aid
- Few respondents could accurately estimate the cost of attending either the University of California or California State University
- Overall, respondents demonstrated a lack of familiarity with government grants for education
Policy Recommendations:
- Students need to be better informed about the "less tangible, but real, social status differences that exist between the college-educated and the non-college educated" so that they feel that the opportunity costs of attending college are worth paying
- Because of misperceptions about how much college actually costs, Latino students may continue to be underrepresented on college campuses. To this end, perceptions must be corrected by presenting students with information about the realistic costs of attending college.
- Latino students need to be better informed about Cal Grants and Pell Grants, as well as other grant and loan opportunities available through state and federal government.
- Students and their parents both need to be educated about the system of college finances, including scholarships, loans, grants, and government guaranteed loans.
- Student perceptions about the significance of legal residency status vs. U.S. citizenship status need to be corrected, especially given the citizenship status of many students' parents
To order a hard copy of the report, contact:
n/a
Secretary Spellings Announces Final Limited English Proficiency Regulations
by United States Department of Education
Not a report; press release. See below.
Topics Covered:
Assessment and Accommodations;
Tags:
Rights, Students;
Target Population: All
Research Questions the Report Poses: None — press release.
Summary: In September 2006, the U.S. Department of Education released final regulations on calculating adequate yearly progress (AYP) for ELLs. These regulations had been in draft form for over two years, but most states have been operating as if they were in final form for some time now. The main provisions of the regulations are:
- During their first year in U.S. schools, ELLs can be exempt from taking the state reading/language arts assessment.
- Also during their first year in U.S. schools, ELLs must take the state math assessment, but the scores from the math assessment do not have to be included in the calculation of AYP.
- For the purposes of meeting AYP's 95 percent participation requirement during that first year, ELLs must take the English language proficiency assessment. (ELLs are already required to take this assessment as per other NCLB mandates.)
- Even if ELLs do not take the reading/language arts assessment during their first year in U.S. schools, this first year must count as the first of three years in which a student may take the reading/language arts assessment in their native language.
- States are required to report on the number of first-year ELLs who were exempt from participating in the English reading/language arts assessment.
- Students who exit the ELL subgroup because they've attained English language proficiency can have their scores count in the ELL subgroup for AYP calculations for up to two years.
- If these "exited" ELLs are included in the ELL subgroup, ALL "exited" ELLs must be included, not just those who score proficient.
Findings:
See summary.
Policy Recommendations:
None, see summary.
To order a hard copy of the report, contact:
n/a
So Many Schools, So Few Options: How Mayor Bloomberg's Small High School Reforms Deny Full Access to English Language Learners
by The New York Immigration Coalition and Advocates for Children of New York
The New York Immigration Coalition and Advocates for Children of New York. (2006, November). So Many Schools, So Few Options: How Mayor Bloomberg's Small High School Reforms Deny Full Access to English Language Learners. New York, NY: The New York Immigration Coalition and Advocates for Children of New York.
Topics Covered:
Access, Equity, and Adequacy;
Tags:
Curriculum;
Latino ELL Students;
Placement;
Rights, Students;
Target Population: High school
Research Questions the Report Poses: To what extent, if any, have ELLs actually been included in New York City's small high schools reform initiative?
Summary: Although ELLs make up about 11.4% of the New York City high school population, in 2005-2006, 93 of 183 schools examined in this report had less than 5% of ELLs in their student body. This means that more than half of the high schools in the city had a very small ELL population. A policy that the NYC Department of Education has in place is to "allow small schools to exclude ELLs in [their] first two years of operation" (p. 7). Failure to follow required accommodation laws is also keeping ELLs out of many NYC high schools. In the borough of Queens, which has the most ELL students, only 7% of new high schools were built. Overall, the new plan toward having smaller schools in New York City is keeping ELLs from getting equal access to quality instruction because resources for ELL instruction are not prevalent.
Findings:
- As a result of the new schools program, ELL students are largely sequestered to a few schools with high percentages of ELLs while many other schools offer very little, if any, instruction or resources for ELLs.
- Because new schools are not being built in areas where ELLs are highly concentrated, ELLs are being kept from new schools.
- Most schools classified as small by this report (about 500 students) fail to provide adequate resources for ELL instruction.
- Because small schools are inadequately prepared to instruct ELLs, these students are forced to go to large, failing schools, which are the type of schools that the new schools plan was supposed to cut down on.
Policy Recommendations:
- Increase ELLs' access to small schools by building more small schools in areas where ELLs most commonly reside.
- Improve the high school admissions process so that ELLs are not excluded or kept out of small schools because of their ELL status.
To order a hard copy of the report, contact:
Advocates for Children of New York
151 West 30th Street — 5th Floor
New York, NY 10001
E-Mail: info@advocatesforchildren.org
Phone: (212)-947-9779
Fax: (212)-947-9790
Why Segregation Matters: Poverty and Educational Inequality
by Gary Olfield and Chungmei Lee
Orfield, G. and Lee, C. (2005, January). Why segregation matters: Poverty and educational inequality. Cambridge, MA: Civil Rights Project Harvard University.
Topics Covered:
Access, Equity, and Adequacy;
Data (Demographics, Facts, and Figures);
Tags:
Rights, Students;
Target Population: Preschool, Elementary, Middle, High School, Post-Secondary
Research Questions the Report Poses: What connections exist between segregation by race, segregation by poverty, and unequal opportunity?
Summary: The report is largely about segregation and how schools are increasingly segregated by socio-economic status. With an emphasis on multiracial discrimination, poverty, and segregation, the authors present a variety of ELL demographic data by region related to poverty. Another purpose of the paper is to show how rapidly changing demographic changes challenge more typical notions of segregation.
Findings:
n/a
Policy Recommendations:
- There should be a concerted effort to avoid the creation of more concentrated poverty schools. Wherever possible there should be positive plans to use assignment and choice policies to foster more diverse schools.
- Housing and land use policies should be designed on a regional basis to foster access for all students to strong schools and educational diversity.
- Community groups should seriously analyze the social consequences of proposals to terminate desegregation plans that lower isolation by race and class.
- Basic research should be supported on the impacts of Latino segregation and of multiracial schools and school reforms should be designed and evaluated in light of deepened understanding of rapidly changing realities.
- Charter schools should not be set up in ways that make them intensely segregated by poverty and race. There should be an explicit goal of fostering diversity.
- Court orders and remedial plans designed to deal with findings of educational inadequacy that are rapidly spreading around the country should take these findings into account and provide both policy support and aid to foster access of students in impoverished schools to more privileged schools.
- Schools should look seriously at classroom segregation by class and race and design plans to lower it.
To order a hard copy of the report, contact:
n/a
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