SBRR and ELLs: The Big Picture

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SBRR and ELLs The Big Picture

• National Reading First Conference
• New Orleans, LA

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Overview of Issues

• Increasing number of ELLs in schools
• Increased diversity among ELLs
• Continued lower educational attainment
• Increased accountability and educational
  attainment standards
• Limited scientific research

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What are the expectations for ELLs?

• Research shows that students who cannot read or
  write in English have a greater likelihood of
  dropping out of school, and they often face a
  life time of diminished opportunity
• Under No Child Left Behind, the academic progress
  of every child, including those learning English,
  
• will be assessed in reading, math and eventually
  science
• will be assessed annually to measure how well
  they are learning English, so parents and
  teachers will know how well they are progressing,
• states and schools will be held accountable for
  results.

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NCLB Requirements for ELLs

• States must establish language proficiency
  standards and assessments
• Schools must provide high-quality instruction to
  ELLs in reading, math, and other academic areas
• States and districts must ensure that there are
  highly qualified teachers in all classrooms

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NCLB Instruction

• Scientifically based research uses rigorous,
  systematic and objective procedures to obtain
  reliable and valid knowledge relevant to
  education activities and programs.
• It is critical that the research methods used in
  a particular study are appropriate for answering
  the questions that are addressed by the study.

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NCLB Instruction

• However, NCLB does not dictate a particular
  method of instruction for English or academic
  content.
• Districts have the prerogative to choose methods
  of instruction

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Academic Programs for ELLs

• Since 1968 the Federal Government has provided
  support and guidance for ELLs
• Transitional Bilingual Education instruction in
  primary language during the first few years of
  school goal is transition to English as rapidly
  as possible
• Approximately 50 of ELLs
• English-only programs varying degrees of
  support to help students learn a new language and
  content simultaneously
• Approximately 3040 of ELLs

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Academic Programs for ELLs

• Maintenance Bilingual Education
• Goal is academic proficiency in English and
  native language
• Two-way bilingual programs half native English
  speakers and half ELLs
• Goal is proficiency in two languages with both
  groups of students

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Program Effectiveness

• Have focused on comparisons between TBE and
  English only programs
• Outcomes usually language proficiency and
  academic achievement in English
• Should be measured in relation to desired
  outcomes
• Depends on available resources and quality of
  instruction

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Results

• Positive effects found for native-language TBE
  programs, immersion programs, and structured
  immersion programs
• Paired bilingual models may be most promising

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We know that

• Some Spanish speaking children will struggle to
  become readers, regardless of the language of
  instruction
• Bravo-Valdivieso (1995) found that students, who
  exhibited weak decoding skills in the early
  grades, never overcame this difficulty
• For students who are bilingual and at risk for
  reading failure, lack of appropriate, early
  reading instruction may contribute to
  inappropriate referrals to special education
  (Segan, 1998).
• Thus, assessments and interventions designed to
  assess and teach reading in Spanish and English
  are needed

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We also know that

• Most reading problems occur at the level of the
  single word therefore
• reading is characterized by slow and labored
  decoding
• comprehension suffers due to inefficiency of
  decoding
• Phonemic awareness is an important skill that
  facilitates the development of word recognition
  skills in all alphabetic languages
• (Francis, D. 2003)

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And

• Comprehension may be affected by
• poor language development (monolinguals L1-
  bilinguals L1 and L2)
• limited background knowledge
• ineffective comprehension strategies
• (Francis, D. 2003)

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For English-language learners, we still do not
know

• the most important predictors of reading success
  and failure at different stages of development
• the role that L1 language and literacy
  proficiency have in acquisition of L2 language
  and literacy proficiency
• enough about how to intervene and how
  interventions need to vary due to students L1 and
  L2 proficiency
• the roles that home, school, and community
  contexts play as moderators of instruction and
  individual student characteristics
• (Francis, D., 2003)

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However, what we know has instructional
implications

• Teachers need to understand
• the importance of language development, and the
  sound structure of language to the acquisition
  and mastery of reading
• that many LEP students also have limited
  proficiency in L1
• that primary language development plays a role in
  the acquisition, and development of language and
  literacy skills in a second language
• (Francis, D., 2003)

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Focus instead on

• Developing and validating effective instructional
  interventions
• Developing and validating appropriate assessment
  tools
• Training teachers in the use of effective
  assessment and instructional practices

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Effective Practices for Teaching EL learners

• Teacher observations data (Baker 2003)
• Models skills and strategies
• Makes relationships between concepts overt
• Emphasizes distinctive features of new concepts
• Scaffold use of strategies, skills, and concepts
• Changes focus of literacy activities regularly
• Adjust speech

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• Uses visuals and manipulatives to teach content
• Provides explicit instruction in English language
  use
• Encourages elaborate student responses
• Teaches vocabulary using gestures and facial
  expressions

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Common Features of Effective Interventions

• Comprehensive
• Explicit instruction in synthetic phonics, with
  emphasis on fluency
• Integrates decoding, fluency, and comprehension
  strategies
• Carefully constructed scope and sequence designed
  to prevent possible confusions
• Small group delivery

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Balanced and Comprehensive

• Comprehensive reading interventions that include
• phonological awareness (Vaughn, Linan-Thompson et
  al. in press Vaughn, Mathes et al. in press)
• word attack (Vaughn, Linan-Thompson et al. in
  press Vaughn, Mathes et al. in press),
• word identification (Denton et al. 2004),
• fluency (Gunn et al., 2000 Vaughn,
  Linan-Thompson et al. in press) and
• comprehension (Vaughn, Linan-Thompson et al. in
  press Vaughn, Mathes et al. in press)
• seem to offer advantages compared to less
  comprehensive interventions.

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Response to Intervention

• Determine the number of students that fail to
  respond to intervention
• Determine initial response and long-term response

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Results for English Intervention
Statistically significant differences in favor of
English Intervention treatment group for outcomes
in English. Time ? Treatment Interaction effects
for

• Letter naming fluency
• Letter sound identification
• Phonological composite (sound matching, blending
  words, blending non-words, segmenting words,
  elision)
• Word attack
• Dictation
• Passage comprehension

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English Intervention Results
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Follow-Up Through 2nd Grade

• All treatment and comparison students were
  followed through the end of 2nd grade.
• Reading and oracy measures were collected in
  spring 2004.
• 26 of 50 students who participated in the English
  intervention (18 treatment and 8 control) in 1st
  grade were followed through the end of 2nd grade.
  

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Summary of Effective Instruction

• Comprehensive reading instruction that includes
  all of the elements of reading
• Explicit and systematic instruction that makes
  the structure of English visible
• Texts that provide opportunities to practice the
  skills that students are learning
• Instruction that incorporates effective ESL
  strategies
• Instruction that build students oral language
  skills

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Assessment

• Research on effective reading instruction for EL
  learners has documented the importance of
  assessing students progress in reading (Chamot
  OMalley, 1994).
• This includes not only teacher documentation of
  daily and periodic progress but also students
  self-evaluation of their own progress according
  to pre-determined goals and objectives (Chamot
  OMalley, 1994).

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Assessment Research

• 2-year study with ELLs
• Collected reading measures with 1st grade
  students
• Systematically observed reading instruction
• Investigated the relationship between
  instructional practices in reading and student
  reading outcomes
• Students from 9 language groups
• Baker 2003

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Results Evidence predicting outcomes with ELLs

• Correlations with Oral Reading Fluency, Spring
  Grade 1

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ResultsCorrelations with reading comprehension,
Spring Grade 1
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Screening

• Students oral language proficiency is not a
  valid predictor of reading success or failure.
• Screening measures in first grade to identify
  students who need intensive early intervention
  are valid
• Consistently strong measures of future reading
  growth are measures of phonemic awareness and
  fluency in naming letters of the alphabet
• Spanish versions of phonemic awareness measures
  are also solid predictors.

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High Stakes Assessment

• Types of alternative assessments
• Native language assessments
• Alternative version of English language
  assessment
• Accommodations for ELLs taking an English
  assessment developed for English monolingual
  students

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Native language assessment

• A few available for most common languages
• Only appropriate for students who are literate
  and proficient in their native language

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Alternative version

• Research has been conducted with math and science
  tests, although some states have alternative
  versions that use linguistic simplification

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Accommodations

• Research limited
• Factors to consider
• Students level of English proficiency
• Literacy skills in native language
• Amount of schooling in home country
• Language of instruction
• Accommodations used in the classroom as part of
  instruction

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Accommodations

• Types of accommodations
• Allowing extra time
• Administering test in small groups
• Providing bilingual dictionaries or glossaries
• Allowing the teacher to clarify the meaning of
  words
• Flexible scheduling
• The most effective accommodations address basic
  linguistic needs

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Conclusions

• There is no conclusive evidence that one program
  type is superior to others
• Availability of resources and quality of
  instruction are critical determinants of student
  success

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Conclusions

• Many literacy skills acquired in L1 transfer to
  L2
• Students do not have to be proficient in English
  to benefit from literacy instruction in English
• There is a strong research base supporting
  literacy instruction for ELLs

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Conclusions

• Screening measures and progress monitoring can be
  used to identify students at risk for
  difficulties and to inform instruction
• Research on the use of accommodations is still
  needed