School District of Janesville

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School District of Janesville

• SWEETT Collaboration Project
• March 2006 - April 2007

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March 2006

• Designed K-12 District ELL Mission
• To engage ELLs in social and academic English
  language development and grade level curriculum
  and to empower them in their multicultural
  identities.

3
March 2006

• Developed K-12 ELL Visions
• Family and Community Collaboration
• Curriculum/Instruction/Staff Development
• Assessment and Data
• School Culture and Learning

4
April 2006

• Completed K-12 Action Plan
• Goals
• Strategies
• Activities
• Timelines

5
May 2006

• Principals Meeting
• Discussed choosing an action plan focus area to
  move forward in each building for the 2006-2007
  school year.

6
October/November 2006

• Discussed Richard Sagors plan for classroom
  action research.
• Narrowed focus to one major K-12 issue
• The achievement gap growth between ELLs and
  English proficient peers from 4th to 8th to 10th
  grade.

7
October/November 2006

• Developed a S.M.A.R.T. goal to reach the
  promised land.
• During the 2006-2007 school year, the SDJ will
  narrow the ELL achievement gap by 10 for all 5
  areas through explicitly teaching critical
  thinking, reading, and writing strategies across
  the curriculum as evidenced by standardized and
  common assessments. (Secondary)

8
October/November 2006

• Developed a S.M.A.R.T. goal to reach the
  promised land.
• By June 2008, elementary FAY ELL students will
  increase academic achievement and academic
  language proficiency by 10 as measured by MAP,
  WKCE reading/math, and ACCESS scores. (Elementary)

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October/November 2006

• Articulated a theory of action by identifying
  strategies to implement.
• How will we attempt to close the achievement gap?
• What can be accomplished to find common planning
  time between ELL and general education staff?

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Teacher addition

• One new ELL staff added to the high school.
• Two ELL teachers at each site.
• One ELL assistant at each site.

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Added a Resource Hour

• Individuals or small groups.
• Reading of tests, assisting with organizational
  skills, and reviewing of difficult material.
• Collaboration with other teachers.

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Held a Meeting With IMs

• Met with the Instructional Managers about ELL
  issues.
• Outcomes
• Survey the staff.
• Comp. time given.
• Scheduling of students.
• Subs.
• IRP (Individual Response Plan)

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Survey of the staff

• The survey was given to the staff about the
  placement and scheduling of ELL students.
• During Parent/Teacher conferences, the staff
  filled in the ELL survey and returned it the same
  day. (handout)

14
In-services Were Given On Reading Strategies For
The Entire Staff.

• Reading Strategies in Science

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Inservice on ELL

• A few of us gave an in-service on the ABCs of
  ELLs to staff who chose this session.
• An Albanian student shared his story and included
  how he learned English.

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Teacher On Board

• One teacher who came to the ABCs session shared
  her enthusiasm and described her shift in
  teaching styles.

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Transitioning To College

• Extra steps were taken for ELL students to
  envision themselves going to college.
• Planning and taking students to college visits.
• Assisting with ACT and other forms.
• Working with families.

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Pilot Reading Between Schools

• To narrow the reading gap each high school will
  try a different approach.
• Parker will use a block for grade level English
  and writing.
• Craig will use a block for EPL level English and
  writing.

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Beginning ELL and Content

• Students with an EPL between one and three will
  enroll in these courses.

20
Teacher Collaboration

• Binders to store student work and tests for
  various content areas.
• Weekly assignment sheet for teachers. (handout)

21
Teacher Collaboration

• In class modeling and observation of strategies.
• Message book, e-mail, and personal contacts.
• Quarterly monitor sheets.

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Paraprofessional Collaboration

• ELL para goes to classes and assists students
  daily.
• Assists during resource hour.
• Helps students organize and prioritize work.