Miami-Dade County

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• Miami-Dade County
• Public Schools
• Division of Bilingual Education and
• World Languages
• Dr. Joanne H. Urrutia
• Council of the Great City Schools
• BIRE Conference
• May 2008

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Annual New Foreign Student Registration
19, 496
18,578
15,309
14,921
13,285
13,090
12,435
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Top Ten Foreign Languages Used as Primary
Language by Students
Language Students Using as Primary/Home Language Language Students Using as Primary/Home Language
Spanish 192,008 Arabic 510
Haitian-Creole 18,291 Russian 448
French 2,234 Urdu 423
Portuguese 1,643 Hebrew 244
Other Chinese Languages 729 Vietnamese 232

• Other Chinese Languages denotes languages other
  than Cantonese and Mandarin
• Source Student Database System, compiled by the
  Office of Accountability and Systemwide
  Performance

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Enrollment in Bilingual Programs
English for Speakers of Other Languages 51,762
Spanish for Spanish Speakers 92,238
World Languages Spanish (Elementary) 36,456
Secondary Spanish as a Foreign Language 19,041
Basic Skills in the Home Language 41,533
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Policy Driven Reform
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Policies Driving Reform

• All educational reform is executed within the
  context of existing and/or emerging policies at
  the
• National level
• State level
• District level
• School level

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National Level No Child Left Behind Act

• State academic standards
• Assessment and accountability system
• Instructional programs supported by
  scientifically-based research
• High academic expectations for all students
• Specific measurable performance objectives for
  various subgroups (FRL ESE ELL etc)

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NCLB and English Language Learners (ELL)

• Monitor progress
• Academic achievement (Title I)
• English proficiency (Title III)
• Challenges
• How to measure academic progress of ELL
• Use valid measures to monitor academic
  achievement (simplified language or native
  language)
• Development of ELL standards and assessments
• Identify programs that are supported by
  scientifically-based research proven effected
  with ELL

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State Level

• Florida was already implementing many of the
  policies that were later incorporated in the
  NCLB.
• 1990 LULAC Consent Decree
• Teacher certification requirements on second
  language strategies
• Curriculum requirements
• 1999 Floridas A Accountability Plan
• Florida Comprehensive Achievement Test
• School grades based on FCAT

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Legal Rulings Guidelines

• Florida Administrative Code Rule
  
• Limited English Proficient (LEP) students are
  entitled to equal access to instruction in
  English which is equal in amount, sequence and
  scope, as that provided to non-LEP students.
  (6A-6.0900-6A-6.0908, F.A.C.)
• Also referred to as English Language Learners
  (ELL)

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Districts Implementation

• Ensure availability of instructional resources
  personnel and materials (district and federal
  funds)
• Implement coherent, standards-based curriculum
  and instruction
• ELL must have access to grade level instruction
  while they are learning English
• Instructional time must be equal to standard
  curriculum students
• Superintendents initiative
• score cards linking student achievement (by
  subgroups) with evaluation of administrative
  staff

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School Level

• Instructional leadership
• Principal is knowledgeable of needs of ELLs and
  best instructional practices
• Highly qualified teachers work with ELLs
• Build capacity for all teachers to provide
  comprehensible instruction to ELL
• Provide explicit English language development
  instruction
• Provide access to grade level academic content
  using ESL techniques or native language where
  possible
• Ensure availability of quality instructional
  materials

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Special Programs for English Language Learners

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Instructional Programs

• English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL)
• Basic Skill in the Home Language
• Heritage Language Arts
• Spanish and Haitian-Creole
• Curriculum Content in the Home Language
• Mathematics, Science, and Social Sciences
• Individualize tutoring in the native language
  during and after school

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Elementary Programs

• Two hours of daily instruction in language
  arts/reading/writing/ESOL
• 150 minutes weekly of language arts in the home
  language
• 45 minutes daily of curriculum content in the
  home language (mathematics and science)

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Secondary Courses

• English Through ESOL
• students grouped by grade levels
• Developmental Language Arts Through ESOL
• students grouped by English proficiency levels
• Bilingual Curriculum Courses (BCC)
• mathematics, science, or social sciences
• offered when there are sufficient numbers of ELL
  students
• Home Language Assistance Program (HLAP)
• a dedicated bilingual teacher or paraprofessional
  to provide assistance/tutoring in the home
  language

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Curriculum

• Programs are guided by a Competency-Based
  Curriculum (CBC)
• Equivalent to grade-level CBC
• Correlated to Florida Sunshine State Standards
  (SSS)
• Guided by performance indicator

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English Through ESOL CBC Literature Component
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New Beginning Program

• Designed to address the needs of newly-arrived
  students entering M-DCPS who are English Language
  Learners and have limited or no prior school
  experience.
• These students have a dual problem lack of
  English proficiency and lack of literacy and
  academic skills in their heritage language.

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The Challenge

• Meet mandates that require ELL students receive
  instruction that is equal in scope, sequence, and
  content to that of non-ELL students.
• Provide necessary tools for the success of ELL
  students as the state raises the academic
  requirements.
• Narrow the achievement gap created by second
  language acquisition.

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Challenge for Students

• Build a connection between oral and written
  language.
• Integrate effective language acquisition
  strategies into the learning process.
• Learn content area while learning English.

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Challenge for Teachers

• Strengthen their ability to provide an integrated
  curriculum that addresses state standards,
  mandates, and strategies necessary to meet ELL
  students learning needs.

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Professional Development

• Pre-service
• Most local university have built-in the State
  required endorsement courses in the undergraduate
  programs for teachers.
• In-Service
• District offers ESOL and Reading endorsement
  courses
• On-going professional development with follow up

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Collaboration

• Close working relationship between the Districts
  language arts and bilingual departments
• Inclusion of ESOL strategies in all core content
  area
• Florida require specific training for all
  teachers of ELL students
• Full integration of instructional technology into
  the ESOL program

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Data Driven Instruction

• Monitor inclusion of ELL students in all district
  and state assessments with appropriate
  accommodations
• Analyze ELL student performance data in state
  academic (FCAT) and English proficiency (CELLA)
  assessments

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Assessment and Accountability Policies

• Use of assessment data to improve student
  achievement
• Annual
• State assessment Florida Comprehensive
  Achievement Test (FCAT) (reading, writing, math,
  science) (English only)
• All ELL students participate, included in
  Floridas A Accountability Plan only after two
  years in the program.
• Results used for third grade retention and
  graduation from high school.
• English proficiency assessment OLPS-R (to be
  replaced by states CELLA)
• Formative assessments
• DIBELS, FORF, M-DCPS Interim Assessments, etc.
  http//oada.dadeschools.net/SAET/20072008TestingCa
  lendar.asp

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State Data Reports for AYP
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FCAT Reading
Percentages of Students Scoring at or above
Achievement Level 3 on the Reading Component of
the FCAT-SSS and Floridas AYP Benchmark (in
Red)2003-2007  
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FCAT Mathematics
Percentages of Students Scoring at or above
Achievement Level 3 on the Mathematics Component
of the FCAT-SSS and Floridas AYP Benchmark (in
Red)2003-2007
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District ELL Longitudinal Study
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LONGITUDINAL VIEW OF ELL STUDENTS ACADEMIC
PROGRESS
Percentages of Different ELL Cohort Students
Scoring at or above Achievement Level 3 on the
Reading Component of the FCAT-SSS and Floridas
AYP Benchmark (in Red)
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LONGITUDINAL VIEW OF ELL STUDENTS ACADEMIC
PROGRESS
Percentages of Different ELL Cohort Students
Scoring at or above Achievement Level 3 on the
Mathematics Component of the FCAT-SSS and
Floridas AYP Benchmark (in Red)
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Future Plans

• Use of new State Instructional Model codes for
  identification of best practices and
  instructional models.
• Conduct evaluation of instructional technology
  being implemented in the ESOL program.

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Continuous Improvement Model
A never ending story . . .
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• Miami-Dade County
• Public Schools
• Division of Bilingual Education and
• World Languages
• Dr. Joanne H. Urrutia
• jurrutia_at_dadeschools.net
• http//www.dadeschools.net