ELL Program

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ELL Program
Radnor Township School District
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The Koi Fish Story

• A favorite fish among many hobbyists is the
  Japanese carp, commonly known as the koi. The
  fascinating thing about the koi is that if you
  keep it in a small fish bowl, it will only grow
  to be two or three inches long. Place the koi in
  a large tank or a small pond and it will reach
  six to ten inches. Put it in a large pond and it
  may get as long as a foot and a half.
• Information from the DCIU ELL Department

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What size fish bowl are your ELLs in?
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ELL 101

• ELL is funded through the Title III program of
  the NCLB Act of 2001
• PA recently updated the Basic Education Circulars
  for ELL (April 14, 2009)
• Instructional placement of ELLs must be age and
  grade appropriate
• ELLs must be given equal access to all
  educational programs, opportunities, and extra
  curricular activities in the same manner as for
  all students
• Parent permission to assess IS NOT REQUIRED

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WIDAWhat is it?

• PA is one of 21 states which make up the WIDA
  (World-Class Instructional Design and Assessment)
  Consortium.
• All schools in PA follow the guidelines and
  standards of WIDA.
• The WIDA Consortium has developed
• English language proficiency standards
• English language proficiency test aligned with
  those standards (ACCESS for ELLs)
• Information from www.wida.us

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Entrance Criteria

• Home Language Survey
• W-APT
• Assesses English language proficiency in
  Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing
• The W-APT can only be administered once per
  calendar year.
• Grades 1-12
• Score of 4.5 and below qualifies a student for
  the ELL program
• Kindergarten
• Score of 24 and below on Listening and Speaking
  only

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Exit Criteria

• ACCESS for ELLs test
• Composite score of 5.0 or higher on Listening,
  Speaking, Reading and Writing
• PSSA
• Score of Basic or higher on Reading, Writing, and
  Math
• Final grades of C or higher in content area
  classes
• District reading assessments
• Students are monitored for 2 years after exiting
  from the ELL program
• Students may not be exited from the language
  instructional program based only on their oral
  proficiency proficiency in academic reading and
  writing must also be assessed.

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ELL Instruction

• ELL curriculum must be aligned with
• PAs Language Arts Standards
• PAs ELPS (English Language Proficiency
  Standards) for ELLs
• The ELL program includes English instruction
  across the four language domains (Listening,
  Speaking, Reading, and Writing)

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The Four Language Domains

• Listening process, understand, interpret, and
  evaluate spoken language in a variety of
  situations
• Speaking engage in oral communication in a
  variety of situations for an array of purposes
  and audiences
• Reading process, interpret, and evaluate
  written language, symbols and text with
  understanding and fluency
• Writing engage in written communications in a
  variety of forms for an array of purposes and
  audiences
• Information from www.pde.pa.state.us

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PennsylvaniaAcademic Standards vs. English
Language Proficiency Standards

• Academic Standards
• Are for all students
• Guide the alignment of content curriculum
• Guide content instruction
• Comprise of content specific objectives
• Information from DCIU ELL Department

• ELP Standards
• Are for ELLs
• Are aligned to PA Academic Standards, WIDA
  Standards, and National TESOL standards
• Guide district ESL curriculum and instruction
• Include both content and language objectives

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PA English Language Proficiency Standards

• Standard 1 Social Instructional Language
• Standard 2 Language Arts
• Standard 3 Math
• Standard 4 Science
• Standard 5 Social Studies
• The ELPs are clustered by grade levels
• Grades Pre-K, 1-3, 4-5, 6-8, 9-12

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Levels of English Language Proficiency
6 R E A C H I N G
5- BRIDGING
4- EXPANDING
3- DEVELOPING
2- BEGINNING
1- ENTERING
Information from www.pde.pa.state.us
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Language Performance Definitions for the Levels
of English Language Proficiency
Figure 1 Linguistic characteristics at levels
of language proficiency
Across the curriculum Across the curriculum Across the curriculum Across the curriculum Across the curriculum
Level 1 Entering Level 2 Beginning Level 3 Developing Level 4 Expanding Level 5 Bridging
at the given level of English language proficiency, English language learners in Pennsylvania, can process and understand. at the given level of English language proficiency, English language learners in Pennsylvania, can process and understand. at the given level of English language proficiency, English language learners in Pennsylvania, can process and understand. at the given level of English language proficiency, English language learners in Pennsylvania, can process and understand. at the given level of English language proficiency, English language learners in Pennsylvania, can process and understand.
R E C E P T I V E P R O D UC T I V E
Pictorial or graphic representation of the language of the content areas with minimal comprehension. General language related to the content areas. General and some specific language of the content areas. Specific and some technical language of the content areas. The technical language of the content areas.
at the given level of English language proficiency, English language learners in Pennsylvania, can use and produce. at the given level of English language proficiency, English language learners in Pennsylvania, can use and produce. at the given level of English language proficiency, English language learners in Pennsylvania, can use and produce. at the given level of English language proficiency, English language learners in Pennsylvania, can use and produce. at the given level of English language proficiency, English language learners in Pennsylvania, can use and produce.
Non-verbal communication, single words or short phrases which may be demonstrated by repeating and copying words and phrases, or use of first language. Common phrases or short sentences and some general academic language in oral and written communication with errors that may impede meaning. Familiar oral and written language of expanded sentence length, short paragraphs, and academic language with occasional errors. Oral and written academic and technical language of varying complexity in context with nominal errors. Oral or written academic and technical language of varying complexity approaching that of English proficient peers with minimal errors.
Information from www.pde.pa.state.us
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Classroom Instruction for ELLs

• ELLs must be graded using the same grading system
  as all other students
• ELLs must be provided with meaningful,
  comprehensible access to instruction in all
  content areas (www.pde.state.pa.us/k12)
• Curriculum in all content areas must be modified
  and differentiated according to their language
  proficiency level (Entering, Beginning,
  Developing, Expanding, Bridging)
• Suggestions for modifications are found in WIDAs
  CAN DO Descriptors http//www.wida.us/standards/CA
  N_DOs/index.aspx

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What are the expected outcomes?

• ELL students will have meaningful access to the
  full curriculum.
• ELL students will progress with their English
  language development while meeting academic
  content standards.
• ELL students will acquire the language and
  content necessary to exit the formal ELL program
  and demonstrate academic achievement across the
  curriculum.
• Information from DCIU ELL Department

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References/Resources

• Center for Applied Linguistics www.cal.org
• PA Department of Education www.pde.pa.state.us
• National Clearing House for English Language
  Acquisition www.ncela.gwa.edu
• Office of English Language Acquisition
  www.ed.gov.oela
• World-Class Instructional Design and Assessment
  www.wida.us
• Teachers of English to Speakers of Other
  Languages www.tesol.org
• Information from DCIU ELL Department