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Scaffolding Ideas for Teaching ELLs Online

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Scaffolding Ideas for Teaching ELLs Online

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Tech Learning Magazine

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How to Manage ESL/ELL Students During Remote Learning

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Serving ESL/ELL students during remote learning translates into unique challenges

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Instructional Activities in English & Spanish

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Instructional Activities in English & Spanish

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Ellevation

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Activities | Ellevation Education | Distance Learning

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Help students continue to develop language and learn academic content, no matter the learning environment. Find activities that help you differentiate for students in any grade level or content area, complete with demonstration videos, graphic organizers, slide decks, work examples and more.

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Distance Learnng Videos in English and Spanish

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Distance Learnng Videos in English and Spanish

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Ellevation

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Ellevation Videos to Support EL Educators with Distance Learning

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Judie Haynes

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As we go back to school this fall, many teachers are faced with changing school policies because of the COVID-19 pandemic. School districts that originally planned to go back full time to their brick-and-mortar buildings may have to change their plans at the last minute depending on the COVID-19 statistics in their state. Many teachers are planning for both face-to-face and virtual classrooms because their districts are implementing a hybrid model.

I think teaching during a pandemic is the biggest challenge modern teachers have ever faced. Many teachers will be meeting their students for the first time in a virtual classroom. Getting to know students is a necessary step for all teachers in setting up a safe and caring environment, whether it is virtual or face-to-face.

On the first day of school, before teachers begin to teach their academic content, they will need to attend to the trauma their students may be feeling. Social-emotional learning is crucial. During the first week of school, introduce activities that will help you get to know your English learners (ELs). It is especially important to devise activities that ELs can complete either virtually or face-to-face with their classmates.

Here are some of the ideas I have gathered to help K-8 teachers learn more about their students from the first day of school. These activities can be modified for the grade level you are teaching.
1. Design a Virtual Locker
Virtual lockers allow students to display their ideas, preferences, and thoughts.To see examples and instructions, see GoTeachTheWorld.com's tutorial at " Starting the School Year [Virtually!]" and this YouTube example, where students can actually design their locker on YouTube. You can also download a free virtual locker template to get started on your own. (Just copy the template into your own Google Slideshow and add text and images.)

Teachers can compile a list of ideas for ELs. Customize your list so that it is appropriate for younger students of different ages or English-language acquisition levels. This locker could also be a paper-and-pencil activity in a face-to-face classroom. Here are sample types of topics that will help teachers learn more about their students:

Pictures of family/friends/pets

3 words that describe you

Name of your school

Languages you speak

Where you were born

Favorites

Movie or TV show

Song/singer

Sport and/or team

Food

Subject in school

What you like to do for fun

Something you did over the summer

A variation of this activity that is suitable of elementary age students is "design your own virtual cubby." There are also ways to create virtual classrooms that you can share with students online to provide your students with a "visual" virtual classroom space.
2. Ask the Right Questions: What Students Wish Their Teacher Knew About Them
Teachers need to build a supportive environment for ELs coping with adversity. Kyle Schwartz, a Colorado teacher who wrote the book, I Wish My Teacher Knew, suggests that schools have "grief and loss" inventories for students who have gone through a crisis, with input from families so that the child's future teachers know what that student is dealing with. You can read some of the amazing examples that her students wrote by following the book link. You can also read more about her experiences in this New York Times article.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many ELs were not able to attend virtual instruction. They may not have had devices or Wi-Fi connections. Their families may have faced loss of employment, food insecurity, and poverty. All of this is traumatic for children. Asking students to write or draw what they wish their teacher knew about them is an excellent way to learn what your students have been dealing with during the pandemic. This can be done virtually or in a face-to-face classroom. Here are some easy questions you can ask to help you learn more about your students:

What is your favorite school subject?

What worries you about starting school?

What are you looking forward to this year?

What is your best school subject?

If you had a superpower, what would it be?

3. Using Flipgrid: Introduce Your Family
Flipgrid is a free online app that allows students to record quick online videos. These videos can be made as a response to a teacher question. At the beginning of the school year, ask ELs to respond to a prompt, such as "Draw a picture and introduce me to your family." The capacity for ELs to make videos will greatly enhance their engagement in the classroom.

It is really worth the the time spent teaching ELs to use Flipgrid. It will also provide many opportunities for them to participate in classroom discussions. Teachers have told me they have used this with students ask young as third grade. This could also be a paper-and-pencil assignment with students presenting their drawings either virtually or face-to-face.
4. Post a Video: "What Are You Good At?"
Ask student to post a short video that demonstrates something they are good at. Brainstorm ideas with students and post the suggestions so that ELs have a starting place. Examples of a recently brainstormed list with elementary-age students included

playing a video game,

dancing,

cooking a recipe,

dribbling a soccer ball, and

drawing a picture.

Ask students to plan a script before filming and to choose what props they may want to use. Teachers can help students make this video on iMovie or on a cell phone. If you have access to breakout rooms on a virtual platform, students could do this project in groups. Students could also plan this activity and present it in person in their classroom.
5. Using Storyboards: "What Is Your Favorite TV Show or Movie?"
Storyboards can be a means for students to show a reflection of self. They can be made individually using technology or can be done with paper and pencil in the classroom. Try Padlet to have students create a storyboard during the first days of school. Brainstorm with students their favorite TV show or movie. They can have virtual classroom discussion in small groups, write reviews,or design a storyboard display of their choice.
6. Virtual Scavenger Hunts
Seesaw can be used as a place where teachers can post a scavenger hunt for students to do remotely or face-to-face in school. Hunts can be planned so that older students take a picture of what they found, and they can be based on colors, numbers, shapes, food, and so on (e.g., Find three things that are red). Here is a sample from which you can create your own hunt, and here is a TESOL Blog post on scavenger hunts that can be easily adapted to remote learning. I suggest that you make your items something that will help you get to know your ELs, such as favorite food from your kitchen or favorite toy, book, or game.
7. Create a Podcast: "What Did You Do Over the Summer?"
WeVideo podcasts is a good way to introduce your ELs to podcasting. This can be taught virtually or in your classroom. Design a question that you want students to answer about themselves. For example, "Tell us what you did over the summer break. " Teachers should brainstorm the question with students or make a sample podcast to show them what they did over the summer.

An example is important here because very few students have been able to visit friends; go swimming; travel; or go to movies, concerts, or camps. Podcasting can give students a way to be more creative and communicate effectively. You want to encourage our students to share their ideas, feelings, and stories with you.

If you have other ideas and want to share back-to-school activities, please write in the comments section below.

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7 Virtual and Face-to-Face Activities for the First Week of School

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As we go back to school this fall, many teachers are faced with changing school policies because of the COVID-19 pandemic. School districts that originally planned to go back full time to their brick-and-mortar buildings may have to change their plans at the last minute depending on the COVID-19 statistics in their state.

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Creating a Sense of Belonging for ELs in Your Classroom

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Creating a Sense of Belonging for ELs in Your Classroom

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VirtuEL20-Creating a Sense of Belonging for ELs in Our Classrooms

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Ready, Set, Co-Teach

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Co-teaching is complex all the time. Add in a virtual or remote environment and it exponentially compounds those complexities (Friend 2020). The good news is many of the best practices in the brick-and-mortar classroom can easily be transferred online. However, there are also adjustments that need to be made in order to maximize our effectiveness as co-teachers during this time.

Treat virtual co-teaching as a new relationship (in many ways it is).

Whether a new co-teacher or a veteran, to set your partnership up for success consider completing a new co-teaching contract. In many ways virtual co-teaching is a new kind of relationship and working out the nuts and bolts and having the vital conversations is essential to starting out on the right foot.

Co-construct a plan for routine collaboration.

Setting a schedule for consistent collaboration is nothing new. However, we didn't want to leave it out because it is so much easier to get overwhelmed and disconnect when we're not face-to-face. Set a regular day/time to meet and keep it. Look at your combined responsibilities and make sure you schedule enough co-planning time each week to effectively complete lessons and tasks. In some ways our schedules are more flexible when working remotely, so you may end up with more time for collaboration. Take advantage!

Prioritize and expand co-planning for both synchronous and asynchronous learning.

We always say there is no co-teaching without co-planning and that is even more true remotely. The good news is planning can be done just as effectively remotely. Work with your co-teacher to develop schedules that allow for live co-teaching whenever possible. When planning asynchronous learning, consider recording the lessons together. If this is not possible for whatever reason, at the very minimum co-plan every lesson together to integrate content and language and scaffold learning tasks.

Utilize break out room for alternative, parallel & station teaching.

Break out rooms are a game changer because they allow co-teachers to employ alternative, parallel and station teaching virtually. If you're using Zoom, creating and utilizing break out rooms is simple. Here's a tutorial:
Break out room tutorial (Zoom)
Unfortunately, if you're like us and using Google Meet, it's a little more work (though not impossible). The good news is, according to Google, a breakout room feature is in development. Until then you have a couple of options. The first option is to create parallel meets. Here's a tutorial:
Break out room tutorial (Google Meet)
The second option is to download a breakout room chromebook extension. Disclaimer: We have not personally tried a breakout room extension. If you do, please let us know how it goes!
Google Meet Attendees & Breakout Rooms Extension

Strategically co-plan for student interaction every 3 minutes.

Keeping students engaged in the virtual classroom can be challenging. Students have many distractions and responsibilities at home that may affect focus. When planning lessons, use the 3:1 rule. For every 3 minutes of instruction, at least one minute of interaction. Expecting students to talk, type, or tap (click) every three minutes will not only keep them engaged, but will also make the content more accessible for students because we are chunking the material into easily digestible pieces.

Closely monitor student participation and provide appropriate and specific feedback.

Data on student participation and engagement is powerful information, especially for remote learning. Since we cannot be with students face-to-face, co-teachers can use this data to support students and (hopefully) prevent learning loss. Discuss how you will track participation and respond to attendance challenges.

Additionally, set up a feedback-oriented learning system with your co-teacher. Decide how and when you will deliver feedback that is:

Consider using student-friendly rubrics, checklists & self-assessments to engage students in self-reflection. Quick Tip: If you are already assigning work to students in Google Classroom, make sure that you take advantage of their "comment bank" feature - which allows teachers to create a series of comments before reviewing assignments and add those comments to student work quickly and easily. That's a huge win for meaningful feedback because it means that you can write a thoughtful comment once, and add it to student assignments again and again without having to retype it!

Comment Bank Feature in Google Classroom:
How to Set Up Doc Tutorial Video

Offer virtual office hours for students and families.

Communication with students and families becomes even more important in the virtual classroom. Opening up your office hours to families allows for them to be involved in the students' education and helps them when they are "teaching at home." Last spring we had great success with this and it minimized the amount of clarifying texts, emails and calls we received throughout the day. So, in the long run, inviting families into office hours actually saved us time and students were producing higher-quality work since their parents/guardians understood the objectives and instructions. Plus, it's just another way to strengthen relationships with students' families and truly partner with them for student success.

For virtual team teaching, allow students to see both teachers.

Just like in the brick-and-mortar classroom, in order to achieve and sustain parity, it is vital that students see both teachers on a regular basis. Ask yourselves: How are we both truly present in remote instruction whether synchronous or asynchronous (Friend 2020)?

For asynchronous video lessons, consider recording with both teachers videos on. Our district requires the use of Google Meet for live learning but we record our asynchronous video lessons using Zoom because it easily allows for this. It's free for recordings up to 40 minutes.

Identify each other's strengths and designate roles and responsibilities accordingly.

Strengths-based collaboration not only values both parties skills and experience, but it's also more efficient and effective. We can complete jobs and tasks that we are good at in less time and with higher quality. Additionally, when we can only collaborate remotely, it's imperative that co-teachers are able to rely on each other to accomplish their agreed-upon responsibilities. We are more likely to feel comfortable if we have these conversations and maximize our strengths.

Guiding Questions:

What are our respective strengths?

How can we use them to our advantage as we co-plan and co-instruct?

What roles are a "best-fit" for each of us?

Give yourself and your co-teacher grace (these are unprecedented times).

Most importantly, breathe. These are highly stressful, unpredictable times. Everyone is doing their best to learn and improve as we go. Empathy, compassion, understanding and flexibility are crucial in this journey. Wellbeing comes first, always.

Sources:

Quick Take: Co-teaching with Remote Learning (Friend & the Council for Exceptional Children 2020)

Co-teaching in an Age of Remote Learning (Beninghof & Kunkel 2020)

Co-Teaching During Distance Learning: Tips for Partnering Virtuall y (Hodnett 2020)

How to Co-Teach from your Couch (Murawski & Karten for ASCD 2020)

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10 Best Practices for Virtual Co-teaching

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Co-teaching is complex all the time. Add in a virtual or remote environment and it exponentially compounds those complexities (Friend 2020). The good news is many of the best practices in the brick-and-mortar classroom can easily be transferred online. However, there are also adjustments that need to be made in order to maximize our effectiveness as co-teachers during this time.

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NYU Steinhardt

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Resources for Parents during the COVID-19 school closures

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Important information for parentsof ELLs during the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) school closures

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Best Practices in Scheduling for English Learner Education

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Best Practices in Scheduling for English Learner Education

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SupportEd

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Resources for Anti-Bias and Anti-Racism Education

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Resources for Anti-Bias and Anti-Racism Education

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SupportEd, 2020

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How to Support Culturally Responsive Instruction in Your School

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How to Support Culturally Responsive Instruction in Your School

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Snyder, 2018

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Practical Strategies and Resources for EL Distance Learning

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Practical Strategies and Resources for EL Distance Learning

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Krimmel, 2020

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Note: This post is a guest blog written by Dr. Eugenia Krimmel. Dr. Krimmel is the founder of CollegeESL.com and an ESL Instructional Coach at Commonwealth Charter Academy in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

Countless schools across the country are temporarily closing their brick and mortar facilities to help minimize the spread of COVID-19 with many schools moving instruction online. As disruptive and unwieldy as that may be for teachers and students in general, confusion caused by the sudden switch may be compounded for English learners (ELs) and their families. While educators can find a plethora of articles and how-to guides about teaching K-12 content online, little is written on educating ELs in a distance learning environment. Those seeking a better understanding of K-12 ESL education are advised to look to cyber or virtual schools that have been grappling for many years with the realities of teaching content and language to students whose English skills are still developing.

My work as the ESL Instructional Coach in a fully online public cyber charter school based in Pennsylvania, Commonwealth Charter Academy, involves tackling this very challenge. As a 30-year veteran of ESL teaching, I couple sound Second Language Acquisition (SLA) principles with the capabilities cyber environments allow to help guide those I coach. Together, my partner teachers and I are creating innovative ways to forge effective pathways in this "new frontier of ESL".

This blog post will share points to consider when beginning to teach ELs in a virtual setting, technology logistics, and strategies for effective distance learning of K-12 ELs.

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1. Points to Consider When Beginning to Teach ELs in a Virtual Setting

When we look at students' assets, we should begin by expanding our view beyond what we are required to do according to federal regulations to see more than the language achild uses to communicate, the level of English proficiency, and performance on state-approved assessments.

Broadening our perspectives and a deeper understanding of our students can greatly help us to build more successful programming. To do this, it's critical to learn as much as we can about students' and families' personal, social, cultural, and life experiences and partner with them on behalf of their children's academic and social-emotional development. This information is invaluable for building programming that capitalizes on students' and families' strengths and assets and welcoming and valuing their participation. Whether we do this in a school registration office, in a welcome center, while families are taking a tour of the school, or in a classroom or home visit, it's critical to demonstrate a genuine interest in partnering with families and honoring, valuing, and acknowledging the many strengths that they share with us.

The following suggested questions are intended to bolster our efforts from the start :-

School Policies. Check your school's policies regarding copyright laws, electronic communications, and equitable practices for any cyber learning suggestions you present.

Trusted Translation and Interpretation. Send ELs and their families written or video how-to guides for such extensions or apps like Google Translate , Microsoft Translator , or translation within Microsoft's Immersive Reader to name a few.
TalkingPoints.org is an app that seamlessly translates messages back and forth in the preferred languages of the sender and receiver. Your school's phone-based contract with an on-demand interpretation service may also serve you well in phone conversations with parents and students. Such services have to be pre-arranged by schools with companies like TransPerfect . These service providers are paid sites and have not endorsed this blog in any way.

Please note that any electronic transmissions can be subject to your state's Right-to-Know law; therefore, I stress you check with your school or district's policies before use. Here's an of Pennsylvania's information.

2. Technology Suggestions

Internet Alternatives and Workarounds. This is one of the first thoughts that came to mind for me; what if a student does not have access to the internet or has no computer at home? Normally we would say go to the public library or community center where computers are free for public use, but amidst an outbreak, this is not advisable and many libraries are already closed. Three possible alternatives and/or workarounds include:

Phone capabilities: You could email and text students and/or families if they have phones. Because many of our ELs and their families do not yet read English, I advise using translated messages through various browser translation extensions mentioned previously.

Temporary free providers: Comcast and Spectrum recently announced they would provide free internet services due to COVID-19 school closures.

Paper packets: Paper handouts created and/or compiled by the teacher are better than nothing at all. You can have them available to all students without phones who come to pick up "grab and go" meals at the local school during the closure.

Tech Buddies. ELs may have used laptops in school or have their own, but they may not have had access to various programs and features needed for this new scenario. If their parents do not have computer experience or know technological English, you can assign ELs an online tech buddy to show them how to turn on the translation extension for example. This virtual tech buddy can be a same-language student or a tech savvy classmate.

Provide Keyboard Practice Links. Did you know keyboards are not all the same? Not only can you switch the settings within your laptop or device to a different language keyboard but keyboards themselves are sold with their language-specific arrangement of character keys and letters. Your EL may use an electronic device with a non-English keyboard at home. This may cause an EL to hesitate to chat online because they may type slowly. If you feel your EL needs practice to become a more fluent English key-board writer, you can send links to typing games such as TypingGames.Zone .

Clear and Frequent Communications. Send ELs notices and reminders through email, text, and social media if allowed. Announce virtual class times, assignment reminders, and links to important information such as how to contact your school's Tech Support. Teachers are busy preparing, uploading, and managing the distance learning environment, so be sure to direct ELs to your school's Tech Support. Also, see that your school's Tech Support personnel have access to the on-demand translation and interpretation services to effectively assist non-native English-speaking students and families.

Platforms for Live Streaming. If you live stream lessons, you may wish to consider a live streaming platform, including but not limited to:

Note that zoom has a "translate recorded session transcripts" feature that helps connect the teacher's English speaking with the written transcript in the student's preferred language in "real time." It follows along the spoken script by highlighting the phrases as the teacher speaks, which is a great way for ELs to learn academic language. Please check with your school or district to ensure any platform you use falls within their security guidelines.
Explore more: What is scaffolding instruction?
3. Strategies for EL Distance Learning
Two Types of Cyber Learning Environments for ELs At-A-Glance
I'll next describe the two types of cyber learning environments-synchronous and asynchronous-and considerations for ELs.

There are advantages and disadvantages to synchronous and asynchronous instruction. In a nutshell, asynchronous lacks the variations in human interaction that allow for language acquisition through negotiated meaning and social clues. Synchronous lacks the time for ELs to process receptive input and the rehearsal time needed to produce English as a second or new language. For these reasons, I recommend that a quality conversion to online EL instruction requires a balance of the two.

Balance of Synchronous and Asynchronous Instruction. Balanced cyber instruction for ELs utilizes all 4 domains in delivery of instruction in order to develop ELs' SWRL - skills of Speaking, Writing, Reading, and Listening.

To that end, a program cannot be only asynchronous read-and-write tasks, nor is an effective ESL instructional program only live synchronous lessons with little opportunity to develop literacy skills. The balance of how much of each type rests in our understanding of SLA research. Beginner ELs need more comprehensible input through physical modeling and visuals. Total Physical Response (TPR) activities in live synchronous lessons as well as through asynchronous tasks provide this learning opportunity. While more advanced students can comprehend written content better, they still need oral language practice. I recommend that you plan your program and/or lessons according to your ELs' proficiency levels:

Model, Model, Model! Establish and model virtual classroom rules and expectations. If your instruction or assessments involve an asynchronous discussion task, for example, be sure to post a model of acceptable and unacceptable response. Simply writing "good idea" or "I agree" does not demonstrate the student's ability to meet the task objective. Teachers also have to model class dialogue through sentence starters and frames like Talk Moves you can show on the screen share or white board in the virtual classroom. Flipgrid is an asynchronous platform that will benefit ELs because they can both listen to classmates' and teachers' oral responses as well as record their own spoken responses. Lesson Creation, Organization, and Collaboration Platforms.

Lesson Creation, Organization, and Collaboration Platforms. Teachers can provide visually engaging content instruction, practice, and assessments through a multitude of free and paid subscription platforms that allow teachers to create a full lesson or short presentation of mixed media to engage ELs in learning for enhanced comprehension. Cyber schools often use these web-based resources and platforms to curate, create, organize, and collaborate learning experiences:

Nearpod : a student engagement platform

and many more

Learning Resources for ELs.If you have not explored these resources already for your ELs, now is a good time to become more familiar with the features and contents of each which will assist language and content learning. Some examples include:

Moving from a brick and mortar classroom to a distance learning environment can be a daunting task on "both sides of the desk." With some planning with SLA principles in mind, teachers and ELs can grow and learn together in this new frontier of education for ELs.
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For a more comprehensive list of websites beneficial to EL instruction in both distance learning and traditional classroom environments, review the comprehensive list Deerfield Beach School District (FL) assembled. Very impressive!

Note: has newsletters and fact sheets for EL students and parents about the COVID-19 outbreak in English, Spanish, and Chinese.

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Practical Strategies and Resources for EL Distance Learning

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Maximize the benefit of learning a new language with SupportEd's practical strategies for EL distance learning.

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EL Equity in Action Self-Assessment Tool

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EL Equity in Action Self-Assessment Tool

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Ellevation, adapted from SupportEd

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The Five Pillars of Equitably Grading ELLs

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The Five Pillars of Equitably Grading ELLs

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Staehr Fenner, Kester & Snyder, 2018

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In our work with educators of English language learners (ELLs), we often find that there is a lack of resources in our field about how to equitably grade ELLs. This blog post offers some insights and ideas that we hope will spur further discussion.

First, we'll share the reason behind our focus on this topic, as well as a summary of challenges related to grading ELLs. Next, we'll give you a brief overview of related research before sharing our own recommendations developed in response to our research, which we call the Five Pillars of Equitably Grading ELLs. (You can find a related infographic on the SupportEd website.) We'll end the post by providing a space for you to share your thoughts, add some additional resources, and share some references with you.

Resources from Larry Ferlazzo

This post complements the following from Larry Ferlazzo:

We also produced a webinar with Larry, available on the SupportEd website (scroll down to "The Five Pillars of Grading ELs Equitably).

COVID-19 updates

For more information on grading equitably during COVID-19, see the following:

Why this topic?

As part of developing a blended ELL assessment professional development course for the Mid-State Regional Bilingual Education Resource Network in Central New York State, we were asked to create a component on grading ELLs. We thought our task would be straightforward enough, but once we started researching the topic, we found very limited resources specifically for ELLs.

In an effort to gather more information, we reached out to our online professional learning network. Diane posted the following questions on the Colorín Colorado Facebook page, the Advocating for ELLs Facebook page, and Twitter in early January 2018:
We're doing a little research on grading ELs at SupportEd. Could you please share your answers to these questions? 1. What are the challenges that you and your colleagues may have in grading ELs? 2. What are some strategies or tools that you find particularly helpful in grading ELs? 3. Do you have any exemplary EL-friendly report card samples you can share?
The responses were numerous and came quickly. Many of our online colleagues shared that they were also looking for guidance around this topic. We also took part in a Twitter #ELLCHAT on January 8 on the same topic with a similar response from colleagues around the country. (You can see a transcript from that Twitter chat by registering for a free account from Participate.com.) We'll summarize the top three challenges that we read about next. Please note we don't share answers to questions 2 and 3 since we incorporate some resources to address these questions in our Five Pillars.

Challenges from the Field

The challenges we saw most often were:

Issues with the structure and content of report cards: Teachers mentioned not having an ELL-specific report card, and they also mentioned not being able to adapt their curriculum or school report card so that the ELA skills graded are "on level". (Example: 4th grade beginner student failing ELA because she does not meet grade four ELA standards and is performing at a grade two level.)

Lack of validity in grading content: One comment was, "Sometimes a child's grades are just a reflection of how well the teacher taught to their learning style, rather than a true representation of what the child knows." Another colleague wrote, "Separating ELD from content knowledge! So integral to each other - how to assess accurately??" She noted these are listed separately on report card, but there is no tool to assess them.

Challenges with school or district policy: Often, educators commented that existing policies at the school and district level don't address the unique considerations inherent in grading ELLs, such as inflexible time limits for exemption from letter grades regardless of the students' language proficiency and educational backgrounds.

Synthesis of Research on Grading Challenges for Teachers of ELLs

The challenges our colleagues reported on social media are in line with what the research tells us, namely that there are many obstacles that may prevent ELLs from benefiting from equitable grading practices. Here we summarize some of findings from relevant research. Please note that this is not an exhaustive literature review!

Research shows that grading, even among teachers at schools with clear grading policies, is often inconsistent (Reeves, 2008; Seeley, 1994). This inconsistency can lead to inequitable grading practices and even failure for certain groups of students, such as ELLs (Waldsburger, 2012). Many teachers believe that report card grades should be based solely on students' mastery of grade-level content standards, which can be challenging for some students. Jung and Guskey (2012) note that while an ESOL teacher may complete a supplemental progress report for ELLs, that piece of assessment information does not often support the general education teacher in assigning grades.

Another obstacle in grading in general is that many classroom teachers feel uncertain about how to hold all students to the same expectations for performance as other students (Guskey, 2011). Teachers can find it challenging to differentiate instruction and grading for ELLs while trying to meet the needs of the other students in their classroom (Pawan & Craig, 2011). Even those teachers who are able to differentiate instruction may find it difficult to score learning tasks and assign grades based on differentiated student work.

Still another challenge that stands in the way of equitable grading for all students is the belief that grades should be used to identify and maximize differences among students (Guskey, 2011). Many teachers feel that there should be students who perform well and students who perform poorly, such as with a normal bell-shaped curve. Jung and Guskey (2012) share that teachers often grapple with questions of fairness, such as giving a passing grade to an ELL who did not meet grade-level content standards. However, Guskey (2011) notes that when teachers identify what they want students to learn and be able to do and when they do all they can to support students in meeting these goals, it is possible for all students to obtain high scores on academic tasks and thereby receive high grades.

The literature we reviewed notes several recommendations for improving ELL grading systems as a whole (e.g., Waldsburger, 2012). For example, one recommendation is not giving letter grades to newly arrived ELLs who are beginning to learn English. Another option is to provide narrative assessments only or use a system of pass, fail, and high pass that measures effort, language growth, and content standard mastery based on students' levels of language proficiency. Tomlinson (2001) suggests providing two grades for all students. The first would be a traditional, standards-based grade, and the second would be a grade based on an individual student's progress towards language and content learning goals. Similarly, several authors (e.g., Jung & Guskey, 2010; Tomlinson, Moon, & Imbeau, 2015) recommend three grades for differentiated classrooms based on a student's product (mastery of content), process (effort, motivation, and participation), and progress (improvement over time).

Our Recommendations: The Five Pillars of Equitably Grading ELLs

We drew from our colleagues' responses, the research we synthesized on grading ELLs, our review of best practices in ELL grading, as well as our own expertise in the field to create five recommendations for equitably grading ELLs. We call them the Five Pillars of Equitably Grading ELLs. For each pillar, we provide a few steps to incorporate that pillar. In defining and describing the five pillars, we fully realize how intertwined effective instruction and equitable grading are. You simply can't fairly grade ELLs if you haven't already positioned them to access the instruction of content.

Pillar 1: Identify the content and language standard(s).

In setting up a system in which ELLs can be graded fairly, teachers first need to define which content as well as language standards they would like their students to meet. Hand in hand with these two sets of standards go content and language learning objectives for ELLs based on these standards. We recommend that teachers share these content and language learning objectives with ELLs using "student-friendly" versions to the degree possible. Also, we recommend that teachers identify success criteria for ELLs in meeting the objectives, and share models of strong work samples with ELLs so that students are aware of teachers' expectations. Model work samples should also include models produced by ELLs at different levels of proficiency so ELLs can see themselves reflected in exemplary student work.

Pillar 2: Incorporate scaffolding to support ELLs in achieving the standards.

Depending on their level of English proficiency, most ELLs will not be able to access grade-level content standards without appropriate scaffolding. We recommend using three types of scaffolds in the areas of materials, instruction, and strategic grouping of students to work toward removing linguistic barriers for ELLs. In implementing scaffolds, we recommend you do so based on ELLs' English language proficiency level as well as individual ELL strengths and needs and also the demands of the particular lesson (Staehr Fenner & Snyder, 2017). In addition, we recommend that teachers set expectations with students for the gradual removal of scaffolding, as appropriate. ELLs should be aware that scaffolds are temporary and will be removed as they gain language proficiency and content knowledge and skills. Further, we stress that it's crucial for ESOL and content teachers to collaborate to determine appropriate scaffolds for their ELLs to meaningfully access content.

Pillar 3: Support ELLs' progress toward mastery.

We believe that grades should not be used punitively for any students, and especially not for ELLs who are already more inclined to drop out of school than non-ELLs. Therefore, we suggest providing ELLs sufficient time and opportunities for learning, such as offering " lunch bunch" and after-school opportunities to do schoolwork with guidance from teachers, tutors, or peers. In addition, we recommend focusing on ELLs' progress towards mastery as well as their achievement. It is important to underscore that we are evaluating ELLs' progress towards mastery, not just whether they have mastered the objective or not. In spite of careful scaffolding, all grade-level standards may not always be 100% achievable for certain ELLs. It may be more motivating for an ELL to recognize his or her progress than to see an achievement score alone.

Also, since many ELLs have responsibilities such as work and taking care of siblings outside of school, they may not be able to complete all assignments on time. Therefore, we recommend allowing ELLs to turn in some work late without penalty if they are in communication with the teacher about the unique circumstances. Moreover, late work may be a sign that an ELL is needing more support to be able to access the content, understand the directions, and/or complete the task. Finally, if homework is given, we recommend using it as an opportunity for non-graded practice.

Pillar 4: Assess ELLs' progress equitably.

In order to equitably assess ELLs, teachers need to design assessments and supports that allow ELLs to access and demonstrate mastery of content and/or language objectives. To equitably assess ELLs' progress, it is critical to also scaffold assessments (not just instruction) for ELLs based on individual ELL strengths and needs. For example, depending on an ELL's level of English proficiency, that student could be provided sentence frames, images, or a word bank to lighten the "linguistic load" of the assessment to be able to provide a more valid picture of what that student knows and can do in a particular content area. During instruction, ELLs should have ample classroom opportunity to practice with any scaffold that will also be provided during an assessment. Another aspect of equitably assessing ELLs' progress comes in the form of group work. While we recommend strategically grouping ELLs as a form of scaffolding instruction, for grading group work we recommend assigning individual scores instead of a group grade to students, including ELLs. In this way, individual students aren't penalized if all students aren't contributing equally to a particular group project.

Pillar 5: Involve ELLs, families, & colleagues.

We have often found that ELLs and their families do not have a full understanding of grade-level expectations, how grades are given, and what each section of a report card means. We advocate for explaining grade level expectations, the grading process, and report cards to ELLs in their home language whenever possible. In addition, ELLs and their families should be involved in the entire grading process, beginning the school year or their enrollment in school with an overview of what the grading expectations and processes look like. Such meetings are also a good time for ELLs and their families to set goals for their learning. Finally, while collaboration and co-teaching have been on many teachers' radar for some time now, co-grading may not be. We strongly recommend that ESOL and content teachers co-grade, collaborating to assign grades to ELLs on formative and summative assessments as well as discuss final grades on report cards. In that way, the level of collaboration will strengthen, and all teachers can leverage their expertise when it comes to ELLs.

Your Thoughts

While we offer our ideas on guidance around equitably grading ELLs, we also encourage you to share your thoughts here. If you have any samples of ELL-friendly report cards, grading policies, success stories, or additional considerations, please share them in the blog post comments!

Additional Resources

References

Guskey, T. (2011). Five obstacles to grading reform. Educational Leadership, 69(3), 16-21.

Jung, L. A., & Guskey, T. R. (2010). Grading exceptional learners. Educational Leadership, 67(5), 31-35.

Jung, L.A. & Guskey, T. R. (2012). Grading exceptional and struggling learners. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.

Pawan, F. & Craig, D. (2011). ESL and content area teacher responses to discussions on English language learner instruction. TESOL Journal, 2(3), 293-311.

Reeves, D. (2008). Leading to change: Effective grading practices. Educational Leadership, 65(5), 85-87.

Seeley, M.M. (1994). The Mismatch Between Assessment and Grading. National Education Association. National Education Association. Retrieved from http://www.nea.org/teachexperience/ ask040326.html.

Staehr Fenner, D., & Snyder, S. (2017). Unlocking English learners' potential: Strategies for making content accessible. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.

Tomlinson, C. A. (2001). Grading for success. Educational Leadership, 58(6), 12-15.

Tomlinson, C.A., Moon, T. and Imbeau, M.B. (2015). Assessment and student success in a differentiated classroom, Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Retrieved from http://www.ascd.org/ASCD/pdf/siteASCD/publications/assessment-and-di-whitepaper.pdf

Waldspurger, T. (2012, March). A? B? C? Assigning meaningful grades for ELLs. Presented at the TESOL Convention, Philadelphia, PA.

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The Five Pillars of Equitably Grading ELLs

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How can teachers equitably grade ELLs? Learn more about challenges, related research and resources, and recommendations developed by the Diane Staehr Fenner, Jill Kester, and Sydney Snyder.

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Understanding the Civil Rights of English Learners with Dr. Ayanna Cooper

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Understanding the Civil Rights of English Learners with Dr. Ayanna Cooper

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Highest Aspirations Podcast, Ellevation

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Director of ELs Juan Corona and Assistant Superintendent Maribel Taboada discuss implementing remote communication strategies for students and families, providing teachers with real time data for their ELs, planning for differentiated instruction and more. This episode is part of our "In This Together" docuseries, where we follow the triumphs and challenges of a cross section of EL program directors as they strive to deliver equitable experiences for students this school year. You can find all episodes (video and audio) on our "In This Together" channel. You can also find free tools to help ensure your English learners and their families receive equitable access to instruction and services on our Equity in Acti

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S3/E13: Understanding the Civil Rights of English Learners with Dr. Ayanna Cooper by Highest Aspirations

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S3/E13: Understanding the Civil Rights of English Learners with Dr. Ayanna Cooper by Highest Aspirations

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What are civil rights of English learners and how can schools sometimes unintentionally violate them? How can civil rights issues affect EL reclassification rates, access to advanced courses, and more? Why do violations happen and how can schools avoid them? We discuss these questions and more with Dr. Ayanna Cooper.

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English Learners Are Home with Their Home Languages, and That’s Okay

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English Learners Are Home with Their Home Languages, and That’s Okay

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Williams, 2020

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At last count, forty-eight states and the District of Columbia have announced that public schools would remain closed for the rest of the academic year in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Experts warn that this loss of learning time will be catastrophic for kids in historically underserved communities in the United States. Children from low-income families, for instance, are already more likely to perform worse on academic benchmarks than their more privileged counterparts. In part, this is because their schools are more likely to have the worst- and fewest-public education resources. Unfortunately, these-and other historically underserved-students are also disproportionately likely to face the most dire circumstances during the pandemic.

English-learning students (ELs) face unique, intersecting challenges during the crisis. Most ELs are children of color and their families are disproportionately low income, which is to say that they are frequently harmed by racial and socioeconomic inequities in American public education. But these children are also, by definition, continuing to develop their English language skills at school. In addition, while the majority of ELs are native-born American citizens (they're usually second- or third-generation immigrants), many are part of families led by immigrant adults. Recent shifts in immigration policies and their enforcement have created new anxieties and uncertainty for immigrant communities and ELs' families. And sadly, Congress has excluded undocumented immigrants and their families from some of their key pandemic relief efforts.

All of this means that education leaders should focus on their EL students during the public health crisis-and that new attention should be recognized as an opportunity. As educators, administrators, and policymakers seek ways to help ELs succeed, they should use this moment to reassess some of the most pernicious misconceptions about what these students lack and need, but more importantly, what they already have.

Reaching ELs While Schools Are Closed

The response to the COVID-19 crisis has largely focused on efforts to convert in-person schooling into a remote setting-often by moving curricula and instruction online. The loss of physical classrooms is forcing schools to think critically about teaching and learning. What elements of instruction can be conducted remotely (online or otherwise)? Which of those elements are essential? How can students engage with material given limited screen time, energy, online access, and so forth?

Above all, though, schools are learning just how much families matter. After all, many ELs have caregivers who aren't constrained in the same ways as teachers are right now. Parents, grandparents, older siblings, and extended family members are in the same physical spaces as children, able to assist and amplify-or ignore, distract from, and undermine-teaching and learning. The more that these family members understand what EL students are doing in online sessions or homework packets, the better they'll be able to support them.

For ELs' linguistically diverse families, however, engagement with schools has long been a unique challenge. The American teaching force is overwhelmingly monolingual and English-dominant, while ELs usually speak a non-English language at home. The majority of ELs are enrolled in schools that conduct academic instruction exclusively in English; many educators and policymakers have assumed that this sort of total immersion in English is the best way to foster ELs' linguistic and academic development.

But research suggests otherwise. There is significant evidence that strong development of ELs' home language abilities promotes long-term academic success and English acquisition for these students.

First, to engage ELs' families, schools need to find ways to bridge linguistic differences between families and educators. This starts with effective communication-ELs' families will be best able to support teachers when they're aware of assignments and expectations. There are a range of automated translation tools to help with this purpose.

But communication is just the first step. Meaningful engagement of linguistically and culturally diverse families is also important-but this has been a significant challenge for U.S. schools for decades. As schools reform their models to meet this new moment, therefore, they should take the opportunity to rethink how they approach ELs' families, and shift to recognizing the significant linguistic and cultural assets that are present in ELs' home lives.

Recognizing ELs' Languages and Families as Assets

For too long, U.S. education policies have approached ELs almost exclusively in deficit-laden terms. For many years, the federal government referred to these students as LEPs: "Limited English Proficient" students. While the government's current term, "English Learners," is an improvement, it still defines these students by what they lack, rather than by the skills and knowledge that they have. What's more, schools and educators have often built on these unhelpful foundations to marginalize ELs' home languages and cultures- often sidelining their families in the process. Across the country and throughout U.S. history, ELs' families routinely report educators discouraging them from using their home languages with their children.

But now that schools are relying on EL students' families to support distance learning efforts, it's time to take advantage of these students' home languages and cultural resources. Practically speaking, this means encouraging families to sing, talk, read, play, and otherwise engage with their young children in whichever languages they speak best. Research on virtual and/or remote learning best practices for ELs is scarce, but there have been some promising findings from structured family engagement programs, such as ReadyRosie's. These can provide video activities in families' home languages and guiding tips that help caregivers understand and support children's development.

Even better, there are a host of high-quality academic materials available online across a growing range of languages-and many of these are freely accessible because of the pandemic. Schools should identify and share multilingual resources that align with the academic content their classes are working on via distance learning. For instance, the Center for Applied Linguistics and the Government of Mexico have recently published a number of Spanish-language educational materials online, including textbooks, videos, and more. Finally, the EL Success Forum provides guidance for how educators can evaluate and improve their curricula.

Best of all, when EL students and their peers return to campus-hopefully this fall-schools will have developed some new awareness of how ELs' home languages can contribute to these students' success. Even after social distancing winds down, there's no reason for schools to return to their old English-only approaches to ELs' language development.
Are you working with English learners while schools are closed? The Century Foundation hosts a temporary listserv for educators, researchers, and advocates working with ELs or on issues related to ELs. Email [email protected] if you'd be interested in joining.
header photo: Recovering from COVID-19, Guatemalan immigrant Junior, 7, tries to log-in to his school ChromeBook in Stamford, Connecticut. Source: John Moore/Getty Images

Tags: early education, English Language Learners, school closures, covid-19

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English Learners Are Home with Their Home Languages, and That's Okay

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At last count, forty-eight states and the District of Columbia have announced that public schools would remain closed for the rest of the academic year in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Experts warn that this loss of learning time will be catastrophic for kids in historically underserved communities in the United States.

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Overcoming Barriers to EL Family Engagement

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Overcoming Barriers to EL Family Engagement

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Snyder, 2019

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5 Tips to Support English Learners During Distance Learning and Beyond

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5 Tips to Support English Learners During Distance Learning and Beyond

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Ellevation

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Ellevation: EL Program Management Tools for K-12

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In the wake of abrupt closures, schools, teachers, and community organizations have worked around the clock to mobilize communities all across the world and prepare students and families for distance learning at home. We've been talking in depth with educators who are bravely adjusting to challenging situations.

From supporting newcomer families to implementing remote classroom resources, we have leveraged the power of the EL Community to highlight the issues that matter most to educators who serve English learners. Through these conversations, we have learned some common lessons for how to best support English Learners at home during distance learning:

1. Make sure students and families' basic mental and physical needs are met first.

Reach out to families. Ask them what they need before you tell them what their child needs to learn. So many of our students rely on regular meals at school. Schools and districts have made remarkable strides to help students and families access food and basic supplies through food banks, donations, meal packages, or grab-and-go programs. In Altamonte Springs, Florida, paraprofessional Hugo Cancel calls families individually to make sure they know what services are out there and how to access them.

2. Use audio-visual resources and peers to get students talking and listening to language.

Student-centered learning at home is hard. Under normal circumstances, learning language sounds messy and noisy and productive. But now, many students are muted in a virtual classroom while others are working through printed worksheets at home. Either way, it is a much bigger challenge for students to engage with language production. Hugo Cancel uses YouTube to upload lessons he creates on Zoom for students to listen to. In Waltham, Massachusetts, ELL Administrator Sara Hamerla connects English Learners with native speakers in World Language and other content classes to practice and learn from each other virtually.

3. Be explicit about teaching how to use the technology.

Newcomers with limited or interrupted formal education might not be used to using technology on a daily basis. In Manchester, New Hampshire, EL teacher Elizabeth Leone encourages educators to meet students and families where they are and include the little things (like how to capitalize letters or make an @ symbol) in addition to teaching how to use Google Docs and Google classroom tools. It takes practice to learn these new skills.

4. Create short videos and scaffolded materials that don't take a lot of data to access or download.

Distance learning can present challenges and expose the inequitable access to computers and WiFi across the country. Some districts are able to quickly distribute thousands of devices to families, but many students still rely on their phones and data plans to access content. Hugo Cancel makes his videos short and to the point so it takes less data and time for students to access. Sara Hamerla and her team of teachers work together to look closely at printed assignments to anticipate where a English Learner might struggle and provide scaffolding before sending it home.

5. Don't reinvent the wheel.

Educators around the world have come together to curate lessons, materials, and resources to help students succeed in a new learning environment.
This blog post was originally written by Ellie Gray. Ellie is a Master's student in at Harvard's Technology and Innovation in Education program, graduating this spring. She has a background as a Math teacher across multiple grades and served as a leader of technology and data integration in classrooms. She's fascinated by learning technologies that support students and teachers become their best selves.

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5 Tips to Support English Learners During Distance Learning and Beyond

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In the wake of abrupt closures, schools, teachers, and community organizations have worked around the clock to mobilize communities all across the world and prepare students and families for distance learning at home. We've been talking in depth with educators who are bravely adjusting to challenging situations.

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Co-planning, Co-teaching, and Collaboration for EL Instruction with Andrea Honigsfeld and Maria G. Dove

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Co-planning, Co-teaching, and Collaboration for EL Instruction with Andrea Honigsfeld and Maria G. Dove

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Highest Aspirations Podcast, Ellevation

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How do we go about creating successful co-teaching and co-planning partnerships to support English learners? What are some protocols that co-teaching and co-planning pairs should have in place to help mitigate any conflicts that may arise between co-teachers? How can school leaders support and amplify the practice to maximize impact on students? We discuss these questions and much more in our conversation with Andrea Honigsfeld and Maria G. Dove. Together, they have co-authored five best-selling Corwin books, including their most recent, Coteaching for English Learners: A Guide to Collaborative Planning, Instruction, Assessment, and Reflection (2018). Andrea Honigsfeld, EdD, is Associate Dean and Professor in the Division of Education at Molloy College, Rockville Centre, New York. She directs a doctoral program in Educational Leadership for Diverse Learning Communities. Before entering the field of teacher education, she was an English-as-a-foreign-language teacher in Hungary (Grades 5-8 and adult) and an English-as-a-second-language teacher in New York City (Grades K-3 and adult). She also taught Hungarian at New York University. She was the recipient of a doctoral fellowship at St. John's University, New York, where she conducted research on individualized instruction and learning styles. She has published extensively on working with English language learners and providing individualized instruction based on learning style preferences. She received a Fulbright Award to lecture in Iceland in the fall of 2002. In the past twelve years, she has been presenting at conferences across the United States, Great Britain, Denmark, Sweden, the Philippines, and the United Arab Emirates. She frequently offers staff development, primarily focusing on effective differentiated strategies and collaborative practices for English-as-a-second-language and general-education teachers. Maria G. Dove, EdD, is Associate Professor in the Division of Education at Molloy College, Rockville Centre, New York, where she teaches preservice and inservice teachers about the research and best practices for developing effective programs and school policies for English learners. Before entering the field of higher education, she worked for over thirty years as an English-as-a-second-language teacher in public school settings (Grades K-12) and in adult English language programs in Nassau County, New York. In 2010, she received the Outstanding ESOL Educator Award from New York State Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (NYS TESOL). She frequently provides professional development for educators throughout the United States on the teaching of diverse students. She also serves as a mentor for new ESOL teachers as well as an instructional coach for general-education teachers and literacy specialists. She has published articles and book chapters on collaborative teaching practices, instructional leadership, and collaborative coaching.

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Encore Episode: Co-planning, Co-teaching and Collaboration for EL Instruction with Andrea Honigsfeld and Maria G. Dove by Highest Aspirations

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Encore Episode: Co-planning, Co-teaching and Collaboration for EL Instruction with Andrea Honigsfeld and Maria G. Dove by Highest Aspirations

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How do we go about creating successful co-teaching and co-planning partnerships to support English learners? What are some protocols that co-teaching and co-planning pairs should have in place to help mitigate any conflicts that may arise between co-teachers? How can school leaders support and amplify the practice to maximize impact on students?

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Co-Planning and Co-Teaching for English Learners

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Co-Planning and Co-Teaching for English Learners

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Ellevation, 2020

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In this edition of Whiteboard Wednesday, we share tips and strategies on co-planning and co-teaching. You can find links to resources in the video and in the comment section below. Leave a comment with your ideas or feedback!

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Co-Planning and Co-Teaching for English Learners

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In this edition of Whiteboard Wednesday, we share tips and strategies on co-planning and co-teaching. You can find links to resources in the video and in the comment section below. Leave a comment with your ideas or feedback!

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Collaborating with Content Teachers: Co-Planning and Co-Teaching with Tan Huynh

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Collaborating with Content Teachers: Co-Planning and Co-Teaching with Tan Huynh

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Highest Aspirations Podcast, Ellevation

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S2/E20: Collaborating with Content Teachers: Co-Planning and Co-Teaching with Tan Huynh by Highest Aspirations

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S2/E20: Collaborating with Content Teachers: Co-Planning and Co-Teaching with Tan Huynh by Highest Aspirations

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How might EL Specialists establish and nurture relationships with content teachers who work with ELs? What are some simple strategies that can help make co-planning and co-teaching easier for all kinds of teachers? How can we encourage content teachers allow their EL students to create as a more effective way of learning.

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Coach Teachers to Lesson Plan Like a Pro: Improving Instruction for your ELLs

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Coach Teachers to Lesson Plan Like a Pro: Improving Instruction for your ELLs

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Ellevation

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Learn how the Assistant Superintendent of Teaching & Learning in Daviess County Schools, KY is supporting teachers to confidently plan instruction for English Language Learners. In this recording, you will hear discussion on how teachers can use simple, and meaningful instructional activities to support language development AND enhance the learning of academic content.

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Coach Teachers to Lesson Plan Like a Pro: Improving Instruction for

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Learn how the Assistant Superintendent of Teaching & Learning in Daviess County Schools, KY is supporting teachers to confidently plan instruction for English Language Learners. In this recording, you will hear discussion on how teachers can use simple, and meaningful instructional activities to support language development AND enhance the learning of academic content.

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6 Steps to Making Texts Accessible for ELs

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6 Steps to Making Texts Accessible for ELs

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Kester, 2019

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Engaging Teachers to Improve Outcomes for ELLs

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Engaging Teachers to Improve Outcomes for ELLs

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Ellevation

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Learn how the Assistant Superintendent of Teaching & Learning in Daviess County Schools, KY is improving instruction for English Language Learners. From supporting job-embedded professional development to understanding how to better scaffold instruction, we share powerful insights into how you can build success with ELLs in your district.

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Engaging Teachers to Improve Outcomes for ELLs

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Learn how the Assistant Superintendent of Teaching & Learning in Daviess County Schools, KY is improving instruction for English Language Learners. From supporting job-embedded professional development to understanding how to better scaffold instruction, we share powerful insights into how you can build success with ELLs in your district.

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Scaffolding Instruction for English Learners

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Scaffolding Instruction for English Learners

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Staehr Fenner, 2018

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Note: This post first appeared on Education.com June 4, 2018. That piece is titled Scaffolding Instruction for English Learners: A Q&A with Diane Staehr Fenner.
With English learners (ELs) numbering more than 4.8 million and comprising 10 percent of the general school-aged population, all teachers should consider themselves teachers of ELs. To that end, all teachers must have strategies and tools to support ELs in accessing challenging content while helping them acquire academic language. With the right tools, teachers can easily incorporate the instructional strategy of scaffolding into their teaching.

How can teachers acquire these tools? For this, Education.com turns to the EL expertise of Dr. Diane Staehr Fenner, the president of SupportEd, a woman-owned small business based in Washington, DC that provides EL professional development, curriculum and assessment expertise, and programmatic assistance to school districts and states.

What Are Scaffolds?

Dian e Staehr Fenner: First, let's make sure we're all on the same page when it comes to our understanding of scaffolds. According to PaulineGibbons (2015), a scaffold is a temporary support a teacher provides to a student that enables the student to perform a task he or she would not be able to perform alone. This support comes in such forms as classroom materials and/or resources provided to the student, the instructional practices the teacher uses, or even how students are grouped during instruction.1 Scaffolds will vary and change over time as ELs' knowledge of content and academic language increases.2 In fact, our goal when scaffolding for ELs is ultimately for them to be able to perform the task independently and without use of scaffolds.

Scaffolding for ELs should not be limited to scaffolding instruction only, but should also include the scaffolding of assessments as a way of making those assessments more valid for ELs. Imagine not only being instructed in a language you don't understand, but also taking content assessments in that same unfamiliar language. While some teachers may feel that scaffolded assessments give ELs an unfair advantage over proficient students, that is simply not the case. When you remove or diminish the language barriers that might be obstacles for ELs, you increase the validity of that assessment and will be able to more accurately identify their content knowledge and skills. An assessment does not need to look the same for all students, as students can demonstrate what they know and can do in varied ways. 3

In scaffolding an assessment, for example, ELs at beginning levels of English proficiency may demonstrate their understanding of content through non-verbal assessments such as picture sorts, where ELs at higher levels of proficiency may benefit from using sentence stems or frames to complete an assessment. 4 As with scaffolding instruction, as students gain English proficiency, teachers can gradually release scaffolded support on classroom-based assessments. 5

What are different types of scaffolds for ELs?

Diane Staehr Fenner: Scaffolds can be grouped into three categories: Materials and resources, instruction, and student grouping. Our "Categories of Scaffolds and Examples" table shares examples of each category of scaffold, though this list is not exhaustive. In my collaboration with teachers of ELs, I find that many only think scaffolds fit into the "materials and resources" category. Often, they're surprised at the types of scaffolds that we consider to be within the "instruction" and "student grouping" categories. Sometimes, they've been scaffolding for ELs all along but just didn't realize it!

How can I select scaffolds by ELs' English Language Proficiency Level?

Diane Staehr Fenner: Now that you're more familiar with what scaffolds are, as well as the three different categories of scaffolds, the next step is to select and try out some scaffolds for ELs. It can feel a bit daunting to try out a scaffold or two if you haven't done so before. So, I'll give you some guidance to help out. In order to select appropriate scaffolds, you'll need to know your ELs' backgrounds, as well as their academic strengths and needs.

You'll also need to have a sense of the linguistic demands of your instructional tasks to determine which scaffold(s) will best support your ELs in being able to successfully engage with and complete the academic task. Selecting scaffolds can cause us to look at our instructional tasks in a new, exciting way. Instead of simplifying the tasks we give ELs, it is instead the nature of the scaffold that is critical for ELs' success with a particular lesson. 6 As you consider how to scaffold a specific activity, think about the three categories of scaffolds that you may wish to include; you don't have to include all three of them. Your ELs' strengths and needs will vary depending on the academic task that they're working on.

Also, please keep in mind that there are no hard and fast rules for selecting appropriate scaffolds for ELs of varying proficiency levels. Some scaffolds might be developmentally appropriate for all students (e.g., graphic organizers or pair work) and may be used as supports for the whole class, including English proficient students. It is also important to note that an EL's need for a particular scaffold will vary depending on his or her familiarity of the content and the complexity of the task.

The table below provides some general guidelines for you for selecting scaffolds for ELs at different English language proficiency levels or ELP (beginning, intermediate, and advanced). This graphic is adapted from my scaffolding collaboration with Dr. Diane August. Even though this table provides a starting point, I always suggest using your professional judgement when selecting scaffolds.

How can I incorporate scaffolding for ELs into my lesson planning?

Diane Staehr Fenner: Once you have selected a scaffold or two to try out with your ELs, it's time to think a bit more deeply about how you'll incorporate those scaffolds into your instruction. Our "Scaffolded Lesson Planning Checklist" will provide you with some considerations in doing so. In scaffolding instruction, I recommend you constantly reflect on the efficacy of particular scaffolds you use and adjust your instruction appropriately.

How can I collaborate to scaffold ELs' instruction and assessment?

Diane Staehr Fenner: One final consideration in successfully scaffolding instruction and assessment for ELs is to collaborate. As you begin scaffolding your instruction, think of other teachers who could support you in this endeavor. If you're a grade level content teacher, you could turn to an ESOL teacher in your school for resources and advice on how to scaffold a particular lesson. If you're an ESOL teacher, you could offer to work with content teachers to suggest scaffolds for particular lessons and assessments. You also may wish to offer to model the use of scaffolds in a particular lesson. Collaboration is key to successfully implementing scaffolding for ELs.

This is a starting point to help teachers incorporate scaffolds into their instruction for ELs, framed around one chapter in Unlocking English Learners' Potential: Strategies for Making Content Accessible by Dr. Diane Staehr Fenner and Dr. Sydney Snyder. The book offers a toolbox of strategies for teaching ELs and ensuring they can succeed in today's more rigorous classrooms. For more in-depth training on scaffolding for ELs, please see SupportEd's face to face and online professional development.
Sources

Gibbons, P. (2015). Scaffolding Language, Scaffolding Learning: Teaching English Language Learners in the Mainstream Classroom. (2nd ed.) Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Daniel, S., Martin-Beltrán, M., Peercy, M., Silverman, R. (2015). "Beyond "yes or no?" Shifting from over-scaffolding to contingent scaffolding in literacy education with emergent bilingual students." TESOL Journal, 7(2), 393-420.

Gottlieb, M. (2016). Assessing English Language Learners: Bridges to Educational Equity: Connecting Academic Language Proficiency to Student Achievement. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.

August, D., Staehr Fenner, D., & Snyder, S. (2014). "Scaffolding instruction for English language learners: A resource guide for ELA." Retrieved from https://www.engageny.org/resource/scaffolding-instruction-english-language-learners-resource-guides-english-language-arts-and

Gottlieb, M. Katz, A., & Ernst-Slavit, G. (2009). Paper to Practice: Implementing TESOL's PreK-12 English Language Proficiency Standards. Alexandria, VA: TESOL International Association.

Gibbons, P. (2015). Scaffolding Language, Scaffolding Learning: Teaching English Language Learners in the Mainstream Classroom. (2nd ed.) Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

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Scaffolding Instruction for English Learners

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Strategies and tools for educators to support English learners in accessing challenging content while helping them acquire academic language

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Strategies for Grading ELLs in Content Classes

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Strategies for Grading ELLs in Content Classes

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Ferlazzo, 2020

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The new question-of-the-week is:
How do you handle grading for English-language learners in mainstream content classes?
Grading can be one of the banes of a teacher's existence. An added complication can be when an English-language learner is in a "mainstream" content-subject class-what are the best ways a teacher can handle this situation in an equitable way?

Today, Margo Gottlieb, Kristin Spears, Becky Corr, Pamela Mesta, and Olga Reber offer their responses to this question. You can listen to a 10-minute conversation I had with Margo, Kristin, and Becky on my BAM! Radio Show. You can also find a list of, and links to, previous shows here.
Grading shouldn't be "formulaic"
Co-founder and lead developer of WIDA, Margo Gottlieb is an expert in curriculum, instruction, and assessment of language-learners, having started her career as a teacher and currently working with teachers and school leaders across the United States and internationally. Margo is author/co-author of more than a half dozen professional books, including Breaking Down the Wall: Essential Shifts for English Learners' Success (Corwin, 2019):

Grading is an institutional tradition, yet how do you describe it? Is it a metric, as in a number or letter? If so, how much better is a B than a C, or how much more has been learned if your students score 81 (a B) versus 79 (a C)? Does grading represent standards-referenced performance? If so, what is the difference in the designations "making progress" v. "approaching" in representing students' knowledge of grade-level content?

In either instance, what does "grading" mean for English-language learners (ELLs) whose knowledge base is in a language other than the one in which instruction and assessment are imparted? What does it mean for ELLs participating in dual-language programs where teachers must conform to reporting achievement only in English? How can we maximize equity of grading practices for the heterogeneous mix of ELLs and ELLs with Individualized Education Programs in mainstream content classrooms?

Grading for ELLs, as for all students, should not be formulaic, it shouldn't be rigid, it shouldn't be a mystery or a surprise. Grading shouldn't be a norm-referenced event where students are ranked or compared with their peers. In essence, grading should be part of ongoing assessment as and for learning-based on student self-assessment and negotiation between teachers and students-that is integral to teaching and learning. As an outgrowth of conversations between multilingual learners and their teachers, grading should stem from mutually agreed upon decisions about students' demonstration of learning.

Admittedly, the linguistic, cultural, and personal histories of ELLs are unique; these distinct qualities should provide the context for teachers to begin their discussion with the students. Content teachers across disciplines have the responsibility of maximizing ELLs' opportunities to learn; to do so, they must: 1) provide a variety of scaffolds for ELLs to make meaning from oral and written text, 2) be strategic in inviting ELLs to interact with peers in one or more languages, 3) give ELLs choices in how to demonstrate learning through multimodalities (such as visually, orally, digitally, or in writing), and 4) listen to and invite student voice.

So, what can mainstream content teachers do when negotiating grades with their ELLs? Here are some practical ideas:

Co-create long-term goals for learning, such as for the semester, and short- to mid-range learning targets integrating language and content that take students' "funds of knowledge" and interests into account. An example learning target for a unit of learning on the birth of the U.S. in a middle school social studies class might be, "Students will argue (with claims, evidence, and reasoning) whether English or multiple languages should have prevailed in the U.S. post the American Revolution."

Co-construct criteria for success in student-friendly language for individual projects and long-term assignments. These expectations should convey clear outcomes, and students should be aware of how the criteria or descriptors will convert to grades. Have ELLs orally restate the criteria in English or paraphrase the criteria in their home language in their journals to serve as a reference guide.

Move from teacher modeling of grading practices and crafting of performance criteria at the beginning of the year to include their I DON'T KNOW WHAT "THEIR" REFERS TO HERE???? application to samples of student work. Later in the year, gradually transition from student-teacher conversations to student-led conferences where ELLs show evidence and justification for meeting their learning goals.

Together, create a learning contract of joint decisions that answers the questions:

What evidence will reflect your learning, and how do you know it will meet the criteria for success?

Which modalities (visual, oral, written, digital) do you prefer to use to express your learning?

Which language(s) do you plan to use to explore, research, and analyze content?

What will be the contribution of student self-assessment to grading?

While language and content are often indistinguishable during instruction, when it comes time for grading, mainstream content teachers must consider ELLs' oral language and literacy in relation to their conceptual understanding. Through ongoing discussion between teachers and students, grading should become a transparent negotiated process in which ELLs are vested to do their best.

Formative assessments Kristin Spearsis an ESOL coach and teacher in Spartanburg, S.C., District 6 where she helps plan and conduct ESOL professional development and collaborates with elementary teachers on how to best serve the ELs in their classrooms. In her teaching career, she has worked in various upstate S.C. schools with students in grades K-8:

Like so many other issues in education, grading ELLs is a tricky topic. There is no easy, one-size fits all answer. Why? Because like our native English speakers, each ELL is unique. So often, teachers ask, "How can I give him/her a grade? He/She just moved here! They can't even speak." They want their students to be exempt from this seemly unfair situation. Often, teachers aren't trained in how to proceed with these students, so they want to be exempt from their heart and head dilemmas of how to reach, teach, and grade their students.

But grading is not the underlying issue; it is giving the appropriate assessment to grade. How a teacher approaches assessing a nonspeaking newcomer in the 3rd grade is completely different from assessing an ELL that was born here. Assessing a newcomer with a strong foundation in their native language is different from assessing a newcomer with limited education.

High-stakes testing is unavoidable; therefore, ELLs should be exposed to the same format as these tests. However, they should not be the primary form of classroom assessments. When using these multiple-choice tests to prepare students, consider including these scaffolds based on each ELL's proficiency level: picture references, oral administration, and eliminating answer choices.

Formative assessments are more appropriate for ELL students, especially newcomers, and more informative for the teacher. In their book, New Frontiers in Formative Assessment, Noyce and Hickey define the use of formative assessments as "the process of monitoring student knowledge and understanding during instruction in order to give useful feedback and make timely changes in instruction to ensure maximal student growth." The key word in that definition is during. While summative assessments take time out of the instructional day, formative assessments are built into the daily or weekly routines of the classroom.

Some examples of formative assessments are: labeling and drawing models, completing graphic organizers, keeping a content journal or reading log, conducting an interview, rating scales, and ticket out the door. The amount of scaffolding needed on each assessment depends on a student's language-proficiency level. A newcomer may need to label a premade picture with a word bank or match pictures while intermediate students should draw and label their own diagram. A limited-English-proficient student might need sentence frames for their journal, while an intermediate student might just need a sentence starter. We want students to continue to move forward in their zone of proximal development. This is also known as productive struggle, pushing students to reach their fullest potential. Once a child has reached mastery with a particular scaffold, that scaffold is removed.

Another benefit of formative assessments is the immediate feedback teachers and students gain. Gottlieb, in her book Assessing English Language Learners: Bridges to Educational Equity, refers to this as assessment for learning. Assessment for learning gives teachers the data they need to make informed instructional decisions about how to proceed with content instruction. Does content need to be retaught? Are more language supports needed? Can a picture or diagram be used to help explain the content? Teachers use their expertise to continually monitor and adjust and then assess again. Over time, these formative assessments create a portfolio of student work that can be used for grades but, more importantly, can be used to document student gains and successes.

Assessing content apart from language proficiency
Becky Corr is the president of EdSpark Consulting, which is dedicated to igniting partnerships for diverse learners through professional development, technical writing, and systems analysis. In her role as the English-language development team lead in the Douglas County school district in Colorado, she coaches, mentors, and supports teachers and facilitates family-engagement opportunities:

"English is a language, not a measure of intelligence."

- Unknown

Grades are a measure of a student's growth toward and mastery of intended outcomes and content standards. They are a form of feedback to students, parents, and other educators about a student's grasp of the content and standards. Students and parents take that feedback to heart. For students who are learning English, grades are an important source of feedback and pride.

When the classroom instruction and assessments align to what students can do according to their English proficiency, then grading becomes much easier. In the absence of instructional and assessment strategies for English-learners, students really struggle with learning the content, and grades can sometimes reflect that. Students and parents can really take that feedback to heart. Take, for instance, a student who made excellent grades when they were learning in their first language before they arrived in the United States. If they come to the U.S. and receive poor grades because the instruction they are receiving is not comprehensible or the assessment is a measure of their language rather than their content knowledge, they can start to question their identity as a good student as well as their intelligence.

English-learners have the dual challenge of learning language and content at the same time. They have to work at least twice as hard. When students are held to high expectations and receive the appropriate support for language, then mastering the content standards becomes possible. It is important to expect English-learners to master the content and communicate this expectation along with the assurance that they will be provided with language support.

When assessing English-learners, it is important to assess their growth toward and mastery of the content standards separate from language. In other words, the assessments must match what a student is able to do at their current proficiency level. Collaboration with the ESL teacher is helpful when it comes to assessment and throughout the teaching and learning cycle. If the instruction throughout the unit is not comprehensible to the student, then modifying an assessment or providing an alternative method of assessment will not be helpful. On the other hand, if collaboration between the ESL teacher and content teacher has been strong and students have benefited from comprehensible input, then providing an assessment that matches the proficiency level of the students is beneficial. Most states have a document similar to the WIDA Can-Do Descriptors or the NYSESLAT Performance Level Descriptions. If unsure of a student's English-proficiency level, collaborating with your ESL teacher will be helpful for putting into context what a student is able to do.

Students' identities-how they see themselves within the academic world-are influenced by the feedback they receive from teachers. When the content knowledge of English-learners is validly assessed separate from language proficiency, the result is powerfully affirming.

"Four essential considerations" Pamela Mesta's experience includes administration, ESOL, bilingual, elementary, early childhood, educational technology, professional development, and interpretation/translation. She currently works as an ESOL supervisor in a Maryland public school district and is also an adjunct college professor. Mesta has her B.A. in communications, her M.A. in education, and has done postgraduate work in ESOL, educational technology, and school administration. Her certifications include ESOL Pre-K-12, Elem/MS 1-6, Administrator I/II, and national-board certification in early childhood.
Olga Reber's experience includes ESOL, EFL, professional development, and interpretation/translation. She currently works as an ESOL resource teacher in a Maryland public school district and is also an adjunct college professor. Reber has her B.S. in secondary education/foreign language instruction, her M.A. in linguistics, and has done postgraduate work in educational technology. Her teacher certification is ESOL Pre-K-12.

Pamela Mesta and Olga Reber are also the authors of the book: The Classroom Teacher's Guide to Supporting English Language Learners:

Grading English-language learners (ELLs) can be a bit tricky if you haven't had much experience in this area. No worries! Here are four essential considerations to guide your practice:

Connect with your ELL specialist! This person will be your best point of contact for where to begin with each of your ELLs. Remember, you are the master of your content, and he/she is the master of language development. Together, you can decide what linguistic and content modifications to the curriculum must be made, how language and content goals will be interconnected, and what expectations you both have for student progress.

Get to know your learners! Take some time to get to know information about your ELLs. This includes details about their prior schooling experiences, cultural backgrounds, values, and interests. It is also important to research grading systems from their previous schools/countries and discuss these differences with your students. This will help to establish a clear understanding of your expectations. Do some research on the stages of language learning and find out what ELL levels your students are, based on recent language assessments conducted by your ELL specialist. Knowing what levels they are will help you to set reasonable, yet achievable expectations for learning. When an ELL is below grade level in content knowledge, establish a baseline of where they are performing and "grow" their content knowledge from there. If separate objectives have been set for the student, their achievement should be measured with alternate assessments based on those objectives.

Match instruction to assessment! Teach students how to be learners first before teaching and assessing content. Modify assessments the same way you modify instruction based on your students' cultural backgrounds and linguistic levels. These modifications should be woven into all formative and summative assessments. The most important thing to remember is that grades should never be a direct reflection of language level, meaning that students should have the opportunity to do well regardless if they are newcomers or advanced ELLs. Oftentimes, this involves creating individualized, differentiated assessments. Provide clear rubrics for assessments and projects along with exemplars that can serve as models.

Formatting is not universal! It is best not to assume ELLs are familiar with the assessment format you are using (multiple-choice tests, constructed-response items, etc.). It is best to have study guides (with answers) and review handouts that match not only the contents of the test but also the format so ELLs can practice both. These supports will also help your ELL specialist, as he/she may not be familiar with the content. Allow ample time for students to study the information once they have experienced it in the same format the test is going to be administered. In some cases, allow the use of notes. Visuals used in assessments should be also be the same ones used in notes, instructions, and handouts.

Thanks to Margo, Kristin, Becky, Pamela, and Olga for their contributions!

Please feel free to leave a comment with your reactions to the topic or directly to anything that has been said in this post.
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Strategies for Grading ELLs in Content Classes (Opinion)

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The new question-of-the-week is: How do you handle grading for English-language learners in mainstream content classes? Grading can be one of the banes of a teacher's existence. An added complication can be when an English-language learner is in a "mainstream" content-subject class-what are the best ways a teacher can handle this situation in an equitable way?

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EL Shadowing as a Catalyst for Change with Dr. Ivannia Soto

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EL Shadowing as a Catalyst for Change with Dr. Ivannia Soto

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Highest Aspirations Podcast, Ellevation

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EL District Coordinator Rowena Mak discusses the challenge of satisfying the needs of all families, the affordances of remote learning for students and teachers, and much more. Saddleback USD is a TK-12 school district in Southern California with almost 5,000 English learners. Schools will begin the year in a fully remote environment before giving families a choice to enroll in a hybrid model when it is safe to do so. To watch the entire "In This Together" docuseries, visit our new channel here. You can also find free tools to help ensure your English learners and their families receive equitable access to instruction and services on our Equity in Action page. Please consider leaving us a review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. This will help us continue bringing you the best topics and guests on Highest Aspirations.

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S3/E03: EL Shadowing as a Catalyst for Change with Dr. Ivannia Soto by Highest Aspirations

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S3/E03: EL Shadowing as a Catalyst for Change with Dr. Ivannia Soto by Highest Aspirations

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How can shadowing EL students help educators, schools, and districts improve their instruction and outcomes? What are some ways we can link quantitative data from assessments with qualitative data gathered while shadowing students? What are the protocols that teachers should use when shadowing students and what action steps should be taken after the experience?

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Reimagining EL Education Series: Conor Williams on the Power of a True Whole Child Approach

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Reimagining EL Education Series: Conor Williams on the Power of a True Whole Child Approach

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Highest Aspirations Podcast, Ellevation

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Reimagining EL Education Series: Conor Williams on the Power of a True Whole Child Approach and More by Highest Aspirations

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Reimagining EL Education Series: Conor Williams on the Power of a True Whole Child Approach and More by Highest Aspirations

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On this episode of our Reimagining EL Education series, we reconnect with our friend Conor Willams of The Century Foundation to talk about finding a path toward a better future for English learners as a result of this crisis.

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Cultural responsiveness - what is it and how might we infuse it into lesson planning and curriculum design to support English learners?

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Cultural responsiveness - what is it and how might we infuse it into lesson planning and curriculum design to support English learners?

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Ellevation, 2020

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Cultural responsiveness - what is it and how might we infuse it into lesson planning and curriculum design to support English learners?

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Meeting the Social and Emotional Learning Needs of English Learners

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Meeting the Social and Emotional Learning Needs of English Learners

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Williams, 2020

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Advocates of educational equity, access, and inclusion for historically underserved children have always struggled to highlight the challenges these children face without defining the children as themselves being those challenges. Indeed, the very term-"historically underserved"-stems from a correction of an older term, "underprivileged." This switch has been important, because "historically underserved" puts the onus on what adults can control (how systems serve these kids) instead of on the privileges that the kids lack.

This shift should not obscure the complexity within these terms. As the field of education devotes more attention to historically underserved children's social and emotional development, advocates must also account for ways that different forms of historical inequity influence children's social and emotional growth in different ways. This is particularly important for linguistically and culturally diverse children in U.S. schools.

An Under-Recognized Strength

The issue of accurate and equitable terminology extends even further for students who speak languages other than English when not in school. In the United States, they have been called everything from Limited English Proficient to English Learners, Dual Language Learners, Emergent Bilingual Learners, and Multilingual Learners, among other labels.

Each of these terms is inadequate in its own way. All define students-who are children in all their diversity and complexity-solely in terms of their languages, and most emphasize the English skills they have not yet fully developed. These kids are more than their linguistic profiles: classifying them so narrowly risks leaving out their other strengths, goals, and needs.

For instance, research often shows that these students score higher on measures of social and emotional learning (SEL) skills than do their monolingual peers. Social and emotional learning includes things like relationship-building skills, emotional self-regulation, and abilities related to the understanding and management of social cues. These are not separate from children's academic development. A growing research consensus suggests that social and emotional skills have significant academic, health, and long-term social benefits. In its 2017 meta-analysis of the state of research on English Learner (EL) students, the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine found that "Evidence indicates that [ELs] have comparable or better social-emotional competencies relative to their monolingual English peers." Specifically, ELs appear to score high on self-regulation and interpersonal skills.

New Enthusiasm for Holistic Approaches Child Development-but More Caution Needed

Competencies like those that fall under the umbrella of SEL are sometimes called "non-cognitive" or "non-academic" skills. Whichever term you prefer, there's no question that it is very much in vogue to discuss them in progressive education circles today. The 2015 passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) opened the door to converting this interest into firm policy. It allowed states to include a "non-academic" indicator in their systems for rating schools in their accountability systems. However, states have thus far avoided using this opportunity to directly measure students' SEL skills as part of their ESSA accountability systems.

There are understandable reasons for this. Even those who want U.S. schools to prioritize SEL development are concerned about measuring SEL metrics at scale, and with accountability stakes attached. Schools and teachers are a long way from being ready to implement SEL-focused programming at scale, and it can be difficult to get valid, reliable data on young students' SEL development with existing tools. As SEL advocate Tim Shriver told Education Week during the time when states were drafting their ESSA plans, interest in SEL was "booming," but while "Someone might say, 'Why aren't you holding states accountable for teaching it?' The answer to that is we are not ready for it yet."

Shriver's implication, however, was clear enough: interest in SEL competencies will eventually move educating for those competencies into systems for measuring school quality.

Designing for Inclusion and Diversity

When social and emotional learning measurement becomes widespread, this availability will offer a considerable opportunity for English-learning students. It could help schools think more capaciously about their English learners. Since ELs, on aggregate, tend to score well on these measures, it could help schools recognize these students in terms of their strengths, not just their still-developing language skills.

Since ELs, on aggregate, tend to score well on these measures, it could help schools recognize these students in terms of their strengths, not just their still-developing language skills.

However, a more precise view of ELs' social and emotional learning skills won't arrive automatically. Given how difficult it is to gather solid SEL data for any student, gathering it for ELs will require a high degree of intentionality to avoid duplicating schools' all-too-common blind spots regarding these students' diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds. Any efforts to incorporate these metrics into school ratings and accountability systems must be valid and reliable for multilingual and multicultural students as well.

A study published in Child Development in 2012 shows the limitations of even well-meaning metric design. The study found significant variation in the SEL caregiving practices of Latinx mothers, native-born white mothers, and Asian-heritage mothers. However, it characterizes these variations in terms of "strengths" and "weaknesses." Latinx households, it found, had similar "social-emotional functioning" levels as the households of native-born white mothers. By contrast, households of Asian-heritage mothers had "weaker social functioning." It bears noting that the SEL metrics driving this analysis drew upon a relatively limited set of specific questions around conflict (and resolutions) between parents, as well as symptoms of depression. SEL metrics like these are not sufficient to deliver on the modality's potential, and especially not for EL students.

Later studies have connected these sorts of in-home SEL practices with child outcomes. One found that Latinx children tend to score well on SEL but not as well on early academic and linguistic benchmarks. But it also noted the challenge of limited SEL assessment tools: "Stronger measurement would enrich our understanding of how Latino children grow within particular cultural contexts." Our yardsticks are still far from adequately calibrated for the job.

This lack of firm data can't be ignored as enthusiasm for SEL metrics-and linked accountability provisions-grows. Researchers and policymakers need to be cautious about imposing culturally specific norms on children's SEL development. Indeed, a 2013 review of research on ELs and SEL found "social-emotional benefits to fluent bilingualism," but also "no consistent pattern with respect to the social-emotional development of [ELs] in comparison to that of non-[ELs]." This may be due to diversity within the group of students that U.S. schools label as ELs. That is, EL students from particular cultural backgrounds may be more likely to perform well on some SEL metrics than on others.

Any efforts to measure students' SEL competencies-and schools' effects on them-could highlight English learning students' assets, but only if their linguistic and cultural diversities are taken seriously in the design and implementation processes.

Perhaps this uncertainty about the intersection of SEL measures and multilingual children's development reflects the myriad ways to be a healthy, productive human adult. As such, it would follow that there should be myriad healthy paths through childhood; and accordingly, any efforts to measure students' SEL competencies-and schools' effects on them-could highlight English learning students' assets, but only if their linguistic and cultural diversities are taken seriously in the design and implementation processes.

Tags: ELL, English Language Learners, Social and Emotional Learning

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Meeting the Social and Emotional Learning Needs of English Learners

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Advocates of educational equity, access, and inclusion for historically underserved children have always struggled to highlight the challenges these children face without defining the children as themselves being those challenges. Indeed, the very term-"historically underserved"-stems from a correction of an older term, "underprivileged."

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National Education Association, 2015

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Content and ESL Teacher Roles and Expertise

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Content and ESL Teacher Roles and Expertise

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Staehr Fenner & Snyder, 2017

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Reflection Tool for ELs Returning to School in 2020: Five Areas of Considerations for the Upcoming School Year

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Reflection Tool for ELs Returning to School in 2020: Five Areas of Considerations for the Upcoming School Year

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SupportEd, 2020

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ESL Distance Teaching - Tips and Resources

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ESL Distance Teaching - Tips and Resources

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South Dakota Title III