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English Language Proficiency Standards - these are important to include in the language objectives when lesson planning and for determining which language domains are begin addressed with the lesson.

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Proficiency Level Descriptors - these are important to refer to when monitoring the progress of the English learners. They also serve as reminders of what students can do at each level of proficiency within each domain of language.

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This site outlines Texas-specific laws and requirements for serving ELs. It's essential for understanding your legal responsibilities as a Texas educator.

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U.S. Department of Education – EL Toolkit

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U.S. Department of Education – EL Toolkit

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I chose this toolkit because it breaks down federal requirements for EL services and is organized by practical topics like parent engagement and assessment.

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The Office of English Language Acquisition’s English Learner Tool Kit.

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Colorín Colorado: Types of Language Instruction Programs

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Colorín Colorado: Types of Language Instruction Programs

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This article clearly explains the differences between ESL pull-out, dual language, transitional bilingual, and content-based ESL. This is helpful for understanding placement decisions.

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Children from families in which English is not the language of the home represent a rapidly increasing percentage of students enrolled in U.S. schools. Language minority students can be found in schools across the country, not just those in large cities or in areas near the U.S.-Mexican border. All schools must be prepared to meet the challenge of an increasingly diverse student population, including many students who are not proficient in English.

The effectiveness of various program models for language minority students remains the subject of controversy. Although there may be reasons to claim the superiority of one program model over another in certain situations (Collier 1992; Ramirez, Yuen, and Ramey 1991), a variety of programs can be effective. The choice should be made at the local level after careful consideration of the needs of the students involved and the resources available.

ESL program models

ESL programs (rather than bilingual programs) are likely to be used in districts where the language minority population is very diverse and represents many different languages. ESL programs can accommodate students from different language backgrounds in the same class, and teachers do not need to be proficient in the home language(s) of their students.

ESL pull-out
This is generally used in elementary school settings. Students spend part of the school day in a mainstream classroom, but are pulled out for a portion of each day to receive instruction in English as a second language.
ESL class period
This is generally used in middle school settings. Students receive ESL instruction during a regular class period and usually receive course credit. They may be grouped for instruction according to their level of English proficiency.
The ESL resource center
This is a variation of the pull-out design, bringing students together from several classrooms or schools. The resource center concentrates ESL materials and staff in one location and is usually staffed by at least one full-time ESL teacher.

Bilingual program models

All bilingual program models use the students' home language, in addition to English, for instruction. These programs are most easily implemented in districts with a large number of students from the same language background. Students in bilingual programs are grouped according to their first language, and teachers must be proficient in both English and the students' home language.

Early-exit bilingual programs
These are designed to help children acquire the English skills required to succeed in an English-only mainstream classroom. These programs provide some initial instruction in the students' first language, primarily for the introduction of reading, but also for clarification. Instruction in the first language is phased out rapidly, with most students mainstreamed by the end of first or second grade.
Late-exit programs
These differ from early-exit programs "primarily in the amount and duration that English is used for instruction as well as the length of time students are to participate in each program" (Ramirez, Yuen, & Ramey, 1991). Students remain in late-exit programs throughout elementary school and continue to receive 40% or more of their instruction in their first language, even when they have been reclassified as fluent-English-proficient.
Two-way bilingual programs
Also called developmental bilingual programs, these group language minority students from a single language background in the same classroom with language majority (English-speaking) students. Ideally, there is a nearly 50/50 balance between language minority and language majority students. Instruction is provided in both English and the minority language. Students serve as native-speaker role models for their peers. Two-way bilingual classes may be taught by a single teacher who is proficient in both languages or by two teachers, one of whom is bilingual.

Other program models

Some programs provide neither instruction in the native language nor direct instruction in ESL. However, instruction is adapted to meet the needs of students who are not proficient in English.

Sheltered English or content-based programs
These group language minority students from different language backgrounds together in classes where teachers use English as the medium for providing content area instruction, adapting their language to the proficiency level of the students. They may also use gestures and visual aids to help students understand. Although the acquisition of English is one of the goals of sheltered English and content-based programs, instruction focuses on content rather than language.
Structured immersion programs
These use only English, but there is no explicit ESL instruction. As in sheltered English and content-based programs, English is taught through the content areas. Structured immersion teachers have strong receptive skills in their students' first language and have a bilingual education or ESL teaching credential. The teacher's use of the children's first language is limited primarily to clarification of English instruction. Most students are mainstreamed after 2 or 3 years.

Conclusion

Successful program models for promoting the academic achievement of language minority students are those that enable these students to develop academic skills while learning English. The best program organization is one that is tailored to meet the linguistic, academic, and affective needs of students; provides language minority students with the instruction necessary to allow them to progress through school at a rate commensurate with their native-English-speaking peers; and makes the best use of district and community resources.

Citations

Excerpted from: Rennie, J. (1993). ESL and Bilingual Program Models. ERIC Digest. ERIC Clearinghouse on Languages and Linguistics. Digest based on an article in (August, 1993) Streamlined Seminar (vol. 12, no.1). National Association of Elementary School Principals.

References

Collier, V. P. (1992). A Synthesis of studies examining long-term language minority student data on academic achievement. Bilingual Research Journal, 16, p. 187-212.

Garcia, E. (1991). Education of linguistically and culturally diverse students: Effective instructional practices. Educational practice report number 1. Santa Cruz, CA and Washington, DC: National Center for Research on Cultural Diversity and Second Language Learning. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 338 099)

Lucas T., Henze, R., & Donato, R. (1990). Promoting the success of Latino language minority students: An Exploratory study of six high schools. Harvard Educational Review, 60 (1), 315-340.

McKeon, D. (1987). Different types of ESL programs. ERIC Digest. Washington, DC: ERIC Clearinghouse on Languages and Linguistics.

Pease-Alvarez, L., Garcia, E., & Espinosa, P. (1991). Effective instruction for language minority students: An early childhood case study. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 6, 347-361.

Ramirez, J. D., Yuen, S. D., & Ramey, D. R. (1991). Longitudinal study of structured English immersion strategy, early-exit, and late-exit transitional bilingual education programs for language-minority children. San Mateo, CA: Aguirre International.

Tikunoff, W., Ward, B., van Broekhuizen, D., Romero, M., Castaneda, L.V., Lucas, T., & Katz, A. (1991). A Descriptive study of significant features of exemplary special alternative instructional programs. Washington: U. S. Department of Education, Office of Bilingual Education and Minority Languages Affairs.

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Program Models for Teaching English Language Learners

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Children from families in which English is not the language of the home represent a rapidly increasing percentage of students enrolled in U.S. schools. Language minority students can be found in schools across the country, not just those in large cities or in areas near the U.S.-Mexican border.

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This video helps visualize how different bilingual programs work in schools, which supports my understanding of their classroom structure.

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Krashen's input hypothesis is foundational for understanding how ELs acquire language naturally and supports using comprehensible input in the classroom.

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This visual breakdown helped me compare L1 and L2 acquisition stages, which is helpful when identifying what supports students need.

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First vs. Second Language Acquisition | Overview & Comparison - Video | Study.com

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Discover the differences between first and second language acquisition in just 5 minutes! Watch our engaging video and test your knowledge with an optional quiz.

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ESL Library: English Grammar Teaching Resources

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ESL Library: English Grammar Teaching Resources

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I chose this because it has printable lessons and infographics that help break down grammar structures in clear, visual ways.

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This site explains grammatical structures in accessible language and provides practice for both teachers and students.

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Everything you find here has been specially created by the British Council, the world's English teaching experts.

We provide you with the right tools to help you interact confidently in the real world.

Practise your listening, reading, writing and speaking and learn useful language to use at work or to communicate effectively with friends.

Audio and video to practise your listening and speaking skills.

Model texts for all types of writing tasks.

Work on your reading skills to read more quickly and understand more.

Revise and practise your grammar to improve your language level and increase your confidence.

Clear and simple grammar explanations to help you revise and practise different grammar points.

Online exercises to help you check your understanding of the grammar points.

Use the grammar reference for further practice and more detailed explanations.

Learn new words and improve your language level to be able to communicate in English effectively.

Online exercises to help you learn the meaning, pronunciation and spelling of new words.

Learn new words connected to a wide range of different topics.

Play our word games and have fun as you improve your vocabulary.

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Learn English online using our high-quality resources to quickly improve your English. Take our free level test to help you find your English language level, then find lessons and resources that are just right for you.

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 A Brief History of ESL Teaching Methods

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 A Brief History of ESL Teaching Methods

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This video traces ESL methods from Grammar Translation to Task-Based Learning and helped me see how teaching has evolved over time.

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This chart gives a side-by-side comparison of methods like Direct, Audio lingual, and Communicative approaches for quick reference.

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SIOP Strategy: Total Physical Response (TPR) Video

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SIOP Strategy: Total Physical Response (TPR) Video

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This video demonstrates TPR, which supports oral language by pairing movement with listening, perfect for beginner ELs.

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Total Physical Response (TPR) - Teacher Training film no. 8

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This article provides classroom-friendly strategies like sentence stems and “think-pair-share” to promote confident speaking.

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Gunter, M. A., Estes, T. H., & Schwab, J. H. (1999). Instruction: A Models Approach, 3rd edition. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Lyman, F. (1981). "The responsive classroom discussion." In Anderson, A. S. (Ed.), Mainstreaming Digest. College Park, MD: University of Maryland College of Education.

Rasinkski, T., & Padak, N. (1996). Holistic reading strategies: Teaching children who find reading difficult. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Merrill/Prentice Hall.

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Think-pair-share is a cooperative learning strategy where students work together to solve a problem or answer a question about an assigned reading.

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This article helped me understand scaffolding writing through modeling and sentence frames, which I can apply directly in class.

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"The meaning of even a single word is rather more complex than one might imagine."

- Editors of the American Heritage Dictionary, 1980, p. viii

"Teacher, do we need our pencils today?" my Puerto Rican elementary students would urgently ask when I came to their classroom to escort them to my English as a Second Language classroom. I was a student teacher in a Massachusetts elementary school, and it took me awhile to figure out the correlation between the pencil and hallway behavior. If I replied, "Yes, you should bring a pencil," the walk to my classroom took 15 minutes and involved a lot of disruptions, student squabbles, drifting students and other various misbehaviors. As a student teacher, I was very focused on keeping order and creating a challenging learning environment. If I replied, "No, you don't need a pencil today," the walk to my classroom took about five minutes, even with a stop at the drinking fountain.

So, what was the correlation? Writing. The students knew that if they had to bring a pencil they would have to do writing in the class, and they dreaded it. If they didn't need a pencil, we would be working on projects or doing more verbal work, and they liked that. What they weren't expecting was that half-way through my student teaching, I bought 10 boxes of pencils and kept them in my classroom, so they never had to bring a pencil to class - I had plenty to go around. This improved the hallway behavior, but still left me with the question of how to improve ESL student writing when they were frustrated by the practice and went to great lengths to avoid it.

I have been teaching ESL for many years and there is no perfect solution to this problem; however, I do believe I have added quite a few writing activities to my bag of tricks and improved my ability to differentiate writing tasks based on student ability. As I improved my ability to ensure that each student would be successful in the writing activity, their confidence increased, and they were less likely to engage in disruptive behavior. You know what I'm talking about - the long, dramatic search for a pencilâ€¦ and then paperâ€¦ or the meandering walk about the room to get yesterday's writing draft, or the ever popular, "15 minute pencil sharpening" session. I hope some of the writing activities I share with you will help you to reduce anxiety in your ESL students and increase their language and writing skills.

There is a very important correlation between writing and language development. As students develop language skills, they often develop listening skills first (lots of input they can understand), then speaking (they begin to formulate their ideas in the second language), then reading (they can understand the sound/symbol correspondence of the new language and make sense of the words) and finally writing (they have enough language to express their own ideas in writing). This is not true for 100% of language learners, but it is true for the majority of them. Why is writing often the last skill to emerge? It almost seems that reading would be more difficult because the student needs to sound out words and understand the author's message. It would seem writing might be easier because students are sharing their own ideas already in their heads and simply putting them on paper. However, writing requires a lot more processing of language in order to produce a message.

First the student must have an idea, then think of the appropriate way to say it, then start to write it and spell it correctly, and then create another sentence to continue to communicate the idea. If we add the students' worry that they are making huge, embarrassing errors or that their ideas aren't very good in the first place, then we begin to understand the complexity involved in writing in a second language. In fact, the way we communicate, or the way students put their ideas on paper, is largely influenced by their culture. In some of my classes, my Asian students were very confused when I told them to revise their writing because this was a "first draft." In their experience they had always written an item once and submitted it as "the final," and then the teacher would correct it. The idea that they had to write it over again didn't make sense to them. Students from other cultures may have developed a storytelling style that involves laying out a lot of background information and detail and takes quite a while to get to the point. In most western writing, we expect a topic sentence or a lead paragraph that will tell us what the point is, and then everything written after that leads to a direct conclusion. Many of my students had great difficulty connecting their ideas this way.

With that said, teachers have a big task in improving ESL student writing skills, but the payoff for instructional dedication can be great. A researcher on adolescent literacy at the University of Minnesota, David O'Brien, did a study on improving the reading skills of adolescent students. All of the students were involved in a six week study and during that time they were responsible for creating brochures and other types of communication on computers. They had criteria to input a certain amount of text and graphics to create a final project. This required lots of thought and revisions to achieve the final result. At the end of the six weeks the students took a reading test and the majority of them had improved their reading skills significantly. This was a very interesting result, considering that the teachers had not focused on teaching reading skills. The conclusion was that students used meta-cognition to process language and work with it in a more meaningful way, so that consequently their reading skills improved even though they were mostly working on writing.

Additional positive academic results have been seen in the "90 90 90 Schools." These are schools that researchers have identified as 90% poverty, 90% students of color and 90% achieving standards. This is a most remarkable combination in the educational world. The researchers examined these schools and found one common denominator among them - they all focused on developing writing skills. Each school had an agreed upon writing curriculum and methodology that was used at all grade levels, and student writing was prominently displayed throughout the building and in classrooms. Students used writing in all content areas to demonstrate academic concepts learned. In the end, 90% of the students in these schools were able to pass state grade-level tests based on the academic standards.

Now that I have hopefully convinced you that all your hard work will pay off, I would like to introduce some effective writing activities. I would like to acknowledge that there are many types of effective writing instruction used in classrooms today, including process writing, graphic organizers as writing planning tools, vocabulary stretchers, etcâ€¦ and all of those are beneficial to ELL students. For the purpose of this article, I will focus on a few writing activities that I think are particularly useful when working with students with a wide-range of English language skills.

How to differentiate writing activities:

With some pre-planning, a teacher can create a writing assignment that will allow every student to be successful. For example, the teacher may give a writing assignment that has A, B and C levels (or they can be number or color-coded).

ELL students at Level A copy a sentence or short passage exactly as it is written. This helps beginning-level students who are not very familiar with the language, but may be able to interpret some of the information as they copy it.

Level B students receive a paragraph or two that has blank spaces in the text. The students write the word or phrase that completes the sentence. This allows the student to write an amount that is not overwhelming and helps them comprehend the information.

Level C students write on their own, but perhaps they receive paragraph prompts or are allowed to look in a book, but must put the idea in their own words. After some practice with this system and getting to know your students' English language skills, you will be able to create a system that works best for your class.

Language Experience Approach

The Language Experience Approach draws on instructional techniques used with younger children who have not yet developed literacy skills. In this approach, the teacher presents information to the students, or they have an "experience" of some sort - for example, a field trip, or acting out a scene in a book. Then the students tell the teacher what to write on the board to explain the experience. This may be useful as an activity for a volunteer or teacher's aide to use with a small group of ESL students during literacy time. Here are the steps.

1. Experience something - for example, the students have listened to the story, "The Little Red Hen" and then acted it out.

2. The teacher stands by the board or a large sheet of paper and says to the students, "Tell me the story of the Little Red Hen."

3. As each student tells a part of the story, the teacher writes it down on the board, just as it was stated. For example, a student might say, "The Little Red Hen work so hard and nobody want help her." This continues until each student has spoken or the story is finished.

4. Then the teacher tells the students, "Let's read the story together and listen to see if the story makes sense and if there is anything we want to change."

5. After reading the story, the teacher asks students if they want to change anything. For example, one student may raise her hand and say, "I think it should say, "worked" not "work." The teacher may ask other students if they agree or disagree.

6. If the suggested change is correct, the teacher offers praise and moves on to the next suggestion. If the suggested change is not correct, the teacher should help the student analyze the suggested change. For example, if the student says, "I think it should say, â€˜The Little Red Hen she worked so hardâ€¦." The teacher would ask if others agree and see if there is discussion, then the teacher could point out that the Little Red Hen is the pronoun or "name," so in English we don't need to put it in twice. We can say "She worked so hard." Or "The Little Red Hen worked so hard."

7. When students have analyzed and corrected the whole text, the teacher may either circle a few more spots where students missed corrections and they can be challenged to figure out what the change should be, or the students can be instructed to copy the text with the corrections included.

8. As a final activity, students are instructed to take the story home and read it to three people and bring it back with signatures.

After this activity, usually even beginning-level ELL students are able to read the story to others because it was their experience, it is in their own words, and they have worked with the text in a meaningful way.

Sentence Auction

This activity helps students analyze common writing errors through a personalized activity since they are trying to buy their own sentences. Once a week or once a month, a teacher can hold a "Sentence Auction." The teacher takes sentence examples from student writing - some of which have errors and some that don't, and writes them on a handout or overhead projector. The identity of the student who wrote each sentence is not revealed. To begin the sentence auction, each student is given an "account" of perhaps $300. The students are told to "bid" on the good sentences. The winner is the student with the highest number of "good" sentences.

1. The teacher takes on the persona of an "Auctioneer" and opens the bidding at $10.

2. The teacher reads out the sentence confidently exactly as it is written. "Him want to go to school very bad." Who will give me $10?"

3. The students take turns bidding until the teacher decides who has "won" the bid.

4. Some sentences will not sell because students will know they are "bad." Just leave those sentences and move to the next one.

5. After all the sentences have been sold, the teacher goes through the list and the students say whether the sentence was good or bad. If they agree that it was a bad sentence, then the teacher asks them to explain how they can make it a "good" sentence.

6. Finally the students can count how many "good" sentences they have (since they may have bought some bad ones) and a winner is declared.

7. The teacher may want to give a little prize or certificate to the student. In a variation of this activity students can work in pairs or groups to buy the sentences.

Error correction

I have never "corrected" my students' writing mistakes, at least not in the traditional way. I have always told my students, "If I correct your English, I improve my English; if you correct your English, you improve yours." I handled corrections in one of two ways: either I identified what errors I would be looking for in the writing submission or I told them I would only circle five errors in the whole paper. If I pre-set the errors I would look for, for example correct use of past tense, I would only correct past tense errors, even if I saw other glaring errors in the paper. Sometimes this was hard to do, but I wanted to maintain the students' focus on the writing improvement we were working on. If I set a number of errors I would circle, for example, five, then I carefully chose those five and ignored the rest. When I returned the papers, the students were responsible for correcting their own mistakes. If they weren't sure how to do it, they could check with a classmate, and if no one knew, then I would assist. Invariably the students would ask, "Are these the only errors in the paper?" and I would tell them no. They might be disappointed, but they came to understand the value of correcting their own errors when they submitted a piece of writing.

Quick Write

One of the challenges for ELL students when they approach writing is their anxiety about writing their ideas correctly and writing a lot of information in English. This may feel overwhelming when a student is assigned an essay. In order to get students comfortable with the idea of just putting ideas on paper and not worrying about mistakes, we do regular "quick writes." For "quick writes" I give the students a topic and then tell them to write as much as they can for five minutes. They need to keep their pencils on the paper and even if they can't think of anything to write or they are worried about how to spell things, they are supposed to keep writing. At the end of five minutes, the students count how many words they were able to write and they keep track in a log. The objective is that they will see progress in the amount of writing they are able to do in five minutes' time and hopefully apply this fluency to their essay writing.

Cinquain poems

Cinquain poems offer great flexibility in working with ELL students of a variety of language levels. The basic Cinquain formula is as follows, but teachers can modify it as needed according to the student language level.

One noun
Two adjectives
Three gerunds (words + ing)
A short sentence.
A one-word summary
An example of a Cinquain a student might write:
Home
Warm, happy
Loving, welcoming, helping
People you love.
Family

There really is no wrong way to do a Cinquain, students can put key vocabulary words together any way they like to create the message they desire. Teachers may want to use Cinquains to reinforce new content vocabulary and concepts as well.

With these writing activities to try in your classroom, the only thing left is to buy a few boxes of pencils, hand them out to your ELL students and help them discover the possibility of joy in writing. Teachers who use a variety of activities and strategies to help ELL students become comfortable with expressing their ideas in a new language and finding success with small writing tasks, will give their students' confidence for a lifetime of self-expression. I offer this Cinquain poem to sum it up.

Writing
Fun, creative
Thinking, sharing, revising
Lots of ideas.
Proud
The TESL Reading and Writing Forum
A forum to share teaching tips, handouts, syllabi, lesson plans and more!
Make Beliefs Comix
Make Beliefs Comix, created by acclaimed "Make Beliefs" author Bill Zimmerman, allows kids to create their own comics in English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, or Latin.
LD OnLine: What is Dysgraphia?
This article from the National Center for Learning Disabilities, featured on LD OnLine, discusses dysgraphia and its warning signs, as well as strategies for addressing it for different age groups.
Reading Rockets: Writing Webcast
Reading Rockets webcast featuring Dr. Steven Graham, Dr. Louisa Moats, and Dr. Susan Neuman. These three renowned reading and writing experts address why writing is important, what the latest research tells us, and what educators and parents can do to support our children's development as writers.
Reading Rockets: Teaching Plot Structure with Picture Books
Use picture books to teach young writers how to organize plot logically. This article includes examples of basic plot structures, along with picture books that use those structures.
Reading Rockets: An Introduction to Letter Writing
This article from My Child Magazine, featured on Reading Rockets, offers samples of different styles of letters (from thank-you notes to letters to Santa) and style guidelines that children can follow.
ESL Writing Wizard: Handwriting Practice
This site lets you create your own handouts of words that students can practice writing. The paper is lined and the word is outlined in small dot print. Good for ELL students developing initial literacy skills.
ReadWriteThink: Comic Creator
ReadWriteThink offers a variety of fun, interactive writing activities, including the Comic Creator. Students can fill in comics with their own words and storylines.
PIZZAZ: Cinquain poems
A poetry site designed to assist instruction of ESL students in poetry and other creative writing forms. The site has links and detailed information on poetry such as Cinquain, Diamante, Haiku and Limericks. It also has further information on other types of creative writing and tips for instruction.
TeacherVision: Language Arts Graphic Organizers
These graphic organizers can be used to prepare for a five-paragraph essay, organize sentences in a paragraph, map concepts and events, compare topics with a Venn Diagram, organize notes for a presentation, create a double-entry journal, and much more.

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Improving Writing Skills: ELLs and the Joy of Writing

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"The meaning of even a single word is rather more complex than one might imagine." - Editors of the American Heritage Dictionary, 1980, p. viii "Teacher, do we need our pencils today?" my Puerto Rican elementary students would urgently ask when I came to their classroom to escort them to my English as a Second Language classroom.

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This site offers guided reading strategies adapted for ELs that balance phonics, vocabulary, and comprehension.

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1. Read to students every day

2. Support students' comprehension as much as possible

3. Teach the alphabet when necessary

4. Teach phonics in context

5. Check comprehension frequently

7. Support native language literacy

8. Encourage reading outside of the classroom

9. Establish an English Language Learner Center

10. Make up individualized activity packs for your newcomers

You are welcome to print copies for non-commercial use, or a limited number for educational purposes, as long as credit is given to Reading Rockets and the author(s). For commercial use, please contact the author or publisher listed.

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Supporting ELLs in the Mainstream Classroom: Reading Instruction

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You can and should use what you already know to be effective, research-based reading instruction to English language learners (ELLs). However, ELLs will need additional support in learning how to read, and the strategies here will help you to provide assistance in your everyday teaching, particularly for newcomers (students who have recently arrived in the U.S.).

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This toolkit gives tiered vocabulary examples and activities, which help me plan lessons that target academic terms effectively.

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This teacher explains how to embed academic language into daily lessons, showing how to go beyond just “everyday” English.

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This article walks through writing clear, measurable language objectives aligned with content goals.

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These descriptors help me match language goals to students’ English proficiency levels when planning instruction.

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This module helped me understand how visuals and hands-on tools support ELs in solving word problems and learning vocabulary.

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Page 3: Evidence-Based Mathematics Practices

Once they have adopted a standards-based curriculum, teachers can begin to help their students to learn the identified concepts and procedures. The most effective way to teach concepts and procedures is to implement evidence-based practices (EBPs)-practices and strategies that have been shown to be effective through rigorous research. When teachers implement EBPs along with a standards-based curriculum, they are providing high-quality mathematics instruction.

For Your Information

Though the terms evidence-based practices and evidence-based programs are often used interchangeably, experts and practitioners are now recognizing the importance of differentiating between them. The definitions below reflect the distinct characteristics of each.

Evidence-Based Practice: Any of a wide number of discrete skills, techniques, or strategies which have been demonstrated through experimental research or large-scale field studies to be effective.

Evidence-Based Program: A collection of practices that experimental research studies or large-scale research field studies have proven effective.

Why Should Teachers Use EBPs?

Most of us have a strong tendency to make choices or take actions with which we have some sense of familiarity, and classroom teachers are no exception. This tendency often leads educators to shape their instruction around practices and methods to which they have grown accustomed. These might be commonly used practices or ones that they have noticed their colleagues use in their own classrooms. They might even be practices or strategies that they learned from their own teachers during their time in school.

Unfortunately, many of these methods have been shown to be ineffective, or else there is no data to support their effectiveness. The solution is for teachers to make certain that they are using EBPs in their classroom instruction. There are good reasons for doing so. From a purely practical standpoint, the use of EBPs is mandated by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA '04). These federal laws require teachers to use, to the greatest extent possible, academic and behavioral practices and programs grounded in scientifically based research.
Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)
Federal school reform legislation originally enacted in 1965 that aimed to increase school accountability for student learning, offer more choices for parents and students, create greater flexibility for schools in the use of funds, and emphasize early-reading intervention. This act now mandates the use of academic and behavioral evidence-based practices. When this act was reauthorized in 2001, it was referred to as the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act in 2015 and will go into effect in fall 2017.
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA '04)
Name given in 1990 to the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EHA) and used for all reauthorizations of the law that guarantees students with disabilities the right to a free appropriate education in the least restrictive environment.
scientifically based research
Research that uses a rigorous and systematic design and high-quality data analyses, and that is published in a peer-reviewed journal.

Beyond the issue of legal obligation, however, is the fact that EBPs significantly increase the prospects of student achievement and learning. Among the benefits of using EBPs:

Increased likelihood of positive student mathematics outcomes

Increased accountability because there are data to back up the selection of a practice or program, which in turn facilitates support from administrators, parents, and others

Less wasted time and fewer wasted resources because educators start off with an effective practice or program rather than attempting to select one through trial-and-error

Increased likelihood of being responsive to learners' needs

Higher probability of convincing students to try a practice or program because there is evidence that it works

Now that we have discussed why teachers should use EBPs in their classrooms, let's turn our attention to how they can go about selecting them and implementing them with fidelity.

Identifying and Selecting EBPs

A variety of reputable sources-the What Works Clearinghouse and Best Evidence Encyclopedia among them-are available to help educators seeking to identify evidence-based practices and programs. Visiting these sites, teachers will find not only general overviews of EBPs but also research findings and effectiveness ratings. Attention to this information is important. Not every EBP is appropriate for every situation or setting. The closer a given practice or program matches student needs, the greater the likelihood it will lead to a desired outcome. For example, a 3rd-grade teacher with a large proportion of ELLs in her classroom should look for a mathematics program that has been shown to be effective with all students, including those who are learning English.

Click here for a list of Web-based resources for determining whether a practice or program is evidence-based.
Web-based resources for determining whether a practice is evidence-based
This online clearinghouse offers information on the researched evaluations of numerous educational programs in a coherently arranged and easy-to-navigate format.

Explore this Website to find "a cutting-edge collection of scientifically based research and information on K-12 instruction in reading, math, science, special education, and English language learning." On hand are links to resources for struggling readers, literary resources for adolescents, an introduction to progress monitoring in math, and many, many others.

On hand here is a host of materials related to "Early Childhood Education," "Math and Science," and "School Improvement," among many others. Included in the offerings from the Office of Planning, Evaluation & Policy Development (OPEPD) are multi-media "Inside Classroom" clips and an Online Workshop.

Hosted by the University of Missouri, the Evidence-Based Intervention Network was "developed to provide guidance in the selection and implementation of EBI in the classroom setting." Visitors to the site will find resources on Early Learning in Mathematics (ELM), evidence-based mathematics assessments, and literature reviews and summaries of current research.

Part of the American Institutes for Research Network, the National Center on Intensive Intervention hosts and provides links to resources on an incredible number of academic topics and instructional practices. Among their offerings related to mathematics are sample lessons and activities, a wide variety of instructional videos, diagnostic assessments, and resources for intensive interventions, among much more.

The Promising Practices Network-a project of the RAND Corporation-highlights "summaries of programs and practices that are proven to improve outcomes for children." Pre-screened and evaluated programs on hand here include Early Intervention in Reading, I CAN Learn Pre-Algebra and Algebra, and Good Behavior Game, among many, many others.

Browse this site to read the latest from the U.S. Department of Education on topics related to "Adolescent Literary," "Beginning Reading," "Dropout Prevention," "Early Childhood Education," "Elementary School Math," "English Language Learners," "Middle School Math," and "Character Education." Online resources allow users to create their own "Effectiveness Rating" chart.
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Implementing EBPs with Fidelity

Selecting an EBP, however, is just the first step. Once chosen, the practice or program must then be implemented with fidelity, or in the manner intended by its researchers or developers. Research indicates that one of the most common reasons that educators fail to see the results they anticipate is that they have not implemented the practice or program as intended. Generally, to implement an EBP with fidelity, a teacher should:

Receive adequate training and ongoing support

Adhere to the procedures of the instructional practice or program (e.g., implement with groups of the correct size)

Implement the practice or program as frequently as recommended (e.g., daily, three times per week)

Implement the practice or program for the recommended amount of time (e.g., one semester, one academic year)

Skillfully implement the instructional procedures

Though correct implementation of an EBP increases the likelihood of improved performance, there will nevertheless typically be a small percentage of students who do not respond to it. For this reason, teachers should collect data on each student's response to determine whether the practice or program is beneficial for each student.

Sarah Powell, a researcher in the area of mathematics strategies, discusses why educators should implement EBPs and the importance of doing so with fidelity (time: 2:21).

Sarah Powell, PhD
Assistant Professor, Special Education
University of Texas at Austin

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View Transcript
Transcript: Sarah Powell, PhD

It's really important to use evidence-based practices in mathematics so that we are not wasting the time of students. We need to be very efficient with the instruction that we provide to students. And that's not only true for students with learning difficulties, but that's true for every student in the mathematics classroom. We only have 180 days in a school year with these students. Many times, it's less when we put in field trips and absences and things like that. And there's a lot of mathematics that needs to be taught in any school year. So the importance of evidence-based practices is to get right at the heart of how to teach mathematics and how students learn mathematics. And we also have to rely on the research over the last 10, 20, 30 years. It's nice to try out new things, but we're not always sure if those are working, and we don't want to waste teachers' time, and we don't want to waste students' time.

There are quite a few resources out there that help us identify evidence-based practices. We can go to the original sources, which would be research journals or practitioner journals, but most people don't access those because they're long and hard reads. So there's some really good Websites that we can use that synthesize evidence-based practices in mathematics. Once you choose an evidence-based program or an evidence-based strategy to implement, we need to make sure that the teacher or you implement it as it was designed, and usually in the research world we say that you need to be implementing about 90 percent of the parts or components of an intervention to be implementing that intervention with fidelity. If you don't implement it in such a way then you can't really expect the same results that came from the original research study or the original research studies.

There are always going to be a few students that are what we call non-responders to a specific intervention or a specific strategy, and that's okay. Then we have to fine tune what we're doing or go a different direction and find what works for those students. We need to think of students as individuals, and what works for most may not work for one, and then we have to figure out what works for that one student. The nice thing about evidence-based practices is that we know that they do work for most, so it's a really good starting point.

For Your Information

To learn more about identifying EBPs, implementing them with fidelity, and evaluating whether they are beneficial for individual students, view the following IRIS Modules:

EBPs for Mathematics

Research on effective instructional practices in mathematics is an emerging field, and over time new practices for teaching mathematical skills and concepts will most likely be identified. This module will highlight four practices that show moderate to strong evidence for improving student outcomes in mathematics.
strong evidence
A rating used by the What Works Clearinghouse to designate a practice or program which is supported by high quality research. The research links a practice with positive results and adequately rules out other possible causes of those positive results.
moderate evidence
A rating used by the What Works Clearinghouse to designate that a practice or program is supported by high quality, yet limited, research. The research indicates that the practice or program yields positive results but does not adequately rule out other possible causes of those positive results.

Explicit, systematic instruction

Visual representations

Schema instruction

Metacognitive strategies

As you read about these four practices, you will notice some overlap. For instance, explicit, systematic instruction is a particularly effective method of teaching mathematics procedures. But it is also a key component of teaching the other three practices to students.

HLP and CCSSM Standards Alignment

High-leverage practices (HLPs) in special education are foundational practices shown to improve outcomes for students with disabilities. HLPs, which all special education teachers should implement, are divided into four areas: collaboration, assessment, social/emotional/behavioral practices, and instruction. As each of the EBPs (listed above) are described on the following pages, we will connect them to the relevant HLPs and CCSSM Standards for Mathematical Practice, when applicable. For more information about each of these, click on the links below.

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IRIS | Page 3: Evidence-Based Mathematics Practices

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Once they have adopted a standards-based curriculum, teachers can begin to help their students to learn the identified concepts and procedures. The most effective way to teach concepts and procedures is to implement evidence-based practices (EBPs)-practices and strategies that have been shown to be effective through rigorous research.

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This classroom example demonstrates how teachers support math talk and vocabulary in real time with ELs.

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Tips and Strategies to Support ELLs in Math

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This article provides ways to integrate language and content in inquiry-based science activities.

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This tool explains how to connect scientific practices with language objectives, helping ELs talk and write like scientists.

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ELLs and Social Studies: Scaffolding Strategies

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ELLs and Social Studies: Scaffolding Strategies

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This article shows how to make complex social studies content accessible through visuals, timelines, and primary sources.

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Imagine that you and your family recently moved to a new country. You're trying to learn a difficult language that everyone around you already knows and adjust to a school culture that's much different than what you're used to.

You're already feeling overwhelmed, but to top it off, your teacher asks you to read a three-page article that's written in gibberish and complete five short-answer response questions all by yourself. Nervously, you get to work, but you aren't feeling very confident in yourself.

Unfortunately, the lack of support in this scenario is a harsh reality for many English learners.

English language learners (ELLs), like all students, certainly don't benefit from this type of "sink or swim" teaching. Rather, to be able to acquire new content knowledge and cultural understanding, English learners (ELs) require intentional and strategic instructional scaffolding. In this blog, we'll explore what scaffolding instruction means and provide five scaffolding strategies for ELL students that you should use in your classroom.

What is Instructional Scaffolding?

Before we answer this question, let's first consider what scaffolding is used for in construction. Scaffolds are temporary structures that construction workers use to support themselves and heavy materials as they complete a project, such as constructing a building or repairing a bridge. It helps crews access heights that they wouldn't be able to reach on their own and serves as somewhat of a safety net.

Educational scaffolds provide a much different type of support, but similarly to construction, they help students reach new heights that they can't do alone (metaphorically speaking).

In education, scaffolding is a teaching method where the educator helps support students to complete tasks just beyond the level that they could achieve by themselves. This technique stems from Russian psychologist Lev Vygotsky, who developed a theory that children learn best when an adult helps them expand upon what they already know and can do.

His theory birthed the concept of a Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)-the area between what is known and unknown where students can achieve a task with guidance from a knowledgeable teacher. Over time, the teacher can gradually reduce their support until the students master the task themselves (like how the scaffolding around a building is torn down once a project is completed). Then, they're ready to move on to the next concept.

Rather than teaching concepts that are well beyond your students' understanding and simply pulling them along, your instruction should take place within their ZPD with appropriate scaffolds.

How Does Scaffolding Help English Language Learners (ELLs)?

Scaffolding instruction is beneficial for all students, but it's particularly essential for English language learners.

By breaking up new concepts into smaller chunks and using scaffolding strategies for ELLs, you'll make learning the English language less intimidating and help increase their understanding by gradually building upon what they already know. It also reduces frustration and helps ELs become more confident, motivated, and independent learners.

Let's look at some simple scaffolding strategies for ELL students that you can use to support your students' language proficiency.

5 Scaffolding Strategies for ELL Students

There are many techniques that you can use to support the English language learners in your classroom. Here are five of our favorite scaffolding strategies for ELLs.

1. Modeling

Most people learn best when they see or experience something rather than just hear about it.

Think about when you learned how to change a tire. Someone likely walked you through how to do it step by step while getting their hands dirty. Well, imagine instead that they just wrote out the steps on a piece of paper, or worse, just rattled off what to do and set you off on your own.

Learning words and concepts in a new language is a lot like changing a tire for your ELs. Therefore, whenever possible, you should explicitly show your students what they're expected to do rather than just telling them.

Think Aloud

A think-aloud session is a great technique to demonstrate how good readers make sense of a text and monitor their understanding as they read. Before having students read a passage themselves, the teacher should first read the passage aloud, stopping along the way to model their thoughts at points that may be difficult or confusing.

Some questions that you can encourage students to ask themselves during a think-aloud include:

What do I already know about the topic?

What do I think I'm going to learn?

Do I understand what I just read?

What more can I do to better understand?

What new information did I learn?

What were the most important points?

While you read, be sure to model how you're working with and thinking about the text to answer the above questions, such as rereading a tricky sentence or using context clues to make predictions. From there, you can have your students read the passage with a partner and practice the think-aloud strategy. Then, once they understand the process, ask the students to read the passage once more individually so they can process it internally.

Modeling for your students how to approach their thinking before, during, and after reading a text will not only help them become better readers but also become self-regulated learners.

2. Activate Prior Knowledge

For new concepts to sink in, they must be built upon prior understanding.

Think back to the tire scenario. To teach someone how to change a tire, you expand upon their previous knowledge of how a tire works. So, before you dive into a new topic or text, ask students to share their ideas and experiences related to it. This helps them connect content to their own lives and increases engagement.

Some commonly used scaffolding strategies for ELLs that activate prior knowledge include:

You may need to drop hints and lead students to make connections at first, but once they see the relevance in what they're learning, it'll start to become easier.

Like all students, English language learners need time to verbally process new information. Therefore, as an ESL teacher, it's important to incorporate frequent opportunities for your students to engage in structured peer discussions during your lessons.

Turn & Talk

Turn and Talk is a simple and effective scaffolding strategy for ELL students that promotes classroom interaction. Simply ask your students a question or provide them a prompt, then have them discuss with a partner. Give them enough time for both partners to contribute to the conversation and be sure to roam around the room, assisting as needed. Here's a short video that further explains how the Turn in Talk technique works.

The Turn and Talk is a total participation technique, where instead of calling on a few students to share their thoughts with the whole class, you're encouraging all students to think and share their thoughts. This technique also helps ELs feel more comfortable and confident sharing, as it's less intimidating than speaking in front of a large class.

There are several other total participation techniques that you can use, such as

By providing ample opportunities for students to interact and use the language they're learning, you're helping your students boost their language proficiency and their confidence.

4. Pre-Teach Vocabulary

Pre-teaching vocabulary, or frontloading vocabulary, is an incredibly effective scaffolding strategy for ELLs to help them tackle difficult texts.

Before your students read something new, you should always dedicate time for explicit vocabulary instruction of important terms within the text. By that, though, we don't mean simply asking students to pull out a dictionary, copy the definitions of ten words, and begin reading. This happens way too often in classrooms and, unfortunately, doesn't have a lasting impact on language acquisition.

Vocabulary Gallery Walk

Instead of relying on memorization, introduce vocabulary terms in a way that captures your students' interest and allows them to make connections. Print out photographs for each word and place them around the room, then have students do a gallery walk and use context clues to determine what they think each one means. After they're done, give them time to share their thoughts before providing the actual definitions.

To help them better understand each definition, you can also have students create drawings, make a short skit in groups, or simply get with a partner and take turns using each word in a sentence. Not only does pre-teaching vocabulary support your ELs' reading comprehension, but it also helps them learn how to use new words naturally.

5. Use Visual Aids

As we mentioned above, people often learn better by seeing rather than just hearing. This is especially true for English language learners, as visual aids help them contextualize information and build upon their prior knowledge. For that reason, you should use visual representations of new concepts as much as possible in your classroom, including:

It's important to note that visual aids should serve as a tool for learning rather than a product of learning. For example, a graphic organizer is often used as a scaffold to help students gather their thoughts (tool) to then write an essay (product). Over time, they won't need the visual aid to understand a concept or complete a task-sort of like training wheels for riding a bike.

Learning a new language is hard enough without having to do it alone. To ensure that your students achieve language proficiency and become well-adjusted to their new school culture, you must use scaffolding strategies for ELLs within your classroom.

Looking for more teaching tips and resources for your English language learners (ELLs)? Check out our ESL Resource Center!
Thank you to Melissa Miller, an ESOL teacher in Howard County, Maryland for consulting on this blog post. This blog was originally published on March 8, 2022. It was updated on March 10, 2023.

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5 Scaffolding Strategies for ELL Students

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Looking for better ways to support the English learners in your class? Check out these proven scaffolding strategies for ELL students!

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Stanford SHELTER Project: Teaching History to ELs

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Stanford SHELTER Project: Teaching History to ELs

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This project provides unit examples and teacher videos showing how to support ELs in learning history through structured discussion.

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I liked this because it shows how exit tickets can be modified for different English levels to check understanding daily.

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Strategy OverviewHow This Strategy Supports Students’ Language DevelopmentIt’s helpful to keep track of how well students understand new content along the way, rather than waiting to get that feedback through more formal assignments or assessments further down the road. Comprehension checks are an informal, timely way to help educators identify areas that need further explanation, including instructions, routines, or expectations for the classroom.It’s also important to keep in mind that English language learners (ELLs) may not wish to draw attention to themselves.

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This article offers quick, low-stakes assessments like sentence frames and visual checks for understanding.

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Formative assessment is a proven technique for improving student learning, and the strategies shared here by Jay McTighe work both in the classroom and remotely.

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I chose this tool because it's fun, personalized, and supports vocabulary and grammar practice for beginner ELs.

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Duolingo is the world's most popular way to learn a language. It's 100% free, fun and science-based. Practice online on duolingo.com or on the apps!

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Padlet allows for collaborative writing, image labeling, and reflections—all of which can support ELs' language development.

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This page offers strategies for building trust and maintaining communication with EL families across cultures and languages.

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The following strategies offer tips for building relationships with the families of English language learners (ELLs), getting to know their strengths and stories, and creating a welcoming environment.

Supporting immigrant families

For related ideas, see the following:

1. Learn about your ELL population

A. What you need to know

Learning about your ELL families provides an important foundation for everything else you do at the school. Even basic information about students' ethnic and linguistic backgrounds, or the situations from which they have come, can help you match students with the appropriate services and programs.

B. Reflection

Answer the following questions about your ELL families using a KWL chart:

What do you know about your ELL students and families?

What do you want to learn?

Who on the staff works most closely with your ELL families?

What would be valuable for your school-wide staff to know?

C. Strategies

If you do not yet know this information about your ELLs, find out:

What countries your families come from

How many of your ELLs were born in the U.S.

What languages they speak (which may be at least two or three!)

If families who speak the same language, such as Spanish, come from different countries or different regions within the same country

The educational background of families and the school system of their countries

If any of your ELLs are refugees or students with interrupted formal education

If your families have experienced war or another traumatic event such as a natural disaster.

In order to learn more about your ELL families:

Start with your ELL/bilingual educators. These individuals are an important resource whose experience working with ELL students and families can benefit the entire school community - and they will appreciate the opportunity to share their expertise!

Find out what resources are available from the district and community. This may include helpful background information as well as a network of interpreters.

Enlist a knowledgeable staff member, community member, or parent. If you find such a person, examine his/her background as it relates to what you need. For example, you may know a Somali young adult who is bilingual but doesn't remember Somalia. He may be more helpful as an interpreter than as a liaison for Somali families who have just arrived in the U.S.

Ask the families. You may want to include some questions in your home language survey or a very basic questionnaire that ELL parents fill out with an interpreter during student enrollment.

Note: Remember that your ELL population is not homogeneous. The child of a migrant worker from Mexico and the child of a teacher from Mexico probably won't have the same educational and economic needs. Learn what you can about each child's unique circumstances to the extent possible.

D. Example

An administrator from Minnesota wanted to better understand the needs of the children who were arriving at her school directly from Kenyan refugee camps. She wrote a grant that enabled her to travel to Kenya and visit the camps from which they were coming. What she learned at the camps was not only helpful for her; it was helpful for the entire staff. Based on her experience, she was also able to prevent some major misunderstandings around discipline issues. (Related video: Understanding Student Background, Dr. Cynthia Lundgren)

Resources

2. Integrate cultural traditions of your ELL families throughout the school

A. What you need to know

Becoming familiar with and including the cultural traditions of your ELL families within the larger school community not only enhances your ability to create a welcoming and respectful school environment - it has practical considerations as well. These include:

Scheduling: Scheduling around important cultural or religious holidays will help prevent large numbers of students from missing important instruction time, exams, and school events.

Classroom opportunities: Familiarity with ELL families' cultural traditions will provide teachers a base from which to build upon ELLs' background knowledge, create educational opportunities for other students, and foster a sense of respect among students for their peers.

Improved communication: Learning about your ELL families' traditions may help avoid miscommunication or cultural blunders that can damage a budding relationship.

B. Reflection

What are your ELLs' cultural behaviors and values? Which celebrations and holidays do they observe? How does your staff feel about the changes in your school population? How do they feel about working with ELLs?

C. Strategies

Avoid scheduling important events such as conferences or tests on major holidays and celebrations that large numbers of students are likely to miss.

Share these dates with the entire staff.

Share information about cultural celebrations with teachers so that they are able to positively support them and incorporate them into lessons. Even a simple memo that explains why students will be out and offers some ideas for follow-up activities will be helpful. (Encourage teachers to start with children's books, which often have background information and activities, such as these titles about Ramadan, Chinese New Year, and Día de los muertos.)

Learn about, recognize, and celebrate special events or holidays throughout the school.

Invite parents to share food, activities, and music at school events and in the classroom.

Encourage students to share traditions in school assemblies, talent shows, potlucks, and fairs.

Offer food that reflects the cultural influences of your families on the cafeteria menu.

Be mindful that students who are fasting may be less energetic in the afternoon. If possible, avoid school-wide parties or food-centered activities during these times.

Notes: Staff may resist the changes happening around them, and they may be uncomfortable discussing those changes. Such was the case of a school custodian in Minnesota who asked a receptionist "why they (the Muslim students) get special days off and we can't even celebrate Christmas." Dr. Lundgren explains the importance of having an open, non-threatening conversation with the entire staff that acknowledges the challenges of serving a new ELL population and explores steps the school can take to address those challenges. (Related video: Cultural shifts, Dr. Lundgren)

You may find it helpful to bring in a neutral, outside party who specializes in cross-cultural education and communication in order to help moderate these conversations if they seem particularly fraught with tension. An open dialogue with a professional will give your staff the tools they need to adjust to the new reality and create a more positive, welcoming environment for everyone in the school.

D. Examples

Storyteller Lucía González remembers a storyteller-in-residence program she led at a Colorado elementary school. The program was going to culminate with a Spanish-language story hour for the Latino families at the school. On the night of the event, the weather was bad, and few people had arrived as she was getting ready to start. Seeing the small crowd, the principal turned to her and said, "Don't worry if they don't come, because usually they don't come." At 7:00 p.m., however, the parents began to arrive, led by the excited children who had heard her stories. (Related video: A dream come true - The Storyteller's Candle, Lucía González)

A group of Muslim students at Forest Heights Collegiate Institute in Ontario approached principal Jim Woolley about finding a place to pray within the school. After working with an immigration settlement worker and local imam, the school reserved a classroom in which students pray on Friday afternoon after the school is closed. They use the classroom and then lock the door when they finish. According to Mr. Woolley, it doesn't cost the school anything and it doesn't require supervision. "We trust them," he said (D'Amato, 2011).

3. Create a welcoming environment for families

A. What you need to know

A welcoming environment can make a tremendous difference for all families, including ELL families. Entering a friendly, vibrant atmosphere lets families know that the school is "an integral part of the community" (Houk, 63) and that they are valued members of that community. This is especially important for immigrant families who may be intimidated by the formal school environment and the English language needed to participate.

Another way to think of this is to keep your ELLs visible. ELLs are often treated as an invisible minority, but ELLs and their families should "see themselves" throughout the school:

On the walls, through student work and photos

In the classroom, with books and lessons that incorporate their experiences and traditions

In school-wide cultural activities

In the faces of staff and volunteers who come from similar backgrounds.

B. Reflection

Imagine that you have arrived in a new country where you don't speak the language and where you will be enrolling your child in a local school. Think about arriving at the school for the first time, only to discover that no one at the school speaks English. Imagine the feeling of leaving your child in the hands of people with whom you can't communicate. Now envision, instead, that someone who speaks English greets you at the door, and you see a picture of an American flag in the front hallway. What might you be able to accomplish as a parent in the second situation that you wouldn't in the first?

C. Strategies

Make sure parents know how to get into the building, especially if doors are usually locked during the school day.

Post signs in multiple languages.

Display student work on the walls.

Display student and family photos on the walls.

Display the maps and flags of your students' native countries.

Display a large map in the front lobby where parents can mark their native countries with a pin.

Enlist a bilingual morning greeter to welcome students and families.

Ensure that your bilingual staff and volunteers are visible throughout the building.

Create a parent room (such as a lounge or classroom) with bilingual information and magazine subscriptions, a bulletin board, a lending library, and a computer (Houk, 58, 63).

Include bilingual books in the school library and classrooms.

Consider playing music in the front entryway or lobby.

Encourage teachers to create a welcoming environment within the classroom.

D. Example

At Lincoln Options School, in Olympia, Washington, there are photos of the entire school community - students, staff, and families - to greet guests in the front lobby. Each year, the school hires a photographer to attend its annual back-to-school barbeque and take informal photos (Houk, 9). In addition, student work is posted throughout the building (16).

Resources

4. Make a personal connection with families

A. What you need to know

Getting to know ELL families helps build an important relationship based on trust, which in turn can pave the way to student success. This approach is most effective when the communication is personal and face-to-face (Hori, 40; Alford 85). While it will require additional time and effort, building a more personal relationship with ELL families early in the year will yield big dividends throughout the rest of the year (Hori, 40). It will also provide opportunities for the staff to see just how deeply ELL parents care about their children's education.

Indeed, as Dr. Lundgren notes, many ELL families have come to this country with the hopes of offering their children a better future, and they are eager to talk with their children's teachers about what they can do to help their child be successful. (Related video: A better life, Dr. Lundgren)

B. Reflection

What are the challenges in meeting your ELL families personally? What are some ways to facilitate more personal interaction?

C. Strategies

Hold a special back-to-school event or picnic for ELL families in which they have time to meet you, other school leaders, their children's teachers, and school staff.

Create a welcome DVD in multiple languages. This may even be a great student project!

Provide staff the opportunity to learn some common phrases in your families' languages, as well as cultural gestures.

Visit local neighborhoods to meet families.

Connect new families with a contact person who speaks their language as soon as they enroll in the school for guidance and information (Houk, 66).

Create an "ambassador" program in which students and parents are trained to give tours.

D. Examples

Educator Maricela Rincon in Las Cruces, NM calls a different parent every day to share something positive about his/her child. According to Rincon, some parents say, "This is the first time I've had a positive phone call about my child." While Rincon is enthusiastic about the calls, they weren't her idea - they were required by the school principal (Flannery, NEA.org). (Related video: Parent outreach in high school, Bobbi Ciriza Houtchens)

A group of school educators asked experts from a local university to help them learn more about their ELL community. After the initial conversation, it was clear that the school leaders assumed that the parents' lack of input, communication, and attendance reflected a lack of interest in their child's education. After getting some parent input, however, the educators discovered that the parents weren't enthusiastic about the school letters inviting them to events. They didn't feel that the events were planned with them in mind, and the letters seemed very impersonal. The parents didn't see the letters as the invitations they were intended to be. They expressed preference for more personal contact and invitations from the school, at least in the beginning of the year, in order to establish a strong relationship (Alford and Niño, 81-82).

This is an excerpt from a parent letter to the principal about her first visit to her child's school:
I was very surprised when we were not able to speak to Lupe's teacher, Mrs. Gibbons, individually. In Guatemala we all knew the teachers and the teachers knew the parents...We do not know anyone here nor does anyone know us...we would have liked to tell Mrs. Gibbons how much we value education (Amaya, 53).

5. Show that you value families' native languages

A. What you need to know

As the school leader, one of your most important roles is defining the terms of engagement when it comes to ELLs' native languages. Do you see those languages as a barrier or an asset? Do you see native language literacy and instruction as a crutch or a tool?

Unfortunately, the political climate often dictates district or state policy regarding native language support (Wright, 51), and important information regarding the value of native language literacy is often left out of the debate. Frequently, ELL parents themselves are the party most resistant to promoting their native language at home or in school because they believe it will hinder their child's ability to learn English. While this belief is entirely understandable, the research is clear that strong native language skills contribute to ELLs' academic success throughout their education - in their native language and in English.

What can you do to navigate this tricky terrain and encourage the continued development of students' native language skills, as well as biliteracy and bilingualism for all students?

Respect parents' intentions: It is critical to assure parents that you respect their wishes and goals for their children; you can do so by explaining that strong native language skills will help their children learn English. This reassures parents that you have their children's best interests at heart and that you view their native language as an asset, not an obstacle.

Encourage native language use at home: Don't miss any opportunity to encourage parents to use their native language, whether it's through reading (which will help their children's reading skills in English) or taking the time to talk to each other at home. Look for ways that the school can support this interaction by offering bilingual books, educational materials, and activities.

Professional development: Provide training to all staff on the importance of maintaining students' native language and ways in which they can support students' bilingual development. Understandably, many teachers still feel that the best way to help ELLs is to forbid native language use in the classroom. Often, in this case, the teachers have good intentions - they just need more information. There may also be some anxiety about not being able to understand what students are saying. The best way to address this issue is through good professional development with an expert in second language or dual-language acquisition. Not only will the staff learn strategies that will help them and their students, they will learn how to answer parent questions about this topic with confidence as well!

B. Reflection

What is the current attitude towards ELLs' native languages in your school? Is a student's use of his/her native language encouraged or discouraged in the classroom? Do parents know where to get information in their language? How do teachers approach this issue?

C. Strategies

Post information in multiple languages.

Discuss with parents the value of strong native language skills and being bilingual.

Encourage parents to read or tell stories to their children in their native language.

Offer parent sessions, workshops, and classes in parents' native languages (Meyers, 44).

Include books in students' native languages in the school and classroom libraries (Freeman, 42).

Make resources available to students in their native languages to support content learning.

Consider the possibility of adding academic coursework (such as Spanish Literature for Spanish speakers) or AP courses in students' native languages.

Hire bilingual staff and recruit bilingual volunteers to the extent possible.

Inform parents that they are welcome to bring their own interpreter to a school meeting.

Provide training to all staff on why maintaining students' native language is important and how to support students' bilingual development.

Offer staff guidance on how to respond to parents' questions and comments.

D. Examples

In Illinois' Evanston/Skokie School District 65, parents are continually encouraged to use their native language at home and read to their children in their native languages daily. Washington School, a two-way immersion school, offers a family literacy program funded with a state grant in which parents participate in afternoon and evening literacy activities at the school and public libraries. Parents also learn how to help their children with homework - all in their native language (Yturriago, 51-52).

At Webster Elementary School in Long Beach, California, the school library has a large collection of books in Spanish and Samoan, the two dominant languages of the school's ELLs. Parents are encouraged to borrow books and bring younger siblings to the library (Houk, 45-56).

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Connecting with ELL Families: Strategies for Success

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The following strategies offer tips for building relationships with the families of English language learners (ELLs), getting to know their strengths and stories, and creating a welcoming environment. Supporting immigrant families For related ideas, see the following: A. What you need to know Learning about your ELL families provides an important foundation for everything else you do at the school.

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This teacher shows how to involve families in students’ academic life through home visits and translated resources.

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Engaging Parents of English-Language Learners