Author: jechevarria

How can I tell if an English learner has some type of disability or is struggling because of the language difference?

Oh, the number of times I’ve been asked that question or similar ones!

Often educators are looking for an assessment to use with English learners that will definitively answer the learning disability question when concerns are raised about the academic progress of these students. While assessments are important tools that can provide valuable information, there is much more involved in deciding on appropriate educational services for students. Interpreting test results is only one piece – and results should be interpreted cautiously, keeping in mind the considerations discussed below. By the way, there doesn’t exist one such test —  a magic bullet so to speak.

One of the reasons that Response to Intervention (RTI) was made an option for identifying students with learning disabilities was so that schools could move away from exclusive reliance on testing and the “wait to fail” approach. RTI is a multi-tiered system of support designed to maximize student achievement by catching problems early and providing immediate, targeted intervention. This additional targeted support is intended to ameliorate academic problems by providing students the instruction they need in a small group setting. Some students simply need a boost of instruction to get on track. For those students who don’t respond well to the interventions provided, a team of qualified professionals considers next steps.

Unfortunately, RTI has morphed into a lot of different things in practice with little consistency across schools and districts. As a result, students with learning disabilities are falling through the RTI cracks. Another issue is that in a number of states RTI has been used as a way to delay or deny help to students who are entitled to special education services. The latter practice is so widespread that in 2016 the U.S. Department of Education issued two letters reminding states that intervention strategies cannot be used to delay or deny evaluation of students suspected of having a disability.

So, back to the original question….

The following four factors should be considered during discussions and decision-making when determining instructional services for English learners. Although discussed separately, these factors are interrelated, i.e., culture and background are tightly connected as is English proficiency and high-quality teaching.

1. Opportunity to learn. The “frontline of prevention” of learning problems is Tier 1, or the general education classroom where teachers provide high quality, research-based instruction. When English learners struggle, the question should be, What supports are being provided by the classroom teacher? High quality teaching for English learners offers scaffolds and supports to make grade-level content comprehensible while capitalizing on language development opportunities during lessons – an approach such as SIOP. English learners also require a specific time for ESL teaching to enhance their English language development. Interventions might be warranted for English learners who continue to struggle after they’ve had high quality teaching and opportunities to improve their English proficiency. One caveat: a student may be referred for an evaluation at any time if a disability is suspected. Legally, there is no stipulation that students need to be in the country for a certain amount of time or go through cycles of intervention before being evaluated for eligibility for special education services.
2. Language proficiency, including academic language. English proficiency is the greatest predictor of school success for English learners. But by definition, these students are still in the process of learning English and cannot be expected to perform like native English speakers. Many English learners may communicate quite fluently using social language, but the academic language use required in school is more challenging for them. It is more complex, and uses more sophisticated vocabulary and sentence structures than that used in conversational English. The ability to extract meaning from text or to argue a point verbally or in writing is an essential part of schooling and involves a high level of academic English. Naturally, a student’s level of English proficiency will impact his or her academic performance, including performance on assessments, and is not an indication of a learning problem in and of itself. One question to ask is, Does the student exhibit the same struggles in his or her home language?
3. Background. Isn’t it easier to learn about a topic you already know something about compared to one that is completely new and is riddled with unfamiliar terminology? Of course, and the same is true for our English learners – but with a twist. Students come to school with a wealth of knowledge and their previous cultural, language, and literacy experiences influence their ways of learning. However, these experiences and perspectives don’t always align with the materials used in school, the lessons’ content or teachers’ expectations. To facilitate learning, effective teachers tap into what students already know and build on it. They connect new concepts with students’ experiences and past learning. Sometimes there are gaps in knowledge and skills that need to be filled. The point is that poor academic performance may be related to background and isn’t necessarily an indication of a learning problem.
4. Culture. Cultural norms and values are deeply ingrained in all of us and many different influences make us who we are: religious beliefs and practices, gender, race and ethnicity, socioeconomic level, and geographic region to name a few. English learners, particularly immigrants, may feel distance from peers and teachers because their parents have rules, values, and expectations for them that may differ from those in school. An example I experienced recently was with a taxi driver from Tibet who was a college graduate and had moved away from his girlfriend and job to care for his parents in another state. As we were chatting, he timidly asked about what he viewed as Americans’ cruel treatment of their elderly parents. He was astonished that a son (per his culture) would hire caretakers or, worse yet, place parents in a facility. We explained about American traditions of individualism, self-reliance and independence, and that many parents prefer professional caregivers so that they are not a “burden” to their children. The man expressed gratitude to us for discussing a delicate topic, one that he admitted he had misunderstood. Similar misunderstandings happen in schools. Cultural norms and values that may impact the way students behave or perform academically include notions of modesty and politeness, ways language is learned and used, approaches to problem solving, order of time, and incentives to work. Professionals familiar with students’ cultures must be included in the decision-making process of RTI because culturally appropriate interpretation of behavior and data is critical.

In our book on RTI and English learners, we suggest asking the following questions to distinguish between disability and language difference:

1. Does the student differ significantly from others with similar background (e.g., cultural, geographic, linguistic)?
2. Has his or her family noticed a problem?
3. What about first language development? Was it normal?
4. Is the difficulty due to environmental or economic disadvantage?
5. Is the student making steady progress, regardless of how slow?
6. Has the student had the opportunity to demonstrate knowledge and skills in the home language?
7. Has the student had sufficient opportunities to learn?

Unfortunately, there isn’t an easy way of answering the question of disability or difference. It requires the collective input of family members and education professionals, especially those professionals who know about research-based instruction for English learners, who understand the students’ culture and background, and are familiar with the second language acquisition process.

An advantage for English learners when RTI is implemented well is that the focus isn’t on, “What’s wrong with this student?”

The emphasis is on instruction: “How can we meet the instructional needs of this student?”

 

 

 

 

 

 

Based on Echevarria, Richards-Tutor & Vogt (2015). RTI and English Learners: Using the SIOP Model. Pearson.

 

A colleague, Karen, told me about the struggles her stepson is having in school. He is an English learner who immigrated to the U.S. in fifth grade and although he is very bright, she said, “He has been lost for 2 years in middle school.” She attributes his struggles in large part to a lack of language focus, or language objectives, in lessons.  In social studies, for example, an assignment was to describe geographical features of several regions in the US. He was able to complete the descriptive part of the assignment easily. But, then he had to pick 2 regions and compare and contrast their features. This part tripped him up because he didn’t know the meaning of the terms, compare and contrast. The teacher assumed that all students, including English learners, knew how to select specific features and compare them, and how to contrast features of two different things. With Karen’s help, her stepson learned the meaning of the words, but he still didn’t know how to apply this new word knowledge to the task.

Karen said that it has been hard for her to watch, both as a mother and a professional since she is a SIOP professional development specialist who helps teachers work effectively with English learners. She said, “The teachers in his school don’t have a language development focus for their students – they just talk, talk, talk.”

Why does Karen think language objectives would help her stepson? Because, as teachers plan lessons with language objectives in mind, they are aware of the language demands of the lesson. They are more likely to think about the language students need to be successful in the lesson. Just as content objectives drive the content to be covered in a lesson, language objectives are learning goals related to language.

Most teachers think about the academic vocabulary terms students need to use in a lesson — which is important — but language objectives can be derived from other categories of language  as well such as language skills and functions (e.g., describe, predict, find key details in text), language structures (e.g., passive voice, use of past tense), or language learning strategies that would be helpful (rereading a confusing passage, use of cognates).

In lots of classrooms, objectives may be posted but are essentially ignored. In contrast, language objectives should be posted and reviewed with students so that the language focus of the lesson is transparent.

Here are a few ideas for actively involving students in understanding the lesson’s language objectives. Each takes only 30 seconds to 2 minutes and is an effective way to get students engaged at the beginning of a lesson.

• Chorally read the objectives as a class. Check for understanding and clarify as needed.
• Ask students to repeat the language objectives to a partner.
• Have students do a self-assessment regarding the language objectives, i.e., Is this something that I am confident with or do I need practice?
• Have students discuss with a partner which of the 2 or 3 language objectives you’ve posted is most important to them. As they talk about the objectives, they are using academic language.
• A slight variation is to have students write on a sticky note the most important language objective and then tell a partner why they picked that one. Again, they are practicing English as they discuss the objectives.

At the end of the lesson, review the objectives and ask if each has been met. You might have students write how the objective was met, and ask them to provide evidence for having met the objective. This process serves a number of purposes: it engages students in thinking critically about what they did in the lesson, it provides practice in finding evidence for statements, students review the lesson’s content by virtue of thinking about the language objectives, and they practice using language in the process. It’s a win-win all around!

Sometimes, however, objectives are confused with activities. Language objectives are measurable and are intended to advance students’ language proficiency. Check out the following and see the difference:

1. Students will be able to orally explain the difference between living and non-living things. (Language objective)
2. At the end of this lesson, students will have learned to set up a Bunsen burner, fill a graduated cylinder, and use a triple balance. (Activity)
3. Students will be able to define the meaning of these words: debate, veto, bill. (Language objective)
4. Children will read 2 poems with a partner. (Activity)
5. Students will complete the worksheet. (Activity)

The activities could be written as language objectives (LO) with some tweaking. For example,

Activity: At the end of the lesson, students will have learned how to set up a Bunsen burner, fill a graduated cylinder, and use a triple balance.

LO: Describe a process of how to…… with a partner.

LO: Write the steps for………

 Activity: Children will read 2 poems with a partner.

LO: Students will be able to define key literary terms found in the poem.

LO: Children will orally discuss the main idea of the poem.

Objectives communicate to students what they are going to learn and why they are doing the activity. Activities are intended to be used as a means for achieving specific learning goals; the activity itself is not the goal.

Finally, English learners themselves recognize the value of language objectives. In one research study, we asked both elementary and secondary students about language objectives. The students stated:

“We know what to do”

“That’s how I got better in English because we had language [objectives]”

“The objectives help us to be prepared”

 

 

 

Language objectives are an important part of every lesson, for English learners and in many cases English-speaking students also. Academic language is sometimes considered a second language for all students. The academic language required to be successful in school is language that few students are exposed to outside of the classroom, e.g., compare and contrast the characteristics of historical figures, or formulate questions and generate hypotheses prior to conducting an experiment. Not many families talk like that around the dinner table!

Language objectives work in concert with content objectives. Content objectives identify what students should know and be able to do during a lesson, and they support state content standards and learning outcomes such as the Common Core State Standards. Language objectives, on the other hand, represent an aspect of academic language that students need to learn or master. They may be drawn from state language proficiency (ELP) standards and language arts (ELA) standards.

Content and language objectives that are posted and reviewed with students are a hallmark of SIOP. Based on our research we say:

• Content objectives are the what – what students need to learn about the content topic.
• Language objectives are also the what – what students need to learn about English so that they can
  • learn, express, practice and apply new information
  • demonstrate knowledge
  • perform academic tasks

We sometimes hear that content objectives are the what and language objectives are the how. That idea tends to result in language objectives becoming activities rather than measurable outcomes.

When designing language objectives, teachers should consider:

1. What language will students need to know and use to accomplish this lesson’s objectives?
2. How can I move my students’ English language knowledge forward in this lesson?

We suggest 4 categories to draw on when writing language objectives:

• Academic Vocabulary – Vocabulary development is an essential part of building literacy skills and content knowledge. Simply put, those students who know and can use the most words do best in school. For language objectives, teachers select key words needed to discuss, read, or write about the topic of the lesson. The following three sub-categories of academic vocabulary, with some examples, may be useful in selecting words for language objectives.
  • Content-specific vocabulary – These words would most likely be encountered only in a specific subject area: colonists, metaphor, thermodynamics.
  • General academic vocabulary –These words are found across content areas: circumstances, observe, however, measure, compare, persuade.
  • Word parts – This category refers to writing a language objective that teaches roots, prefixes and suffixes within the context of the lesson. Learning the most common prefixes and suffixes can multiply students’ understanding of words exponentially. For instance, learning that the prefix anti which means “against” helps students understand the meaning of antidote, antiseptic, and antithesis. After learning the root mand which mean “to order” students recognize related words: command, demand, mandate (it’s also a cognate for Spanish speakers).

• Language Skills and Functions – This category refers to the ways students will use language in the lesson, and many English learners will need explicit instruction in how to do so. For example,
  • Find text evidence in social studies.
  • Record observations during a science lesson.
  • Predict events in a text.

It cannot be assumed that English learners know how to use language in the ways called for in the lesson. Creating a language objective that incorporates the teaching of necessary language skills and/or functions into the lesson ensures successful participation of all students.

• Language Structures or Grammar – This category helps teachers become more aware of the language structures, or syntax, used in written and spoken discourse and provide instruction to English learners. Some aspects that may be challenging for English learners include:
  • passive voice
  • if-then sentences
  • imperatives

A popular and effective way to model grammar and language structures is using sentence frames. Also called language frames, this scaffold needs to be used wisely. A previous blog addressed their overuse and emphasized the need to differentiate frames by language proficiency. Frames can be a useful way to support English learners as they learn to use English, but they are just that – a support that should be removed when no longer needed. Authentic, self-generated expression is something English learners will eventually need to be able to produce on their own.

• Language Learning Strategies – Teachers explicitly tell student about with the resources they need to learn on their own. Some strategies are:
  • Corrective – rereading text that is confusing.
  • Self-monitoring – make and confirm predictions
  • Language practice –imitating a native speaker or rehearsing useful phrases.     

Not all categories need to be tapped for every lesson but the categories serve as a guide for teachers when writing objectives. Here are some examples of language objectives, one from each of the 4 categories:

I will…….

• Content Objective: Use multiple sources to describe key individuals at the beginning of the American Revolution.
• Language Objectives:
• Engage in collaborative discussions using key vocabulary: tax, British, conflict, colonist (vocabulary)
• Ask and answer Wh– questions to organize the descriptions (e.g., What was her role?) (language function)
• Summarize a reading passage using past tense forms (language structure)
• Reread passages as needed to enhance comprehension (language learning strategy)

We are often asked if a different language objective needs to be written for each English proficiency level represented in class. In short, no.

However, teachers should have different expectations for how students will be able to demonstrate that the objective was met. The WIDA “Can Do” descriptors may assist teachers in identifying the kind of language tasks students at various proficiency levels should be able to perform.

Writing language objectives is probably the aspect of lesson planning that proves most challenging for teachers. Hopefully some of the ideas presented here will generate ideas for writing your next language objectives. Don’t forget to post and review them with students!

 

From: Echevarria, J., Vogt, M.E., & Short, D. (2017). Making content comprehensible for English learners: The SIOP Model, Fifth Edition. New York: Pearson.

 

 

English learners have double the academic load: they are learning new, rigorous academic content like other students, but they are doing it in a language in which they are not yet proficient.

In addition to the complexities of learning through a second language, some English learners are making up for lost time due to interrupted or limited formal education. Others are learning in a new way, e.g., the process for solving math problems differs from how they were taught in their home countries. Many are young children exposed to formal schooling for the first time. All of these situations, and others, impact learning in unique ways for these students. The nature of learning through a new language requires additional time to practice and engage with new concepts, vocabulary terms and skills. So, it is critical that learning opportunities are maximized for English learners.

Most teachers feel pressed for time but don’t realize how a few minutes squandered here and there can, when used productively, provide the additional instructional time that they desire.

Here are a few ways to increase the actual time that learning happens in the classroom:

1. Use every minute of each period wisely. Okay, I understand that “every minute” may not be possible but it should be the goal, a goal that is constantly on the teacher’s radar. Too much time is wasted by having students participate in activities that aren’t related to the lesson’s objectives or those that are of questionable value. For English learners in particular, instructional time should be boosted in order to advance their language proficiency, literacy development, and academic knowledge and skills.

 When we were creating and field-testing the SIOP Model, we observed classes       where teachers used effective instructional techniques for English learners and the lessons would have been scored fairly high on the observation protocol for most SIOP features. However, use of instructional time had to be taken into consideration. In one high school biology class, for instance, the teacher differentiated instruction for English learners, delivered a well-prepared lesson that included group work and hands-on activities, she circulated amongst the groups and checked for understanding, and wrapped up the lesson with a review of the objectives and concise summary of the lesson. But, the class period began with the teacher using almost 10 minutes for taking attendance, making announcements, asking who was going to the upcoming dance, and so forth. Then, with about 7 minutes left in the period the teacher told students they could “clean up” which resulted in them organizing their backpacks and chatting with friends. Imagine the additional learning that could have taken place!

That observation was the impetus for SIOP feature #25, Students engaged approximately 90% to 100% of the period. By this we mean that students are paying attention and on task. It doesn’t mean that they need to be highly active the entire time. But, they are engaged in the lesson and are participating in the activities as expected, which might include reading and writing but might also include brainstorming or quiet reflection, discussing a topic with a partner or group, or creating visuals for a presentation. Bottom line: English learners simply cannot afford to have instructional minutes thrown away.

2.  Allow appropriate time for tasks. Students are more likely to be actively engaged in learning when the lesson’s pace creates momentum. Conversely, they are easily bored, off-task or disruptive when the activity lags because too much time is allotted. Knowing how much time to give students to complete a task can be tricky at times. It may take some effort and experience to pace lessons well. However, there are some “no-brainers” that can increase instructional time immediately.

• Make sure that the right amount of time is allocated for student-to-student talk. In the following examples, time is wasted. An elementary task might be, “Turn to your partner and use a describing word, or adjective, to tell something about the main character.” Or, in secondary, “Tell your partner the two main methods to estimate sample size.” In both of these cases, it takes students about 30 seconds to turn and say a sentence or two, but it’s not uncommon to observe classes where 3-5 minutes pass before the teacher calls students back together. If a lesson has several turn-and-talk opportunities, many instructional minutes are lost.
• Use a timer so that you don’t lose track of time. Let students know how much time has been set for completing the task, then use a bell or other signal to mark the beginning and end of the activity. In the example above, the teacher would say, “You have 30 seconds to tell your partner….” Ding. This kind of pacing conveys to students that there is serious work to do and that their time is respected.
• Make transitions efficient so they don’t eat up time. In some of the most productive classes I’ve observed, from kindergarten to high school, students have been taught how to smoothly transition from one activity to another saving countless instructional minutes. Even young children can learn routines for distributing and collecting materials, moving from whole class to small group, and taking on roles in discussion groups. Giving students responsibility has the added benefit of raising students’ sense of autonomy and agency.
• Teach using the mantra of a teacher that we profile: As fast as we can; as slow as we must. Keep the pace moving but make sure all learners are supported.

3. Be prepared. For each lesson, post and review with students the content and language objectives so expectations are clear and learning is transparent. Also, show instructions visually, including the steps to follow, so that students have something to refer to instead of interrupting the lesson’s flow to ask for clarification. Visual presentation is particularly important for English learners since oral instructions alone are difficult to follow or remember. When students don’t know what to do, they will find something else to do!

Further, have necessary materials on hand and ready to go. When students are      working on one part of the lesson, begin distributing materials for the next part so no time is lost.

I know, I know, some of this is Teaching 101. However, the suggestions made here were motivated by recent classroom observations. The biology lesson I described earlier took place way back in 1996, so using time wisely continues to be an issue that warrants attention.

As a final reminder to teachers: precious instructional moments add up significantly over the course of a day, a week, a year – and an educational career.