Even though English learners are a large and growing part of the U.S. public school population, there are a number of myths and misconceptions about these students that persist. This blog series will attempt to dispel some of those myths and misconceptions. By the way, the myths are discussed in no particular order.
In previous blogs, I addressed these myths:
- Content teachers aren’t language teachers (see previous blog).
- English learners aren’t capable of completing rigorous, grade-level work
Today’s myth is:
- Only English learners benefit when teachers use best practices for ELs (e.g., the SIOP Model)
Although SIOP was designed as an instructional approach for English learners, for years we have heard anecdotal reports that the approach has been effective with all students — those in special education, struggling learners, and students who speak non-standard English. In fact, in our early research two of the middle school teachers piloting SIOP in content classes with English learners also taught a couple periods of gifted and talented classes. They began planning and delivering lessons using SIOP lesson plans and found that gifted students responded positively to SIOP teaching. SIOP’s features — including having clear objectives, an emphasis on student collaboration and discussion, higher order thinking, and opportunities for practice and application of lesson concepts — appealed to these high achieving students. In fact, the project teachers documented the improved achievement of not only their English learners but also the students in their gifted and talented classes.
More recently, a colleague who is a literacy consultant was kind enough to send me the following email when he returned from consulting with a district in another state:
“They mentioned the fine work using SIOP in [District X] – and the powerful results, not just for ELLs and struggling students but across the range of students, including their top performers (i.e. everyone derived notable benefit)…..Of course, a major reason why this worked so well was the coherent/accountable follow through and admin support from Supt to teachers and back!”
It seems reasonable that SIOP teaching would work well for all students because it’s development was grounded in research on effective teaching and the literature on second language acquisition.
The mot recent research studies have shown that all students in SIOP classes outperformed students in control or comparison classes. Studies from the Center for Research on the Educational Achievement and Teaching of English Language Learners (CREATE) showed the same: Best practices for English learners benefitted English speakers as well as English learners.[1]
The conclusion is that native English-speaking students are not disadvantaged when general education teachers use SIOP teaching in content classes, but in fact may actually do better when teachers implement the SIOP Model.
[1] Echevarria, J. (2012). Effective Practices for Increasing the Achievement of English Learners. Washington, DC: Center for Research on the Educational Achievement and Teaching of English Language Learners. Retrieved from http://www.cal.org/create/resources/pubs/
Short, D. & Himmel, J. (2013). Moving research on Sheltered Instruction into curriculum and professional development practice. Paper delivered at AERA, San Francisco, CA.