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FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE STUDENTS 1

For the Benefit of the Students: Analyzing Current English Language Learner Strategies and

Meaningful Assessments at South Pasadena High School

Rama Kadri

University of California Los Angeles: EDU-X 426.2

03/11/18
FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE STUDENTS 2

For the Benefit of the Students: Analyzing Current English Language Learner Strategies and

Meaningful Assessments at South Pasadena High School

Questions Considered as Part of This Essay:

1. Analyze your school and or district’s assessment program in reading and language arts.
Are reading specialists available to help with the assessment and instruction of students
with reading problems? What happens to teachers’ district-required literacy assessment
results? Are professional development programs in place to assist teachers and
administrators in analyzing results? Are new teachers mentored by older teachers? Do
grade levels work together to create rubrics and assessments?

2. Do you currently have ELLs in the classes you teach? If so, what problems do they
appear to have comprehending and learning the content? What strategies do you use to
make both language and content more accessible to them? How do you encourage other
students in your classes who are more proficient in English to play a role?

3. For what purposes do you think English Language Learners should be tested in your
classes? For each purpose you mention what sorts of information would you want to
collect?
FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE STUDENTS 3

For the Benefit of the Students: Analyzing Current English Language Learner Strategies

and Meaningful Assessments at South Pasadena High School

English Language Learner students deserve quality instruction from highly qualified

educators who are not only well versed in their content areas, but in supporting the students they

teach. At South Pasadena High School, we strive to make sure that teachers do not merely move

from task to task, which understandably and quite easily can occur in the midst of unit planning,

meetings, emails, and of course, instruction. Instead, we work diligently in order to make sure

that we are catering to our students, and their individual needs, as much as possible, in making

sure that they are academically and emotionally prepared for the future beyond our classroom

walls.

Thus, in doing so, SPHS has comprehensive strategies in place in order to ensure that

students are provided with the instruction they need, and in the setting most appropriate for them.

We, of course, begin by adhering to California’s English Language Development standards, in

that, in identifying a student whose primary language is not English, in accordance to the

entrance survey they take upon enrollment, students are asked to take the newly implemented

initial assessment ELPAC exam. Once they have completed this assessment, the exam is then

locally scored, and, after discussing the results with EL teachers, the student, and their family,

students are ultimately placed at the level of English Language instruction deemed appropriate

for them, specifically. Our school has two main English Language instructors, both of whom are

English teachers, as well as two incredible instructional aides. These teachers have taken a

number of courses, and participate in frequent, annual (and often bi-annual) professional

development, for the benefit of our English Language Learner population. They work closely

with our Level 1-4 English Language Learners in a nearly one-on-one setting; in fact, our district
FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE STUDENTS 4

ensures that these student-centered courses have no more than 10 students enrolled in a particular

class at one time, in order to make sure that they receive individual, meaningful instruction as

much as possible. These educators’ goals, then, are truly to make sure that our English Language

Learners feel confident in their abilities, and their growth as learners, and ultimately feel

prepared for the rigors (both with regard to language and content) of the courses they will take

once exiting this program. Our instructors are truly dedicated to these students, and seek to

implement culturally relevant pedagogy in order to make the learning they take part in engaging

and relevant, as well as beneficial to their language and content-area development. Moreover, as

we place a great deal of focus on students identifying their own growth, in addition to the

ELPAC summative assessment, we also ask our students to reflect very often upon the

knowledge they gain over the course of the year, in order to encourage them to truly realize and

appreciate their development as learners.

Of course, beyond these sheltered environments, we have English Language Learners

who have passed the ELPAC summative assessment exit exam, in our everyday classrooms.

Each and every teacher at our school either has successfully obtained their CLAD authorization,

or is actively working toward achieving this accomplishment (like me!). These courses help to

support all educators in providing the best possible instruction for all students, but particularly

those adjusting to an entirely new culture and language. Beyond this, our district also provides

opportunities to attend two professional development conferences each and every year, one of

which is truly centered upon English Language Learners, and the new, innovative and

meaningful ways to implement meaningful strategies for their benefit, as well as assess the

success of the current English Language Learner courses offered at our school, and the growth of

our non-sheltered English Language Learners, as well.


FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE STUDENTS 5

Moreover, our district, again, in accordance with the state of California’s requirements,

assigns all new teachers to a mentor, as part of the Induction Program. This program is far

ranging and comprehensive, and focuses on deep reflection on the part of the “Inductee,” in

assuring their professional growth as educators, but also largely, of course, for the sake of their

students. While not a great deal of focus is placed on English Language Learners, specifically,

the support provided by the Inductee’s mentor, and the research gathered by the Inductee as part

of the completion of this program are significant, and truly meaningful. They in turn genuinely

allow for new teachers to feel supported, and also prepared to meet the needs of those who are

most important—the students we seek to both reach and teach on a daily basis.

In my own classroom, I feel quite determined to meet and exceed the needs of my

English Language Learners, and indeed, of all of my students. The ELL students enrolled in my

classes are considerably advanced, and truly contribute to my classes on a daily basis. One area

that I feel they appear to struggle with, however, is not necessarily directly content based.

Rather, one challenge I am met with is in encouraging them to participate as part of our various

discussions. As a native English speaker, I can only begin to understand the vulnerability

associated with this, but strive to do so as much as possible. I start by sharing my own fearful

experiences as a student studying abroad in France, and living with a host family who spoke very

little English, and then, later, as an English instructor in a French high school. I relay my

experiences, and a number of humorous and embarrassing anecdotes, with the hope of relieving

some of these anxieties.

Nevertheless, my English Language Learners are often reluctant to offer their

perspectives during Socratic Seminars, debates, or even very informal discussions. In order to

circumvent this as much as possible, I make sure to scaffold significantly important vocabulary,
FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE STUDENTS 6

for example, that my students may be able to use as the basis of their analysis and dialogue.

Furthermore, I ask students to journal about their points of view prior to participating in any

discussion, and also encourage students to work in pairs or small groups before then transitioning

into perhaps more intimidating large-group discussions. I also often intentionally place my

“strongest,” and most vocal students with those who struggle a bit more, in order to help all

parties involved, but especially in order to invite those who may feel uncomfortable otherwise, to

be vocal and truly engage in the dialogue at hand.

As an English teacher, my teaching philosophy is largely based on student meaning-

making, with a considerable focus on students identifying their growth in ways that go beyond

their scores. In this way, I seek to integrate what researchers Rick Stiggins and Jan Chappuis

identify as “student-involved classroom assessment,” more so than anything else (2005). In their

article, these scholars encourage educators to try to “tap [the] wellspring of motivation that

resides within each learner” (Chappuis, Stiggins 2005). This shift in perspective specifically asks

students, rather than just their teachers, to take part in their own assessment, by “monitor[ing]

improvements in their performance over time through repeated self-assessment” (Chappuis,

Stiggins 2005). In this way, and through teacher guidance, rather than imposition, I truly believe

that more substantial and long-standing learning can take place. In allowing students to take

active part in evaluating their growth, both with regard to language and content, we allow them

to identify their development as learners. In so doing, we give them the opportunity to see

learning as a process, rather than as menial task after task. This type of reflection, and perhaps

most importantly, students’ acknowledgement of their improvements, ultimately means far, far

more to me, as an educator, than any score I ever attribute to their work. And, judging by my

students’ own perspectives, they seem to feel the same way, too.
FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE STUDENTS 7

I strongly feel as though these approaches, both on a school and individual level, aid

immensely in helping all students, and our English Language Learners, in particular, to develop

the skills that will then transcend into their lives beyond high school. At South Pasadena High

School, we make persistent and passionate efforts to make sure that our students feel

academically prepared for the future, and also know that they are, through the use of consistent

reflection. Our ultimate hope, then, is to make sure that on graduation day, students know that

their learning has not come to a close—it has only just begun.
FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE STUDENTS 8

References

Stiggins, R., & Chappuis, J. (2005). Using Student-Involved Classroom Assessment to Close
Achievement Gaps. Theory Into Practice,44(1), 11-18. doi:10.1207/s15430421tip4401_3

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