Kadri Ucla 426
Kadri Ucla 426
Kadri Ucla 426
For the Benefit of the Students: Analyzing Current English Language Learner Strategies and
Rama Kadri
03/11/18
FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE STUDENTS 2
For the Benefit of the Students: Analyzing Current English Language Learner Strategies and
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?
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For the Benefit of the Students: Analyzing Current English Language Learner Strategies
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.
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
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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
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
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
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,
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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
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]
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.
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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.
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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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