How has the transition to college- and career-readiness standards impacted English learners, and the role of ESL/bilingual educators? This presentation will discuss the many issues that unfolded for English learners in this paradigm shift, what has changed for ESL/bilingual educators, and what this means for teacher education. Presentation delivered November 19, 2016 at the ACTFL Annual Convention in Boston, MA.

1. CCRS, ELs, and the Changing Role
of the ESL Educator
John Segota, CAE
Associate Executive Director for Public Policy & Professional Relations
TESOL International Association
2016 ACTFL Convention
Boston, Massachusetts

2. Overview
• CCRS and English Language Proficiency
• Impact of Paradigm Shift
• The Role of the ESL Educator
• New Roles in the New Paradigm
• Key Challenges for ESL Educators
• Redefining Preparation

3. TESOL International Association
• Approximately 13,000
members in over 150
countries
• 100+ affiliates
worldwide

4. TESOL International Association
Resources
Prof.
Devel.
StandardsAdvocacy
Research

5. Next Generation Standards & Assessments
College- &
Career-
Ready
Standards
• CCSS
• NGSS
• State
standards
CCRS
Assessments
• PARCC
• Smarter
Balanced
• State
assessments
English
Language
Proficiency
Standards
• WIDA
• State
standards
ELP
Assessments
• ACCESS
• ELPA 21
• State
assessments

6. ELP Standards
Define:
– Expected progressions of English language
acquisition
– Elements, forms, or functions of language to
be developed
– Levels of accuracy, complexity, or fluency to
be attained
Valdes, Kibler, & Walqui, 2014

7. ELP Standards
Establish for parents, policy makers, school
administrators, and practitioners:
– Ways that English learners are assumed to
grow in their use of English over time
– Language abilities to be expected at different
levels of development
– Aspects of language that will need to be
measured in determining progress
Valdes, Kibler, & Walqui, 2014

8. Standards and Assessments for ELLs
Content
Standards (CCSS
and NGSS)
ELP Standards
ELP Assessments
& ELP Test Items
National Content-
Area Assessments
& Test Items
Valdes, Kibler, & Walqui, 2014

9. Role of the ESL Educator
First Convening –
CCSS & ESL
Educators (2013)
Professional Paper –
New Expertise for
ESL Educators
(2014)
Second Convening –
Preparation of ESL
Educators for New
Era (2015)

10. CCSS for ELs – Changing Role
of ESL Teacher
1. What are ESL educators’ current
roles in implementing the CCSS
for ELs?
2. What should ESL educators’
roles be to ensure that ELLs
achieve with the CCSS?
3. What are the most promising
strategies to support ESL
educators as they teach the
CCSS?

11. Changes in the Expertise of ESL Professionals
• Shifts caused by
the new standards
• New demands for
ESL educators
• Changes needed in
professional
preparation

12. Preparation of ESL Educator in
Era of CCRS
• What has changed?
• What has been the impact of
policy?
• What has been the impact of
professional preparation for
this new context?
• What preparation could have
prepared you for the new
context?

13. Old Paradigm
Content Language
Mostlyvocabulary,
Grammar
Stanford, University. April 19, 2012. Language, Literacy and the Common Core.

14. New Paradigm
Discourse
Text (complex text)
Explanation
Argumentation
Purpose
Typical structure of text
Sentence structures
Vocabulary
Practices
Content
Language
Stanford, University. April 19, 2012. Language, Literacy and the Common Core.

15. New Paradigm
Two Key Challenges for ESL Educators
1. Language practices required by the new
standards
2. Inclusion of ELLs in new standards-
aligned instruction
Valdes, Kibler, & Walqui, 2014

16. Language practices required
by CCSS/NGSS
Disciplinary
Practices
disciplinary practices
related to conceptual
understanding
disciplinary practices
related to analytical
tasks
disciplinary language
practices
Valdes, Kibler, & Walqui, 2014

17. Disciplinary Practices in CCSS - ELA
CCSS Key Practices for ELA
1. Support analyses of a range of grade-level complex
texts with evidence
2. Produce clear and coherent writing in which the
development, organization, and style are appropriate
to task purpose, and audience
3. Construct valid arguments from evidence and critique
the reasoning of others
4. Build and present knowledge through research by
integrating, comparing, and synthesizing ideas from
texts
5. Build upon the ideas of others and articulate their own
when working collaboratively
6. Use English structure to communicate context-specific
messages
Council of Chief State School Officers, 2013

18. Sample Embedded Analytical Tasks
Key CCSS ELA Practice 1: Support analyses of a
range of grade level complex texts with evidence
– Render an understanding of what has been read
through assembling details and ideas
– Use evidence to make inferences beyond what is
explicitly stated
– Extract evidence from a variety of text structures
– Build both vocabulary and content knowledge
through comprehension of texts

19. Sample Embedded Receptive Language
Practices
Key CCSS ELA Practice 1: Support analyses of a
range of grade level complex texts with evidence
– Comprehend text being read aloud or silently
– Comprehend talk about the meaning of a text
being read aloud or silently
– Comprehend oral and written classroom
discourse about investigating text for details as
well as assembling those details both orally and
in writing

20. Sample Embedded Productive Language
Practices
Key CCSS ELA Practice 1: Support analyses of a
range of grade level complex texts with evidence
Communicate orally and in writing ideas, concepts, and
information related to the reading of complex literacy and
informational texts and evidence-supported analysis, including:
• Identifying evidence within a text
• Explaining the meaning of particular details
• Explaining the meaning of the text as a whole
• Creating written and oral analyses of on-level text
• Presenting and explaining evidence to others
• Answering questions by providing details from textual analysis

21. Inclusion of ELLs in New
Standards-Aligned Instruction
• How much (and what kind) of language do
students need to be placed in an inclusive
Standards-based classroom environment?
• What criteria should be used to make such
decisions?
• What should classrooms look like?
• What curricula can best facilitate linguistic and
intellectual/academic development?
Valdes, Kibler, & Walqui, 2014

22. Success for ELLs
Content Development Language Development
Content Area Teacher
• Subject area knowledge &
expertise
• Academic objective writing
skills
ESL Teacher
• Language development
knowledge & expertise
• Language objective writing
skills

23. Implementation of CCRS: Systemic Approach
The triangle of interaction: Critical components for effective EL education
Staehr Fenner and Segota, 2012

24. 2013 Convening - Findings
Most ESL Educators
– Understand the importance of academic
language
– Are experts in language development
– Are impacted by lack of recognition and
uniformity in the TESOL field

25. 2013 Convening - Findings
Most ESL Educators
– Work with content area teachers in an
open-ended way
– Maintain various roles and status in
schools
– Have no clear role in the school’s CCSS
implementation

26. New Roles in the New Paradigm
• ESL Educators
– Experts
– Advocates
– Consultants
• Principals and Administrators
– Supporters
– Buffers
– Pedagogical leaders

27. New Roles for ESL Educators
• Co-teaching or closer collaboration with
content-area teachers
• Professional development providers for
content-area teachers
• Developing push-in models in which ESL
teachers are in the classroom with content-
area teachers
Maxwell, 2013

28. Redefining Preparation
Teacher preparation must be re-
conceptualized for the new paradigm so
that ESL educators are able to:
– Understand how and why language is used in
various disciplines
– Create opportunities for learners to engage in
language-rich disciplinary Practices in both ESL
and content-area classroom settings
– Engage in effective collaboration with other
educators (and vice-versa)
Valdes, Kibler, & Walqui, 2014

29. Advancing Professional Expertise
ESL educators must
– Be conscious of the theories that underline
practices, and re-examine both to arrive at a
richer and more thorough understanding of
possibilities, opportunities, and challenges
– Address what pedagogical scaffolding needs to
be provided for students so that they can
participate in practices that are beyond their
current levels of development
Valdes, Kibler, & Walqui, 2014

30. 2015 Convening Findings
What is happening now?
• Greater shift towards more collaboration and
co-teaching
• ESL educators asked to provide more
professional development for their peers
• In some cases, more support happening at
district levels
• ESL educators not necessarily included in
planning teams

31. 2015 Convening Findings
Pre-service programs need to prepare ESL
educators for new role and context
– New demands of college- and career-ready
standards
– Support and preparation for effective
collaboration
– Peer-teaching techniques
– Field experience
– Leadership development

32. 2015 – Key Recommendations
1. Preparation for effective collaboration
must be included both at the pre-service
and in-service level.
2. Preservice preparation of ESL educators
should include more aspects of leadership
development.
3. Testing and accountability policies should
take into account the practicalities of
instructional time.

33. What’s next?
• What’s needed in teacher education and
preparation?
– Revision of TESOL P-12 Professional
Teaching Standards (CAEP)
• What tools and resources are needed for
ESL educators in this new paradigm?
• What else?

34. More information
http://www.tesol.org/CommonCore
John Segota, CAE
jsegota@tesol.org
Twitter: @JohnSegota
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