Curriculum investigation #2

Curricular Investigation #2
Topics:
★ How does your school/district screen all students enrolling in the
school/district to identify those students who are potential ELL students?
★ Identify the criteria your distinct/school uses to classify a student as a
potential ELL student.
Lindsay Lyons, Pamela Cacciani, Danielle Conguista,
Samantha Cosenza, and Susan Ortiz

School/District Screening Process of
Potential ELLs
At Edith L. Slocum Elementary School in the Connetquot School District ENL
teacher (ONLY) screens all students who are potential ELLs by using the
NYSITELL exam.
This exam is given ONLY when "another language spoken at home" is
checked off on the "Home Language Survey" when registering with the
district as a new student.
Pamela Cacciani

Criteria used by school/district to classify potential
ELLs
Classification is based on the score the student receives on the NYSITELL.
There are 5 levels of proficiency; Entering, Emerging, Transitioning,
Expanding, and Commanding.
If the student scores at the highest level, "Commanding" - they do not need to
receive ENL services because they have tested out.
If the student scores anything below commanding, then they will receive
either 1 push-in, or 2 periods (which consist of 1 pull-out and 1 push-in) of
ENL a day based on their score.
Pamela Cacciani

Annual Review with Parents/Guardians
-In addition to parent-teacher conferences or other scheduled meetings for all
parents, an annual meeting with parents/guardians of each ELL must be held to
discuss the goals of the ENL program, the student’s language development
progress, English language proficiency assessment results, and language
development needs in all content areas.
-All school staff necessary to sufficiently inform the parents or persons in
parental relation about the child’s language development in all content areas in
English must attend this meeting including ENL teacher, Student’s English/ELA
teacher, special education teacher, (if applicable) and Support services staff, (if
applicable) Danielle Congiusta

School/District Screening Process of Potential
ELLs (Initial Evaluation/Classification Process)
East Meadow School District
★ Students who speak another language at home and/or have recently arrived from a foreign country are
administered the New York State Identification Test for English Language Learners (NYSITELL) upon initial
enrollment within the district. The NYSITELL is administered once, and only once! The test is administered
when the parent(s) indicate on their Home Language Survey that they use a primary language other than English
at home.
★ NYSITELL evaluates English proficiency based on the four language domains: speaking, reading, writing, and
listening. Often, writing is the most challenging because it requires formatting cognitive processes and
organizing language before writing.
★ NYSITELL results help ENL teachers analyze the results to determine appropriate program placement, in regards
to students’ needs for ENL services of English language support of the domains.
Lindsay Lyons

NYSESLAT Significance and Criteria, After
Initial Determination with the NYSITELL
East Meadow School District
★ Each following year, ENL students are assessed around the month of May by ENL teachers administering the
New York State English as a Second Language Achievement Test (NYSESLAT). The NYSESLAT assesses
students’ progress throughout the ENL curriculum instruction and learning process. The NYSESLAT covers the
four criteria of the English language: speaking, listening, reading, and writing. Again, writing is usually the most
challenging for ENL students because it requires other domains to formulate language and organize sentences.
★ NYSESLAT results are analyzed to help ENL teachers determine the aspects of continuation of ENL services and
needs for increased or decreased support for the following school year.
★ As ENL students progress throughout the ENL program, they gradually move through stages, based on English
proficiency and results from the NYSESLAT each year. The five stages are indicated in the following two slides:
Lindsay Lyons

ENL Proficiency Levels/Services from the NYS Department of Education
Lindsay Lyons

Sample “Home
Language Survey”
Pamela Cacciani

Sample “Follow
Up” Letter to
inform Parents/
Guardians of
English Language
Proficiency level Danielle Congiusta

Home Language
Survey Flow Chart
Susan Ortiz

Example of NYSITELL Level 1 Answer Sheet
Pamela Cacciani

NYSITELL Question Types
Danielle Congiusta

Sample of Questions Given on NYSITELL
Danielle Congiusta

Listening Sample Question
Given on NYSITELL
Danielle Congiusta

Sample of
NYSITELL Raw
Score Conversion
Chart
Pamela Cacciani

Now that you gained a little perspective on
our districts’/schools’ criteria and process for
identifying potential ENL students and
monitoring progress of current ENL students,
take a look at some instructional strategies
for supporting ENL students in your future
instruction. Simple instructional approaches
may yield positive impacts on your students’
confidence and growth in using the English
language.
Extension of Curriculum Investigation:
Lindsay Lyons

“
One of the greatest concerns in classrooms today is
related to accommodations for our students and doing
what the district/school curriculum programs requires
of educators.
Lindsay Lyons & Danielle Conguista

Commercial programs are very
structured, so educators must find ways
to adapt their existing curriculum in ways
to remain “Fidelity to the Core” yet better
address the needs of ELL students.
Fidelity to the Core

Fidelity and the Culturally &
Linguistically Diverse (CLD) Learner
� When educators believe that “one size does not fit all”, this
examination becomes part of the advocacy effort they undertake
to ensure equal access for all.
� Understanding the four dimensions of the student biography, the
implications they have on practice, and what the research reveals
about each enables teachers to advocate for what is right for ELL
students.
� Such knowledge also enables teachers to discuss what “fidelity to
the core” was intended to mean.

Biographies to Understand ENL
Students and Yield Confident Learners
By using the CLD student
biography, teachers can
then continue with their
acquisition of
fundamental and
research-based
components of literacy
to better their ELL
students.
Biographies can be
embedded in the current
standards- and program-
driven mandates of today’s
classrooms. Using the
strategies such as Standard-
Driven Literacy Instruction
and knowledge of
Sociocultural, linguistic,
cognitive, and academic
Teaching the required
curriculum naturally requires
teachers to contextualize their
instruction based on the
population they are serving
during any particular year.
Students’ biographies dicate
the accommodations
educators make to the scripted
reading programs found in
classrooms today.

Biography Graphic Organizers:
Intermediate Level Primary Level

Standards for English Language Arts assume that
literacy growth begins before children enter
school.
“Adaptability and creativity are far more effective
in the classroom, than thoroughgoing applications
of a single approach.”

ENL STANDARDS/GOALS/LEARNING TARGETS
Goal 1:
To use English
to
communicate
in social
settings.
Goal 3:
To use English to
achieve
academically in all
content areas.
(obtain, process,
construct content in
spoken and written
form)Goal 2:
To use English in
socially and culturally
appropriate ways.
(audience, purpose,
setting)

Sociocultural
Knowledge
Linguistic
Knowledge
Cognitive
Knowledge
Academic
Knowledge
Effective Teaching
● Scaffold
● Strategies
● Key
vocabulary
● Building academic skills
● Variety of literacy
activities
● Wide range of literature
● Understanding
CLD students’
first language
literacy
development
promotes a
positive impact in
second language
acquisition
● Multicultural & Multilingual
Tasks/Activities promotes
motivation & positive diverse
identify

ELL Students Face Unique Challenges
English Language Learners (ELLs) are the fastest growing segment of
the public school population.
Over the past 15 years, the number of ELL students has nearly doubled—
to about 5 million.
By 2015, ELL enrollment in U.S. schools will reach 10 million and, by 2025,
nearly one out of every four public school students will be an English
Language Learner
Accurately assessing these students in English—required by the law—is
challenging.
ELLs are expected to master content in English before they have reached
a certain level of English proficiency.
Susan Ortiz

Issues Facing Teachers of
English Language Learners
ELL students come from very different backgrounds and often
face multiple challenges in the classroom.
To complicate matters further, teachers lack practical,
research-based information, resources, and strategies needed
to teach, evaluate, and nurture ELL students, whether those
students were born in this country or elsewhere, or whether they
are the first, second, or third generation to attend an American
public school.
In too many cases, ELL students are being given reading and
math tests in English before they are proficient in the language.
Susan Ortiz

Five Things Teachers Can Do to
Improve Learning for ELLs
� 1. Increase ELL students' English language production and peer interaction-If
activities are structured to support student-to-student or group interaction, ELLs are required
to use English to explain concepts and contribute to the work. This gives teachers an
opportunity to gauge what the student has learned, and it demonstrates student progress in
English language development.
Explicitly teach English language vocabulary and structures-Content teachers can begin
by reviewing a content area lesson and identifying not just the vocabulary that every student
needs to know, but other vocabulary words and grammar structures that ELL students may
not be familiar with.
Build on ELLs' Background Knowledge to Increase Comprehension-Teachers can work
creatively to elicit background knowledge from students on content topics in order to increase
comprehension of the material. This may be as simple as taking the time to do a "K/W/L"
(Know, Want to Know, Learned) chart, or as individualized as asking questions about the topic.
Susan Ortiz

Five Things Teachers Can Do to
Improve Learning for ELLs Continued...
� Increase ELL Parent Involvement-Regular, open and friendly communication from the
teacher can make a big difference in ELL parent participation. It can feel daunting for an English
speaking teacher to call a non-English speaking parent, but usually there is someone in the family
who speaks enough English to interpret the message for the parent, or the parent speaks enough
English to understand a simple message. ELL parents will be very pleased and excited to hear
positive news about their child and will feel more comfortable asking questions and visiting the
school in the future. The more informed the parents are, the more likely it is that the student will
get support at home and parents will have the information they need to help their child be
successful.
� Increase Writing Opportunities-For ELLs this is particularly important. Depending on
their writing skill level in their first language and their English language abilities, writing may be
frustrating. Students need to engage in a variety of writing to develop an understanding of
different types of writing and to identify their strengths and weaknesses as a writer.
Susan Ortiz

Improving ELL Students Vocabulary
ELL Students
Vocabulary
Builderers:
Susan Ortiz

Working with Community Organizations to
Support ELL Students
Services and support:
The leaders and staff of community organizations may also
have many ideas about how schools, businesses, and other
groups can work together to support ELL students and their
families by offering:After-school tutoring, Student internships, Medical
services, Social services, Clothing/food drives, ESL classes for adults,
Continuing education programs, Immigration information, Citizenship classes.
Susan Ortiz

Hot Links
� Coalition for Community Schools
The Coalition for Community Schools, housed at the Institute for Educational Leadership, is an
alliance of national, state and local organizations in education K-16, youth development, community
planning and development, family support, health and human services, government and philanthropy
as well as national, state and local community school networks.
� Partnership for Afterschool Education
The Partnership for After-School Education (PASE), a New York City-focused organization, promotes
and supports quality afterschool programs for youth, particularly those from underserved
communities, enabling them to identify and reach their full potential.
Susan Ortiz

In Conclusion...
By giving children the tools they need to decode and comprehend text,
teachers have the power to shape students’ lives, help them fulfill their
dreams, and open up a world of opportunities. To reach the same level of
academic achievement as their monolingual English-speaking peers, ELL
students need to be active members of their academic world, not just
passive observers. Teachers can help make this possible. Teachers must
break the habit of embedded daily instruction and reflect on new ways to
modify instruction for meeting the specific sociocultural, linguistic,
academic, and cognitive needs of their ELL students.

“It is the celebration of the students’ diversity
that teachers provide them with the tools
necessary not only to successfully acquire
English literacy skills but also to take charge of
what lies in their future.”

Essential Questions to Peers:
1. How can administrators support teachers of ELL students?
2. What is the definition of a Limited English Proficient (LEP) student?
3. Is the initial process of determining if incoming students require ENL
services reliable and fair?
4. What strategies or approaches can you utilize to address each ENL
student’s unique needs and proficiency level, in order for them to achieve
optimal success on the yearly NYSESLAT?

Curriculum investigation #2

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