Guidebook on Designing, Delivering and Evaluating Services for English Learners (Els)

Guidebook on Designing, Delivering and Evaluating Services for English Learners (ELs) Revised January 2019 Colorado State Board of Education Valentina Flores (D) 1st Congressional District Denver Angelika Schroeder (D) 2nd Congressional District Boulder Joyce Rankin (R) 3rd Congressional District Carbondale Debora Scheffel (R) 4th Congressional District Larkspur Steve Durham (R) 5th Congressional District, Chairman Colorado Springs Rebecca McClellan (R) 6th Congressional District Centennial Jane Goff (D) 7th Congressional District Arvada GUIDEBOOK ON DESIGNING, DELIVERING AND EVALUATING SERVICES FOR ENGLISH LEARNERS (ELs) Guidebook on Designing, Delivering, and Evaluating Services for English Learners (ELs) Revised January 2019 Foreword by: Kathy Escamilla University of Colorado, Boulder CB 247—School of Education Boulder, Colorado 80309-0247 [email protected] 303-492-0147 Fax: 303-492-2883 1 GUIDEBOOK ON DESIGNING, DELIVERING AND EVALUATING SERVICES FOR ENGLISH LEARNERS (ELs) Foreword The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) was signed into law on December 10, 2015. This measure reauthorized the 50-year-old Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), the nation’s national education law and longstanding commitment to equal opportunity for all students. It affects all students in K-12 public schools. The ESSA replaces the previous version of the law, the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, which was enacted in 2002. Much like its predecessors, the main purpose of ESSA is to make sure public schools provide a quality education for all students. In contrast to NCLB, however, ESSA gives states more of a say in how schools account for student achievement. This includes the achievement of students in poverty, students who are labeled as English learners, minority students, and students in Special Education. ESSA includes a number of new requirements for the education of English Learners (ELs), including standardized criteria for identifying EL students and inclusion of English proficiency as a measurement of school quality. Further, states must demonstrate in their plans that they have adopted ELP standards derived from the four recognized domains of speaking, listening, reading, and writing; that address the different proficiency levels of ELs; and that are aligned with the state’s academic standards. This requirement differs from NCLB in that NCLB did not require that the English proficiency standards address the different English proficiency levels of English learners. Under NCLB, states could establish a single definition of “proficiency” rather than defining multiple proficiency levels as is now required. To accomplish the new mandates, it is important to note that ESSA has shifted much of the decision-making regarding the education and accountability for English learners to state governments with important and specific provisions requiring stakeholder engagement. As such, ESSA creates new opportunities for community and local educational agency input into how important decisions related to ELs are made. ESSA, just as previous federal education initiatives, outlines a series of policies designed to improve schools for all public school students. While the bill is specific with regard to assessment and accountability, and has turned over a great deal of authority to the states, one could reasonably argue that, like NCLB, it falls short of specific programmatic or instructional guidelines to help local school districts develop and implement instructional programs that will enable English learners and others to meet its mandates. Just as with NCLB, the “How to” of improving schooling for ELs has largely been left to states, which, along with local school districts and communities are now charged with making instructional and programmatic decisions for English learners. The newly implemented ESSA coupled with Colorado’s large and rapidly growing population of English learners will place greater responsibility not just on the state but also on local school districts and educators working in tandem with the state. Based on CDE statistics, in 2016-17 Colorado had 129,237 K-12 students who are labeled as English learners. This is an increase over 5,000 since 2013. English learners are now almost 15% of Colorado’s K-12 population. As has been the case over the past 25 years, the majority of Colorado’s English learners speak Spanish (84%), however, in addition there are 232 other languages represented in this population. Colorado school districts know that they must meet all ESSA mandates including those for ELs. However, there is no doubt that the vast majority of educators in Colorado do not want to see ELs simply survive and meet mandates in school. They want to insure that they thrive academically, linguistically and socially. Moreover, more than ever local school districts are hungry for guidance that will help them to be more effective with English learners. Given the new responsibility that the state has for implementation of ESSA, and the continued need to work in partnership with local school districts, the importance of this Guidebook for Colorado educators of ELs cannot be over- emphasized. This Guidebook provides solid and up-to-date information to the field without being overly prescriptive 2 Foreword or dogmatic. It avoids overly simplistic “one size fits all” suggestions for programs and instruction and acknowledges up front that learning a second language is a long and complex process. Effective programs for ELs must address the cognitive and linguistic needs of language learners; equally important, they also must address the psychological and emotional needs of ELs. The Guidebook, to its credit, outlines the totality of the language learning process. The Guidebook does not prescribe one specific program model or approach to teaching English learners as being superior to any other, but it does specify that “doing nothing” is not an option. Further, the Guidebook acknowledges that well prepared and knowledgeable teachers are a critical component of any effective program. The authors challenge head-on the current feel-good mantras in some educational circles that “good teaching is good teaching” and illustrate that teaching English learners effectively will require the creation and implementation of programs, specifically tailored to the needs of ELs, that are orchestrated by well prepared teachers who have the resources needed to implement comprehensive educational programs. In short, the Guidebook does not tell you what to do but it tells you that you must do something and you must be thoughtful and thorough about what you do. Moreover, it provides many solid suggestions about how to get started in program development, assessment and evaluation. Finally, it is important to note that the principles and practices proposed in this Guidebook speak to the fact that if English learners are to be successful in Colorado Schools, it will require that all educators assume responsibility for the education of ELs and parents of these children must be intimately and actively involved in educational decisions related to their children. The Colorado Department of Education is to be commended for the preparation of this Guidebook. The field is in great need of guidance and leadership in their efforts to meet the needs of the 129,000+ English learners in the state, and English learners, like their monolingual English peers, deserve a first class education, the best our state has to offer. Originally written by Kathy Escamilla in 2007 and updated in 2013-2014 with new student data and again in Nov. 2017 with information from the new Every Student Succeeds Act and new data on English learners from the Colorado Department of Education. Source: Based on the 2013–2014 Student October Report, “Pupil Membership by Instructional Program” located at http://www.cde.state.co.us/sites/default/files/documents/ cdereval/download/pdf/2012pm/pupilmembershipbyinstructionalprogram.pdf. Foreword 3 GUIDEBOOK ON DESIGNING, DELIVERING AND EVALUATING SERVICES FOR ENGLISH LEARNERS (ELs) Table of Contents Introduction and Guiding Principles . 7 1 Understanding English Learners (ELs) . 10 1.1 ELs in the United States and Colorado ......................................................10 1.2 Stages of Language Development ..........................................................12 1.3 Socio-Cultural Issues and Student Learning .................................................16 2 Federal and State Requirements . 18 2.1 Federal Laws and Legal Requirements ......................................................18 2.2 Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), 2017 ...................................................20 2.3 Colorado State Laws .....................................................................25 3 Understanding the Districts’ Obligation for Identification, Assessment and Placement of ELs . 28 3.1 Procedures for the Identification and Assessment of ELs ......................................28 3.2 Data Reporting and Student October Count .................................................31 3.3 Language Proficiency Assessment Instruments. 32 3.4 Program Placement for ELs ...............................................................35 3.5 Redesignation and Exit Guidance (for the 2016–2017 School Year) ..............................37 4 Designing Effective Programs to Meet the Needs of ELs . 44 4.1 Understanding Comprehensive School Reform Guidelines ....................................44 4.2 Understanding and Selecting Language Instruction Educational

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