RETELL For All: How Histories of Educational Reform Help to Clarify Current Best Practices
for Enhancing Educational Access for English Language Learners
Camille Jones ELL Specialist
RETELL FOR ALL: HISTORIES OF EDUCATIONAL REFORM
Introduction This paper analyzes and evaluates research findings related to the Rethinking Equity and Teaching of English Language Learners (RETELL) Initiative in Massachusetts in order to propose new steps for enhancing access to instructional best practices for more ELLs attending U.S. public schools. Part 1 defines and describes RETELL, and compares and contrasts RETELL measures with current and prior ELL initiatives as they affect parents, teachers and administrators. Part 2 draws on Massachusetts primary sources and on local district resources to more closely classify the two types of ELLs impacted either implicitly or explicitly by RETELL legislation. Part 3 then examines how RETELL initiatives may serve efficiency initiatives with Title III funding and monitoring. Part 4 examines how RETELL implementation can further ELL mastery of rhetoric, writing and Common Core English Language Arts Initiatives. Part 5 then uses case methods to hypothesize as to likely outcomes and effects of future RETELL implementation upon success of ELL learners in three hypothetical venues: 1) Bean Public Schools; 2) Gotham Department of Education, and 3) Huge ISD. This paper concludes that a nationwide RETELL Initiativeonce systematically implemented-- has the potential to reciprocally benefit a variety of stakeholders because it aims to enhance ELL equity and teaching and in doing so, maximize both human capacity and institutional efficiencyin ways that seemingly transcend local variables. As such, one argument is that the RETELL Initiative could serve as model for improving ELL Program efficiencies and ELL student outcomes nationwide. Historical efforts at American educational reform have long placed diversified immigrant populations at the forefront of measures that tested the parameters of the early urban public RETELL FOR ALL: HISTORIES OF EDUCATIONAL REFORM
school. (Tehie, 2007) Historian L. Germin remarked that in such cities, teachers were unfamiliar with the languages and culture of large classes of immigrant students in the schools, and struggled to meet the needs of these non-English speaking students. (Tehie, 2007, p. 194) This historical pattern continued until the year 2010 found the Boston Public Schools (BPS) to be declared by the United States Department of Justice (DoJ) as in violation of Title III requirements as to English language learners (ELL) school placements, parent notification, testing and monitoring. (Massachusetts DOE, 2012) BPS entered a stage of corrective action with the United States Department of Justice. (Massachusetts DOE, 2012) Progress was piecemeal. Better compliance was urged, leading the DoJ (with DOE consent) to push for passage of a new systematic, statewide ELL initiative known as Rethinking Equity and Teaching of English Language Learners, or RETELL. (Massachusetts DOE, 2012) In its preamble to 2012 RETELL legislation, the Massachusetts Department of Education (DOE) explains that: ELLs are the state's fastest growing group of students, and, as a group, experience the largest proficiency gap when compared to their native English speaking peers. In order to strengthen instruction and better support the academic achievement of ELLs, the state Board of Elementary and Secondary adopted new regulations in June 2012. (Massachusetts DOE, 2012) Early onward, Massachusetts used data from its districts to inform many of the bases for the RETELL Initiative. (Massachusetts DOE, 2012) Recommendations made from special reports were incorporated into the tenets for the 2012 legislation. (Uriarte, 2011) Some recommendations focused on middle school ELL needs and how ELL transfers in and out of placements affected their success. (Uriarte, 2011). Another 2011 recommendation noted the fact that LEP students are more heavily concentrated in high-poverty schools and in schools that RETELL FOR ALL: HISTORIES OF EDUCATIONAL REFORM
did not meet AYPand that the most vulnerable LEP students are exposed to a teaching corps with less qualifications than is average for the district, suggests that the district needs to pay more attention to the assignment of LEP students, assuring that they have access to seats in schools with more favorable characteristics. (Uriarte, 2011, Executive Summary). Part I. RETELL: Definitions and Descriptions RETELL For Teachers and Administrators RETELL Helps Build Teacher Capacity: RETELL regulations include systemic professional development in Sheltered English Immersion (SEI) methods for any core academic teacher in order to enable him or her to make rigorous content accessible to English learners. (Massachusetts DOE, 2012). According to DOE regulations, if a core academic teacher has even one ELL student, s/he is required to complete SEI training, followed by a special state exam. (Massachusetts DOE, 2012) Massachusetts RETELL regulations also require that SEI teachers demonstrate their proficiency in English. (Massachusetts DOE, 2012) To better gauge teacher needs, DOE and WestEd completed beforehand SEI Needs Assessments with teachers statewide. (Montana, 2011). RETELL Helps Build Administrator Capacity: RETELL regulations also state that building leaders in schools where even one (1) ELL is in attendance must be SEI-trained. (Massachusetts DOE, 2012) RETELL requires that principals, assistant principals, and the supervisors/directors who supervise or evaluate these teachers must complete updated SEI professional development or its equivalentthereby adhering to the same rigorous professional development requirements as core academic teachers. (Massachusetts DOE, 2012) RETELL FOR ALL: HISTORIES OF EDUCATIONAL REFORM
RETELL Helps Build Parent-School Involvement: RETELL regulations also set forth stringent rules of accountability to ELL parents concerning meeting expectations for ELL instruction. (Massachusetts DOE, 2012) Teachers and administrators could be subject to formal complaint by parents if they are found to not be teaching and/or implementing the SEI methods expected under the RETELL initiative. (Massachusetts DOE, 2012). Part II. RETELL and Special ELLs Two particular categories of ELLs who may be particularly served by RETELL Initiatives are ELLs that could also be labelled as Special Needs and/or as SIFE. RETELL SEI Practices Could More Consistently Support SIFEs: The term SIFE (Student with Interrupted Formal Education) refers to an English language learner or newcomer between age 8 and 21 who experiences an interrupted education or lack some formal schooling experience. Interruptions may be caused by school unavailability, civil unrest, immigration, transience, trauma, or other factors that would limit the students ability to perform and achieve in a classroom with students of a comparable age group. (Massachusetts DOE, 2012)
Moreover, SIFEs may have experienced limited schooling, due to a non-rigorous quality of education in the home country, a shorter school day and/or year, and/or a weak curriculum. SIFEs may have been educated by teachers who were not high school or college graduates. (Massachusetts DOE, 2012) Under RETELL, evaluation of a SIFEs language levels would be based on World Class Instructional Design and Assessment (WIDA) descriptors, evaluations and assessments. (Massachusetts DOE, 2012) With its methods adopted in many states, WIDAs detailed RETELL FOR ALL: HISTORIES OF EDUCATIONAL REFORM
academic and social language progressions can more readily scaffold SIFEs with below grade level in literacy and numeracy. Campus-wide interaction of all teachers as SEI-trained can work to make an entire faculty aware of a given ELL or SIFEs needs and goalsparticularly where the principal shares that vision. (Massachusetts DOE, 2012) In short, under RETELL, all teachers consider themselves responsible for ELL success. (Massachusetts DOE, 2012) Students with Interrupted Formal Education could enjoy a more seamless transition between grades and classrooms when all teachers are trained in ELL best practices. Part 2. RETELL SEI Practices as Interventions Can More Consistently Support ELLs Needing RTI (and/or unmet 504, ADHD, or ASD needs): Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is defined as a group of neurodevelopment syndromes characterized by defective social interactions, communication and stereotyped behaviors and interests. (Heward, 2013). Autism can be diagnosed when an ELL is not reaching certain milestones for speech and social behavior in either language. In the 1960s, DSM-III classified Autism under Pervasive Developmental Disorders. (Heward, 2013) With Aspergers, however, an ELL may have a normal development of speech but may display autistic behavior in struggling with communication. (Heward, 2013) DSM-V Changes and ASD Referrals What impact on ELLs with Special Needs? New DSM-V definitions may in fact produce results that disqualify some for referral. (Heward, 2013) One concern about proposed revisions to DSM-VI is whether some children who met DSM-IV criteria will no longer meet DSM-5 criteria. (Heward, 2013) RETELL FOR ALL: HISTORIES OF EDUCATIONAL REFORM
The DSM-V (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder) published in May 2013 made significant changes to the content from the DSM-IV previous manualby removing certain neurodevelopmental conditions except autistic spectrum disorder. (Heward, 2013) DSM V changes may reduce the number of ELLs that qualify for various Special Education diagnostics related to the Spectrum. The new DSM-V requirement that both social- communication and repetitive behavior symptoms be present in order for a diagnosis to be made has raised concern about changes in the ability of a student to be referred for some form of ASD testing. (Ozonoff, 2012). RETELL for pre-referral ELLs: With DSM-V definitional changes, local changes to Response to Intervention, varied use of Positive Behavior Intervention Supports (PBIS) and\or other pre-referral processes, the services afforded to ELLs with all kinds of minds increasingly may rely more on the quality of general education classroom teaching received than on the likelihood of receiving special best practices and/or services. RETELL-- through SEI training for all teachers and administrators--offers systematized best practices that align with certain best practices for ASD and special needs. (Massachusetts DOE, 2012). For ELLs unlikely to qualify for Special Ed services yet likely to participate in the RTI process, RETELL type initiatives may offer the better chance at receiving the types of instruction that more successfully impact student outcomes. Part 3. RETELL Can Improve Title III Efficiencies - By Curbing AMAO Deficit Costs: Even though Massachusetts did not fully meet AYP in all categories, 2013 data reveals significant gains in Massachusetts ELLs data. (Massachusetts DOE, 2014). An examination of 2013 NYSED data by comparison sees larger disparities over longer periods of time. (NYSED, 2014) Appendix B and C earmark The Number of NYSED Title III Sub-grantees that Did not RETELL FOR ALL: HISTORIES OF EDUCATIONAL REFORM
Make AMAO--along with the Number of Consecutive Years in that category. (NYSED, 2014) Notably, 9 NYCDOE districts did not meet AMAO for its ELLs subpopulations for 4 or more years. (NYSED, 2014) Three (3) NYCDOE sub-districts failed to meet AMAO for 9 or more years. (NYSED, 2014) These districts technically are by law required to write Corrective Action Plans. (NYSED, 2014Appendix B and C). While Massachusetts 2013 data sources confirm that the state also missed AMAO in its lowest category by approximately 16 points, Massachusetts data also shows a trend of missing AMAO by fewer and fewer points each year (Massachusetts, 2014). Moreover, disaggregated data shows Massachusetts ELL scores are improving in all categories. In ELA in 2013, 75 % of ELLs met the ELA standard, more than 70 % met it in Mathematics, and more than 70 % met standard in Social Studies, with the challenge arising in Science with less than 50 %). (Massachusetts, 2014) Notwithstanding, 75% of all ELLs statewide met the graduation requirement. (Massachusetts, 2014) These data suggest improvement ratios for ELLs in Massachusetts that significantly outscore those of comparable large urban districts. Notwithstanding some local union and/or teacher complaints, RETELL requirements: 1) making all teachers and building leaders recognize themselves as teachers and teacher-leaders of ELLs, 2) making all school officials receive SEI training, 3) making all teachers meet minimum English proficiency standards as ELL teachers and 4) making all be mindful of minimum standards for ELL instruction due both to students and parentsseem to be supporting improved student outcomes. (Massachusetts, 2014) Part 4. Common Core Writing as a Revival of Rhetoric How RETELL Opens ELLS Exposure to English Language Arts RETELL FOR ALL: HISTORIES OF EDUCATIONAL REFORM
Through more consistent exposure to best ELL instructional practices that unpack English more fully in all four domains, ELLS can build a fuller sense of the art and science of rhetoric as well as greater confidence in their command of oral and written English. (Tehie, 2007) Along with grammar and logic, rhetoric stands as one of three ancient arts of discourse. Rhetoric is an art that helps writers and/or speakers to inform, persuade, or motivate an audience in specific situation. Aristotle called it the faculty of observing the available means of persuasion. (Kennedy, 2007) Rhetoric is attributed five canons that trace the traditional tasks in creating persuasive speech (as codified in classical Rome): 1) invention; 2) arrangement, 3) style, 4) memory, and 5) deliverythese canons also influenced our Western educational and expository traditions. (Kennedy, 2007) Modern educational authors continue to support earlier claims of rhetoric as an art capable of influencing civic life. In Political Style, Robert Hariman argues that questions of freedom, equality, and justice often are addressed through performances---from debates to demonstrations without loss of moral content. (Hariman, 1995) Moreover, in When Words Lose Their Meaning, James Boyd White argues that words produce the methods by which culture is maintained, criticized, and transformed. (White, 1984) If language influences people, then people influence language. (White, 1984) White sees rhetoric as a broader domain of social experience, arguing that culture is "reconstituted" through language and that rhetoric is capable influencing culture as a whole. (White, 1984) If language is socially constructed, and dependent on the meanings people attach to it, then the very usage of language is rhetorical. (White, 1984) This becomes a nuanced yet critical concept to understand for English language learners. RETELL FOR ALL: HISTORIES OF EDUCATIONAL REFORM
Strengthening ELLs Rhetorical Speaking and Writing Capacity through RETELL Methods From Aristotles Art of Rhetoric to Augustines Confessions, from Cicero to Quintilian, the study of rhetoric has been thought to train students to speak and/or write effectively, as well as critically understand and analyze discourse. (Tehie, 2007) It has had a profound influence on Western educational values, as evidenced by the writing requirements seen today in the common core state standards. (Tehie, 2007) In both verbal and non-verbal forms, rhetoric continues to be used as a tool to influence communities at both local and national levelseven in the Common Core Standards for English Language Arts. (CCSO, 2011). Part 5. Three Current Cases for RETELL 1) Bean Public Schools: As the approach of school beckons, newspapers in Bean are focusing on the immigrant question. (Associated Press, 2014 here): One citizen interviewed responded in a way that may have echoed voices from the 1890s: This country was built on immigrants, but those immigrants who came from Europe and all over the world did not demand the things they are demanding now There may not be enough money RETELL Initiatives in Bean Public Schools may be amongst the best ways to minimize additional budgetary expenses with teachers already trained in sheltered immersion techniques that will help make input comprehensible. (Associated Press, 2014). 2) Gotham DOE: In Gotham DOE: As a similar cohort of newcomers hits Gotham-area temporary shelters and public schools, one administrative question becomes how to intake them into the Gotham DOE and account for them onsite so that they may be linked to your Title III funding. A Gotham mainframe built in 1988 is charged with this task. Automate The RETELL FOR ALL: HISTORIES OF EDUCATIONAL REFORM
Source (ATS) is the school-based administrative system used by all Gotham DOE schools since 1988. ATS can creatively function: it records biographical data for all students, handled admissions, discharges, its transfers to other schools, records other student-specific data. It also provides aggregate student and human resources data to school administratorsallowing them access to taxpayer ID and other confidential staff information. Gotham Administrator B at a non-RETELL campus decides to allocate dozens of newcomers to his campus and to his 1 ESL- certified teacher by backdating their arrival to align with the beginning of the federal funding year-even though the newcomers never received any services. Administrator C at a RETELL implementing campus need not run that risk; EVERY teacher on his staff is SEI-certified and ELL- trained and thus neither backdating nor complicated creative schemes are needed to link new ELLs to Title III services. Segal (2005) evaluated the situation clearly: First the consequences of fraud and waste for learning can be devastatingThe most academically beleaguered school systems tend to be the one with the longest, most systemic investigative records. (Segal, 2005, Introduction, xxii). Implementation of RETELL initiatives could help Gotham DOE curb inefficiency by saving millions of dollars in cost overruns - by making the accounting for Title III funding more transparent and efficient--since all RETELL teachers qualify at any time to teach ELLs. (Segal, 2005) 3) Huge ISD: Finally, a similar group of ELLs is en route to a shelter near a mid-sized middle school in Huge ISD. The ELLs have gone through a lot of tumult for their journey emotionally and cognitively. How could RETELL make the intake process more meaningful? First, a needs assessments can be conducted for each learner in ways that evaluate and differentiate both their socio-cognitive strengths and needs. RETELL FOR ALL: HISTORIES OF EDUCATIONAL REFORM
RETELL requires that all administrators, Gen Ed teachers, Special Ed teachers and bilingual teachers with even one newcomer in their class would complete SEI training and do so by evidencing English language mastery. Were RETELL PD implemented fully by all, Huge ISD might more systematically accelerate its efforts to help these middle school ELLs proficiently embark on the next stages of their English educational journey. Conclusion A nationwide RETELL Initiativeonce systematically implementedcould reciprocally benefit a variety of stakeholders because it aims to enhance ELL equity and teaching and, in doing so, maximize both human capacity and institutional efficiencyin ways that seemingly transcend local variables. Within the current ELL context, Massachusetts RETELL Initiative could serve as a model for more efficiently improving ELL services and ELL student outcomes nationwide.
RETELL FOR ALL: HISTORIES OF EDUCATIONAL REFORM
References American Psychiatric Association. (2000). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed., text rev.). Washington, DC American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed., text rev.). Washington, DC Chown, N. (2012). 'History and First Descriptions' of Autism: A response to Michael Fitzgerald. Journal of Autism & Developmental Disorders, 42(10), 2263-2265. doi:10.1007/s10803-012- 1529-5 Cremin, Lawrence A. (1964). The Transformation of the School: Progressivism in American Education: 1876-1957. New York: Vintage Books. Donvan, J., & Zucker, C. (2010). Autism's First Child. Atlantic, 306(3), 78-90. Feinstein (2010) History of Autism: Conversations with the Pioneers. Wiley-Blackwell. 16, 54- 65. Hariman, Robert (1995). Political Style: The Artistry of Power. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. Heward. W. (2013). Exceptional Children: An Introduction to Special Education: (10 th Ed.) Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson. Houston, R. A., & Frith, U. (2000). Autism in history: the case of Hugh Blair of Borgue. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2000. RETELL FOR ALL: HISTORIES OF EDUCATIONAL REFORM
Kanner, L. (1943). Autistic disturbances of affective contact. Nervous Child, 2, 217-50. Kennedy, G. trans. (2007). Aristotle on Rhetoric: A Theory of Civic Discourse (2nd ed). New York, NY: Oxford University Press. Lyons V, Fitzgerald M (2005). Asperger Syndrome: Gift or Curse? Nova Science. p. 273 Massachusetts Department of Education (2012). Rethinking Equity and Teaching of English Language Learners - RETELL Site (2012). Boston, MA: Department of Education. Retrieved August 3, 2014 from http://www.doe.mass.edu/retell/background.html Massachusetts Department of Education (2013). Profiles in School Accountability - State Totals (2013) Boston, MA: Department of Education. Retrieved August 3, 2014 from http://profiles.doe.mass.edu/. Ozonoff, S. (2012). Editorial Perspective: Autism Spectrum Disorders in DSM-5 - An historical perspective and the need for change. Journal Of Child Psychology & Psychiatry, 53(10), 1092- 1094. Segal, Lydia G. (2005). Battling Corruption in Americas Public Schools. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Uriarte, M. (2011). Improving Educational Outcomes of English Language Learners in Schools and Programs in Boston Public Schools in Massachusetts Schools-Report. Boston, MA: Department of Education. Utah, Frith (1991). Autism and Aspergers syndrome. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. RETELL FOR ALL: HISTORIES OF EDUCATIONAL REFORM
White, James B. (1984). When Words Lose Their Meaning. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. Wing. L (1981) Aspergers syndrome: A clinical account. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. Wolff, S. & Barlow, A. (1979). Schizoid personality in childhood: a comparative study of scizoid, autistic and normal children. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 20, 29-46. Vatanoglu-Lutz, E., Ataman. & Bicer, S. (2014). Medicine in Stamps: History of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Through Philately. Journal Of Neurological Sciences, 31(2), 426-434. 2012. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 2012 Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health. AP Poll Retrieved August 2 nd , 2014 from http://bostonherald.com/news_opinion/us_politics/2014/07/poll_americans_cool_to_border_cros sing_children Massachusetts Department of Education (2014). DART: The Massachusetts District Analysis and Review Tools. (2012). Internet resource retrieved August 2 nd , 2014 from http://www.doe.mass.edu/apa/dart/userguideDARTELL.pdf
APPENDICES APPENDIX A http://www.doe.mass.edu/apa/dart/userguideDARTELL.pdf RETELL FOR ALL: HISTORIES OF EDUCATIONAL REFORM
APPENDIX B http://www.p12.nysed.gov/biling/NEWTIII.html APPENDIX C http://www.p12.nysed.gov/biling/docs/AMAO_Memotoallschools_LAfinal_1.pdf APPENDIX D Autism in Educational History Historical references to autism vary; few seem to refer to ELLs with autism. Examples of autistic symptoms were described before Autism was named. The Table Talk of Martin Luther contained the story of a 12-year-old boy who may have been severely autistic. Utah Friths analyzed the legal case of Hugo Blair of Borgue in the 1740s which produced 29 witnesses. Blair went to court over a decision as to his mental capacity for marriage. According to Frith, Blair evidenced stereotyped behaviors and clinical features of echolalia-type language abnormality by replying with the question and then with answers. (Frith, 2000).
A feral child found in 1798 known as the Wild Boy of Aveyron showed signs of autism; he was treated with a behavioral program to help him form social attachments and imitate speech. In his writings, Professor Michael Fitzgerald named several great figures that showed exceptional talents in arts and literature as being possible Asperger suffers. In his book, Asperger syndrome: a Gift or Curse? Prof. Fitzgerald hypothesized that Charles Darwin displayed eccentric behaviors making him likely to have been on the Spectrum. (Frith, 2000) Treatments RETELL FOR ALL: HISTORIES OF EDUCATIONAL REFORM
Most autism treatments aim to control the symptoms since its specific causes remain unknown. Applied Behavioral Analysis is often used in classroom settings: communication, social, cognitive and academic skills are broken down to small tasks and the child has their behavior reinforced with rewards. Speech and Language therapy is used to improve listening, attention, the ability to understand the tone and context of language and nonverbal communication skills. AP Poll Retrieved August 2 nd , 2014 from http://bostonherald.com/news_opinion/us_politics/2014/07/poll_americans_cool_to_border_cros sing_children