Standard 6.

0 Values education as the key to opportunity and social mobility

Element 6.2.g, 6.3.g

Artifact 1.1.1

July 22nd - 25th (2 hours) + conferencing during the school year (4 Hours)

Hey Jennie,
I hope you are having a great summer and that it starts to slow down here soon.

I was wondering if you could help me with one of my summer classes assignments. I need to
discuss with the ESL teacher the major requirements for, concerns about, and goals for the
program. Solicit recommendations that principals can employ to help meet the needs of
students served by the ESL program.

I know that it is the summer time but any information you can give me would be greatly
appreciated.

Continue to have a great summer,

Stacey

Teacher Requirements - the major requirements for- In order to be certified to teach EL, you
must pass the Praxis for TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages). While
many colleges are now offering a degree in TESOL, this is not currently a requirement.
There are a handful of us who have our masters degree in TESOL, but it is not a
requirement.

Student Requirements- the only way that we can screen a student is if a parent has filled
out a home language survey and has indicated that there is another language spoken at
home (simplified explanation and does not mean an automatic screening, but I am not
allowed to screen without the completed form). This form is part of the enrollment process
and is offered to all families. I do not need permission to assess a student, but once a
student qualifies, we are required to obtain parental consent. Parents may waive services,
but these students are still labeled as EL and are required to take the Access assessment
for language proficiency and their scores count with everyone who received services.

Also, starting this year, access scores will account for 10 percent of our schools report card.
(Previously there was only district level accountability. Schools with 10 or more students will
have this new accountability.) concerns about- a big concern is that EL students have
language needs in all content areas, but there are not enough EL teachers or classroom
teachers with EL cert. to go around. All teachers need to become teachers of language in
order for us to see the most success

Goals for the program.- the goal for the program is that we scaffold English learners so that
content is comprehensible. We use content to teach language and ultimately we exit
students from the program and they have the same language skills as their native English
speaking peers.
Solicit recommendations that principal can employ to help meet the needs of students
served by the ESL program- grouping students to maximize EL support, encourage all
content areas to include daily language objectives, provide time for classroom teachers and
EL teachers to collaborate, PD opportunities, promote a sense of shared ownership for EL
students

I hope this helps. Please let me know if you need anything additional or any clarifications. :)
Jen

Reflection

I think this was a great experience to get some more information about the ESL
program. I have been in close contact with the Jennie during the school year as she
worked with seven (7) of my students this past school year. We would meet and discuss
strategies and how the students were progressing. Some students were close to testing
out of the ESL program while others were just starting their journey.
It was interesting to learn that there is a new accountability system for the access
scores. The scores will actually be reflected on the report card and not just at the district
level. Maugansville would fall into this category since we have a large population of
students that speak multiple languages. Just having one EL teacher on staff would be
challenging to be able to service these students and show the necessary growth on the
report cards. I agree that teachers are not certified to teach to teach students in the ESL
program but yet expected to meet their needs in the classroom. It does become
challenging to help support the goals of the students that are learning English but yet
understand things in a different language. I had a student last year that came around
November. She spoke only Spanish and I had to translate things on the IPad for
her. Thankfully, there were two students in the classroom that knew Spanish and could
help translate for me. This student learned English fairly quickly and by the end of the
year she was able to hear it in English then translate to Spanish and then say the answers
in English. It was very impressive to watch her work. She would count in Spanish and
then say the answer in English.
At Maugansville we do try to group all the EL students so when the EL teacher needs to
work with the group of students she is just taking them from one classroom. This also
helps and allows her to push into the classroom and support the reading instruction.