Salem/Keizer Coalition for Equality Family Literacy Program Proposal

April 20, 2012 Prepared by: Eduardo Angulo and Megan Cogswell Salem/Keizer Coalition for Equality PO Box 4296, Salem, Oregon 97302 eangulo@skcequality.org / mcogswell@skcequality.org www.skcequality.org 503.930.9323 c. Family Literacy Program Summer Oral Language (SOL) and Grade Level Intervention Program (GLIP) are the researchbased strategies, aligned with the Salem-Keizer School District curriculum, SKCE uses to foster oral language and literacy development for low-income, Spanish-speaking English Language Learners. Our overall goal is to ensure program participants are on grade level in kindergarten, first and second grade in order to decrease the achievement gap. We achieve this by fostering meaningful parental engagement and providing additional literacy and learning supports for students in early grades. SKCE is prepared to provide the Summer Oral Language (SOL) summer program for students entering kindergarten at Cesar Chavez Elementary School (and potentially other neighborhood schools depending on openings) in NE Salem. This program fosters the development of oral language for lowincome Spanish speaking students by offering families weekly field trip opportunities throughout Western Oregon. Research shows that vocabulary level is a key indicator of success in reading and writing. Families participating will receive a list of activities, vocabulary, and assignments to complete before and after the trip. Students will learn new vocabulary and be encouraged to use the vocabulary with their parents. Parents will learn about the importance of developing oral language and specific strategies to foster this development. Trips will include: the AC Gilbert Discovery Village, Salem Public Library, World Beat Festival, Salem Art Fair Childrens Area, Marion County Fair, the Capitol, Silver Creek Falls State Park, UMCI, the Coast and local universities. The Grade Level Intervention Program (GLIP), coordinated by a Master Teacher in cooperation with teachers and administrators at three neighborhood schools, develops parents from the community to serve as literacy facilitators/home visitors and provides ongoing mentoring, professional development and technical support for the parent facilitators as they grow as leaders. GLIP will be offered at three elementary schools during the 2012-13 school year: Cesar E. Chavez, Four Corners, and Scott. Each school will offer three 7-week cohorts for parents with students recommended by teachers. The cohorts will be by grade level (2nd, 1st, and kindergarten). While parents are working with teachers learning about how to support literacy development at home, children participate in age-appropriate, academically enriching activities with trained providers.

Salem/Keizer Coalition for Equality, P.O. Box 4296 Salem, OR 97302 1

Outcomes for Students Participating in the Program By participating in the SOL program, student participants will actively gain more linguistic competence by acquiring new vocabulary in both English and Spanish. They will use the new vocabulary to express knowledge, experiences, and connections after participating in fieldtrips. SOL will reinforce Spanish and English Language Development (ELD) and reading strategies used in the Salem-Keizer School District for at-risk students. The field trips will focus on the following areas of language development: Listening and speaking: Students will participate in social conversations with peers and adults by asking and answering questions and soliciting information. Reading and word analysis: Students will decode all the key words about each fieldtrip and write their own journals entries (pictures and/ or writings). Vocabulary and concept development: Students will use more complex vocabulary and sentences to express ideas in a variety of social and academic settings based on each fieldtrip. Apply their knowledge on vocabulary selection to participate in discussions on issues noticed in the fieldtrips. Reading comprehension: Students will respond to comprehension questions about the fieldtrips using detailed sentences. Students will also identify the basic sequence of events using key words and phrases. Writing: Students will write simple sentences by using the new vocabulary in response to content area topics. After participating in the SOL program parents will actively: 1. Foster learning at home by reading, speaking, and writing in their fieldtrip journals about their experiences and what they learned from the fieldtrips. 2. Grow cultural awareness as a learning tool and source of pride for parents and students. 3. Foster meaningful parent/child interactions. 4. Develop leadership skills. 5. Develop a network of support with other parents to explore other possibilities of fieldtrips. 6. Familiarize themselves with community resources available to enhance the academic and social skills of their children. After participating in GLIP student participants will: 1. Be at grade level on reading and writing (based on formative and summative assessments used by the Salem-Keizer School District). 2. Be able to choose books according to their reading level. 3. Have a solid foundation of reading and writing during the key first years of education. 4. Stay in the ascending trajectory of learning in reading and writing. 5. Have the elements to be at grade level on the following school year. 6. Develop a commitment to, and understand the value of, being a lifelong learner. 7. Enjoy the process of learning. 8. Feel more empowered by having the skills and elements to succeed at their grade level. 9. Narrow the achievement gap in the English language Learners (ELL) group. After participating in SOL and GLIP parent participants will actively: 1. Understand the grade level standards that their children need to meet at each grade level. 2. Be more familiar with report card grades, core standards, and the district assessments at each grade level that are applicable to its child. Salem/Keizer Coalition for Equality, P.O. Box 4296 Salem, OR 97302 2

3. Get all the tools, strategies, and materials to actively support their children at home on reading and writing. 4. Be empowered as co- teachers at home for the success of their children. Establish the value of high expectations and the commitment as a parent to facilitate the process of success at school. 5. Be more familiar with the types and level of books that their children should be reading and writing about. 6. Learn and share ideas and technique with other parents about how to work at home with their children 7. Develop a stronger understanding of the importance of communicating regularly with teachers and being involved in schools. Master teachers will provide professional development around philosophy, methodology and professional growth for parent facilitators/home visitors with the GLIP program. After participating in SOL and GLIP program facilitators will actively: 1. Facilitate GLIP activities for youth participating in the program. 2. Provide home visits to program participants to model program strategies and techniques to better assist parents. 3. Demonstrate understanding of Popular Educations theory, foundations, and pedagogy. 4. Examine and understand the barriers to education success faced by ELL and other Spanish speaking students and collectively strategize to improve the public education system. 5. Share strategies as peers with other parents to increase meaningful parental involvement and education outcomes. 6. Lead by example as they become more involved in their childrens school or schools and form positive relationships with teachers and staff. Training Design SOL Training Design SOL is based on the English Language Development (ELD) standards adapted in both English and Spanish by the Salem-Keizer School District. The format of the trainings will be based on planning meetings for each class and fieldtrip, and concept development activities that apply the following five linguistic domains. The content area for those domains will be the fieldtrips. Listening and speaking Reading-word analysis and fluency Vocabulary and concept development Reading comprehension Writing GLIP Training Design Course Outline Fall: offer course to students below grade level in 2nd and 1st; winter: offer course to all K students. The first week consists of a parent orientation to the course, with students in child care. The following six weeks consist of parent training and parents working directly with children. Salem/Keizer Coalition for Equality, P.O. Box 4296 Salem, OR 97302 3

Differentiated support includes: vowels, consonants, blends, text genres, dictation, and writing process. Responsible Coalition Coalition Trainers + Bilingual Instructional Assistants (IAs) Coalition Providers Coalition Providers + Bilingual IAs Coalition Providers + Bilingual IAs Coalition Parent Facilitators

Class Structure of Weekly Meeting Time Activity 5:45-6:00 Dinner provided to families in the cafeteria. 6:00-7:00 Parents receive training in strategies to support their childs Spanish literacy development. Children engage in educational child care activities. Parents and children work together on literacy activities. Celebration with sharing success stories, songs, and raffle. Home visits with families of students with significant attendance and academic issues.

7:00-7:45 7:45-8:00 Various

Facilitator Training Design The facilitator training is based on the target outcomes from the reading assessment ELD in Spanish. There will also be specific trainings on the use of Spanish culturally relevant materials familiar to the parents to teach their children to read and write. The trainings will be in collaboration with participating schools, with a cycle of seven classes three times a year. The format of the trainings will be based on class planning, home visits, and concept development activities that apply the following three reading domains: Fluency Accuracy Comprehension Project Timeline Month May 2012 Activity SKCE parent facilitators recruit 30 immigrant, Spanish-speaking families with children entering kindergarten from 2-3 target schools to participate in the program. The families are recommended by the school when possible. 40 families commit to participate in the summer SOL program and the GLIP program during the school year. Parent facilitators and Master Teachers design the SOL program for field trips in July and August. Childcare providers are hired for all the children in the family, volunteers are coordinated, supplies are purchased, and materials are developed to support the program. Parents receive reminder calls about the program and formally enroll in the program. SOL Program begins with weekly field trip options for participating families. Families receive home visits from SKCE parent facilitators and are enrolled in the 2012-13 GLIP program. Families are encouraged to attend SKCE workshops, family activity nights at Northgate Park, youth programs, and use the on-line computers to access literacy materials. Salem/Keizer Coalition for Equality, P.O. Box 4296 Salem, OR 97302 4

June 2012

July 2012 August 2012

September 2012

October 2012 November 2012 December 2012

January 2013 February 2013

March 2013 April 2013 May 2013 Program Cost

Collecting data from schools participating: List of target students for the first cycle of 7 weeks/ Staff prepare materials to launch the program in October. Start GLIP program first session of 7 weeks in 3 elementary schools: Get preliminary ELD data from teachers and do the pre-test of the program. Continue first session of the program and start getting data for second Session. Do post-test and collect data Start GLIP program second session of 7 weeks in 3 elementary schools: Get preliminary ELD data from teachers and do the pre-test of the program. Winter break. Continue second session of the program. Start GLIP program third session of 7 weeks in 3 elementary schools. Get preliminary ELD data from teachers and do the pre-test of the program. Continue third session of the program. Spring Break. Continue third session of the program, offering extra support to those students and families who still need it. Closure with class presentations, certificate, cake, and key speakers.

GLIP Program During the Academic Year: $69,000 or $23,000 per school. 225 families participate. SOL Summer Program: $10,000. 40 families participate. Evaluation SKCE is committed to ongoing evaluation and actively incorporates feedback from participants and partners to improve our program. Tools Used to Evaluate the Program and Demonstrate Results: School reading assessments (ELD) given 3 times a year English language standards adapted in Spanish Pre and post-test in each cycle of the program Track reading trajectory by grade level Feedback and evaluations of the program from teachers, school principals, facilitators, parents, and students Attendance record from each class Conclusion This is our second year providing summer learning and school-based language and literacy development programs for NE Salem Spanish-speaking families. Students participating in the program this year are showing significant improvement. A full report will be available in June 2012.

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