Chapter One The Impact of Professional Development on Middle School Teachers Educating English Language Learners Introduction The nation’s public schools now enroll large numbers of students who have been identified as English Language Learners According to Macias and Kelly (1996), 3,184,696 (7.3%) English Language Learners were enrolled in public and non-public schools The largest enrollments were in California, Texas, New York, Florida and Illinois Spanish was spoken by more than 77% of the English Language Learners Even though a number of weaknesses have been identified in the collection and reporting of education statistics for English Language Learners (e.g , August & Hakuta, 1997; Hopstock & Bucaro, 1993), a sense of the challenges facing American schools can be seen from work carried on by a number of researchers In 1992 for example, 42% of students aged 16 to 24 reporting difficulty with English had dropped out of high school (McArthur, 1993) The challenges of educating students who not speak a societal language are enormous In the United States, it is not only a question of teaching English; rather, it is a question of providing large numbers of students with access to the curriculum at the same time that they are learning English The academic gap of English Language Learners is striking Many urban districts are faced with the challenge of changing and accommodating their traditional teaching practices to make English Language Learners effective participants in current educational institutions Part of this challenge is to inform educators of the importance of understanding their own embedded belief systems, stereotypes, and misperceptions A key element in becoming an effective educator is recognizing one’s own limitations in educating new generations of English Language Learners Educational systems are, for the most part, traditional institutions in which the agents representing the educational structures preserve the status quo Vision, courage and leadership influence the education of English Language Learners most effectively A new set of modifications in beliefs is needed to progressively modify the way educational institutions operate In this age of high stakes testing and accountability, the burden on quality is in the effectiveness of educating all students The population of school-aged English Language Learners has consistently and significantly increased over the past decade This has transformed the Veritasville Public Schools from a suburban district into one of the smallest urban school districts in the state The U.S Department of Education’s National Center for Educational Statistics defined an "urban" school district as one in which 75% or more of the households served are in the central city of a metropolitan area Eleven million American children (one out of every four) attend urban schools 43% of urban school children are minority Most urban children attend schools in which more than half of the students are poor and they are predominantly or completely minority Millions of urban children fail to meet even the minimum standards on national tests In the poorest school districts, up to two-thirds of students achieve below "basic" levels on national tests Lastly urban schools are larger, have higher truancy, double the violence and less parental involvement than non-urban schools (U.S Department of Education’s National Center for Educational Statistics, 2002) Urban districts in major cities across United States have a greater percentage of indifferent students, the emergence of students from single parent families, poorer and more culturally impoverished students, fewer teachers to address the needs of these students, and the increasing apathy of the more affluent public members (Frady, 1985, p.11) In regards to teachers there is no single component so central and important to our hopes for saving the public school system as the teachers They are on the front line, having daily contact with the students, and are basically the ones that struggle to revive schools But the continual worsening of conditions in urban schools for teachers - low pay, overcrowded classes, increased responsibilities, outdated and meager resources - are disintegrating the number and quality of teachers in them Salary becomes a major issue when considering the quality and worthiness of teachers in urban compared to suburban schools For example, in 1991 a teacher in a suburban school got paid 20% more annually than a teacher in an urban school (Kozol, 1991, p.30) The schools of this nation are only as strong as the communities of which they are a part (Frady, 1985, p.85) With less money available from federal, state, and local governments due to the fact that the money is being allocated elsewhere, schools are forced to rely on the people of their communities But declining test scores, racial and social class prejudices, and inadequate school facilities have people abandoning the urban schools This change has taken place progressively, with different ethnic groups moving into the community The primary ethnic groups entering Veritasville Public Schools are Spanish-speaking children, mainly from Uruguay, and a fast growing population of Brazilian students These students are impacting public schools, the instruction of our students, and the preparation of our teachers The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) requires that there be a “highly qualified” teacher in every classroom by the end of 2005 In addition to the new No Child Left Behind legislation, last November the State of Massachusetts passed a Bilingual Law that requires English Language Learners to stay in sheltered immersion programs for no more than one year School districts face the challenge of preparing and training large numbers of teachers while retaining a focus on quality and mastery of the curriculum content predetermined by the curriculum frameworks Until the beginning of 2003, the Veritasville Public Schools educated its English Language Learners in Transitional Bilingual Education (TBE), also known as early-exit bilingual education (Ramirez, 1991) Now, unless a waiver is requested and approved, all English Language Learners must receive Sheltered English Instruction Sheltered English Immersion, an approach using simple English, context and supplemental materials to explain meaning in content areas The goal is to mainstream students quickly The program requirements apply to all English Language Learners in all districts All districts must provide sheltered English instruction to English Language Learners, either in a separate sheltered immersion classroom or within a regular classroom These changes include every language and there is no minimum number of students per specific language Regular classroom teachers should anticipate that the English Language Learners in their classrooms will increase because students may exit Sheltered English Immersion classrooms in one year or districts may provide Sheltered English Immersion within regular classrooms Teachers who provide Sheltered English Immersion must be qualified (Title VI of the Civil Rights Act) District professional development plans must include training in second language acquisition (Chapter 71, Section 38Q) No subject matter may be taught in any language other than English; teachers may use a "minimum" amount of the child's native language "when necessary." This provision does not apply to foreign language classes or special education programs School staff who "willfully and repeatedly" refuse to implement the statute's provisions can be held liable and cannot be insured for this liability Those found liable will be barred from working in public schools for years The provisions took effect for the 2003-2004 school year Unfortunately for many districts, including Veritasville Public Schools, students stop receiving adequate bilingual services at the time they enter regular education classrooms When students exit the bilingual program and enter the mainstream classrooms they are still lacking many necessary skills to be able to compete academically with their monolingual English counterparts One of the main reasons for this is the fact that students learn language at different rates The acronyms BICS (Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills) and CALP (Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency) refer to a distinction between basic interpersonal communicative skills and cognitive academic language proficiency The distinction was intended to draw attention to the very different time periods typically required by English Language Learners to acquire conversational fluency (BICS) in their second language as compared to grade appropriate academic proficiency (CALP) Conversational fluency is often acquired for a functional level within about two years of initial exposure to the second language, whereas at least five years is usually required to catch up to native speakers in academic aspects of the second language (Collier, 1987; Klesmer, 1994; Cummins, 1981a) Failure to take into account the BICS/CALP (conversational/academic) distinction has resulted in discriminatory psychological assessment of bilingual students and premature exiting from language support programs (e.g bilingual education in the United States) into mainstream classes After the November 2002 election, traditional bilingual programs were changed to one-year immersion programs As a consequence, the structure of language acquisition programs will be redesigned without the solid research foundation necessary for effective language acquisition programs This change may increase the achievement gap between monolingual English speaking children and English Language Learners It is a belief of the researcher that the future of a fair progressive society lies in the academic advancement of every child, especially the children that traditionally are being left behind A wealth of knowledge and talent goes untouched because of the inability to effectively make these children full participants of the sometimes complex social and academic environments One of the fundamental changes needed in education is that every single teacher be adequately prepared to educate every student in his or her classroom The achievement gap between racial and language minorities and mainstream students, with or without bilingual programs, is unacceptable at this time in our history It is of extreme importance that every teacher contributes to the education of racial minority students and English Language Learners in the same way that they try to help every other student The professional development program implemented in this leadership project allowed teachers to be exposed to different opportunities in order to increase their knowledge about this population Teachers studied their own perceptions, limitations, and biases when educating English Language Learners Teachers also learned about effective strategies for teaching English Language Learners This study seeks to learn how participation in this professional development program will impact the beliefs and teaching practices of the participants who educate English Language Learners This study conducted a triangulation data analysis Data was collected initially from the questionnaires given to all middle school teachers This information was used to determine the supports necessary to effectively teach English Language Learners and to reconfigure professional development efforts As part of the data collection procedures, evidence was collected from a survey, interviews and observations of the classroom interactions of the selected teachers with English Language Learners The data was collected and analyzed to determine emerging patterns before and after the professional development The professional development program offered as a component of this study allowed teachers to be exposed to different opportunities such as in-service training via staff meetings and focus group discussions during professional development days There were approximately ten hours of high quality professional development over the school year in the middle schools This opportunity was designed to provide teachers with an understanding of the language acquisition process at different times in the life of English Language Learners Additionally, teachers were exposed to an average of fifteen hours of new teaching strategies to improve the education of English Language Learners These opportunities were offered outside school Lastly, the teachers had a sixhour professional development day to share and discuss the material presented Statement of the Problem /Focus of the Study Regular education teachers have limited training, lacking the skills necessary to adequately educate English Language Learners Teachers’ expectations when educating English Language Learners are lower for these students than those of regular education students The initial assumption is that having limited language ability translates into limited cognitive abilities English Language Learners come from a variety of backgrounds with different knowledge and skill levels Some are very well versed in issues that often are not being taught in American schools Others lack the basic foundations in reading and writing to keep up with the standard American curriculum Research Question The question is: Will professional development specially designed to promote high expectations and effective instruction for English Language Learners change the beliefs and teaching practices of middle school regular education teachers educating English Language Learners? Theoretical Rationale Teachers treat English Language Learners differently They may so out of dislike or prejudice or they may so because they perceive them as having different cultural needs, abilities and temperaments Teachers not necessarily strive to create the same product with all children, nor they necessarily adopt the same teaching strategies to achieve the objectives they have in mind Indeed, teachers probably vary greatly in how much influence they think they have on children Teachers are apprehensive about developing new teaching practices that involve their sensitivity to individual differences in children and their ability to adopt appropriately different modes of treating them Regrettably, unqualified or under-qualified teachers teach many programs designed to educate English Language Learners Teachers who are making progress toward completing alternative language program qualifications are sometimes replaced in the alternative language program classroom by unqualified or less-qualified teachers; replaced teachers are reassigned to mainstream classrooms Another important aspect of the quality of programs for English Language Learners is related to the policy-making procedures Lisa Delpit (1995) describes that the “culture of power” is deciding for students they not know They routinely set up programs without the participation of the group that is most affected by those decisions Consequently, principals evaluate and supervise teachers of English Language Learners and support educational programs for English Language Learners without expertise in or knowledge of alternative language program methods Valdez (1997) states that language policy is an important concern and children that not speak the societal language face many difficulties in the school Churchill (1986) also makes reference to the importance of quality program issues because language minorities have emerged as a central concern of national education policy Many states are facing the challenge of how to react to a negative climate about teaching the English language to English Language 10 Mazer, E G (1971) Effects of social-class stereotyping on teacher expectation Psychology in the schools(8), 373-378 McArthur, E.K (1993) Language Characteristics and Schooling in the United States, A Changing Picture: 1979 and 1989 McAllister, G & Irvine, J.J (2000) Cross-cultural competency and multicultural teacher education Review of educational Research, 70 (1), 3-24 Menken, K (2000) Ensuring English language learners' success: Balancing teacher quantity with quality National Clearing House for Bilingual Education Merriam, B S (1998) Qualitative research and case study applications in Education San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Milian, M (2001) Diversity and the visual impairment: American Foundation for the Blind Millard, L B., Irwin R Jahns, and Wayne L Schroeder (1971) The case of selffulfilling prophecy Adult leadership, 20, 225-226 Miller, S M (1952) The participant observer and over-rapport American Sociological Review, 17 97-99 Mitchell, R., Myles, F (1998) Second language learning theories New York, NY: Oxford University Press Moore, T., & Reeves-Kazelskis, C (1992) Effects of formal instruction on preservice teachers' beliefs about multicultural education Paper presented at 204 the Annual meeting of the mid-south educational research association, Knoxville, TN NSDC (2004) Standards: About the standards-quality teaching Retrieved February, 2004 Olneck, M R (1990) The Recurring Dream: Symbolism and Ideology in Intercultural and Multicultural Education American Journal of Education: 147-174 O'Malley, M J (1996) Authentic assessment for English language learners: Practical approaches for teachers: Pearson Higher Education Paulson, D., & Ball, D (1984) Back to basics: Minimum competency testing and its impact on minorities Urban Education, 19, 5-15 Peregoy, S F., & Boyle, O F (1993) Reading, writing, & learning in ESL: A resource book for K-8 teachers New York: Longman Publishing Group Perlman, J (2001) Race or ‘People’: Federal Race Classifications for Europeans in America, 1898-1913 Working Paper #320 Levy Institute Pitt, C C V (1956) An experimental study of the effects of teachers' knowledge or incorrect knowledge of IQ on teachers attitudes and practices; and pupils attitudes and achievement Unpublished dissertation, Columbia University Ramirez, J D., Yuen, S D., & Ramey, D R (1991) "Final report: Longitudinal study of structured immersion strategy, early-exit, and late-exit transitional 205 bilingual education programs for language-minority children Executive summary." 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San Francisco: Jossey Bass ED 349 312 209 Appendix A October 16, 2003 Name: (optional) Samoset/Sky View Middle Schools Grade: Subject : Last November (1992) the voters of Massachusetts approved a referendum question eliminating traditional bilingual programs The law requires that students learn English in one year and after that they should be mainstreamed to regular education classes It is paramount, therefore, that teachers be adequately trained in order to accommodate the diverse population they are going to serve Please answer the following questions English Language Learners can learn enough English to perform ordinary classroom work in: _One-year _ One to three years _ More than three years _ Not sure Do you think bilingual programs in other areas of the state are more effective than the ones in the City of Leominster? Yes No Not sure Do you think the new Bilingual Law is helpful to English language learners? _ Yes _ No _ Don’t know enough to respond Who you think should be in charge of educating English Language Learners? _ Bilingual teachers _ Regular classroom teachers How you rate your skills as a teacher of English Language Learners? Have all of the skills Have a lot of skills Some skills Don’t have any 210 To what extent you Believe in every student’s ability to learn? Very much Somewhat Not at all Not sure Believe in your own ability to teach all students your subject area? Very much Somewhat Not at all Not sure Persevere or seek support in finding methods and materials that work? Very much Somewhat Not at all Not sure Involve all students in academic activities? Very much Somewhat Not at all Not sure 10 Match student’s achievement levels and learning styles with an assigned learning task? Very much Somewhat Not at all Not sure 11 Encourage students to identify and use learning strategies? Very much Somewhat Not at all Not sure Highly Qualified Status and Professional Development 12 Have you received any formal training in order to adequately educate English Language Learners? _ Yes _ No What Kind? 13 Do you think the district should provide training for teachers to educate English Language Learners? _ Yes _ No 211 14 Should training to effectively educate English Language Learners be; _ Mandatory _ Voluntary 15 Do you think that teacher’s pay should be based on the academic performance of English Language Learners? _ Yes _ No 16 Do you think that the teacher’s contract should require specific professional development? _ Yes _ No 17 If you had the opportunity to teach English Language Learners next year would you consider it? _ Yes No _Not sure Knowledge about students 18 Who you think is the sub-group with the greatest need for improvement? Score it through (with being the highest priority) _ Low-income _ SPED _ English Language Learners _ Home language different than English _ Hispanics 19 Who is most responsible for the education of children? Score it through (with being the highest priority) _Parents _Teachers _Administrators _ Community _ Students 20 From the list below rate what is needed to improve the education of English Language Learners; rate through (1 being the most significant factor) _ Better bilingual teachers _Better regular education teachers _ More professional development _ Better bilingual programs 212 _ Sheltered immersion programs _ More resources 21 In the last few years have you had direct contact with the parents of English language learners? _ Yes No _ 22 Do you think that the connection with the families of English language learners is: _ Not Important _Somewhat Important _ Important _ Very important 23 How you score your knowledge of the different cultures and languages of the students you teach? _ No knowledge _ Limited Knowledge _ Extensive Knowledge 24 Do you think it would be useful for you to have some knowledge of another language? _ Yes _ No _ Not sure 25 If the district is coordinating study groups to enhance teacher’s instructional skills for English Language Learners outside school hours and without pay, would you participate? _ Yes _ No _ Not sure 26 If the district is offering college credit and/or PDP’s for additional professional development on teaching English Language Learners, would you participate? _ Yes _ No _ Not sure 27 How much professional development time should be devoted to training effective practices in the education of English Language Learners? _20% _ 40% _ 60% _80% _ 100% 213 Appendix B Teacher Interview Questions Open Ended Questions In your opinion what would be the length of time in which English Language Learners can learn enough English to perform ordinary classroom work in English? Do you think the new Bilingual Law is helpful to English language learners? Please explain your answer Who you think should be in charge of educating English Language Learners? Please explain your answer How you rate your skills as a teacher of English Language Learners? Please explain your answer To what extent you believe in your own ability to teach all students your subject area? To what extent you persevere or seek support in finding methods and materials that work with English Language Learners? To what extent you match a student’s achievement levels and learning styles with an assigned learning task? Should training to effectively educate English Language Learners be mandatory or voluntary? Please explain If you had the opportunity to teach English Language Learners next yea would you consider it? Please explain why 214 10 Who is most responsible for the education of children? (Parents, teachers, administrators, community, students) Please explain 11 How you assess your knowledge of the different cultures and languages of the students you teach? 12 How much professional development time should be devoted to training on effective practices in the education of English Language Learners? Please explain _20% _ 40% _ 60% _80% _100% 215 Appendix C Classroom Observations Is teacher including ELL in classroom activities? Yes _ No _ Comments: Is teacher making eye contact with ELL? Yes _ No _ Comments: Is ELL an active participant in the lesson? Yes _ No _ Comments: Is the lesson designed to reach the ELL? Yes _ No _ Comments: 216 Are class objectives clearly stated for the ELL? Yes _ No _ Comments: Does teacher check for ELL understanding? Yes _ No _ Comments: Is teacher’s body language welcoming to the ELL? Yes _ No _ Comments: Is classroom environment welcoming to the ELL’s? Yes _ No _ Comments: 217 Is teacher ensuring that the message is delivered to the ELL? Yes No _ Comments: 10 Is teacher providing help outside class to the ELL? Yes _ No _ Comments: 11 Is teacher giving the ELL enough time to respond? Yes _ No _ Comments: 12 Are dictionaries/other materials available for ELL? Yes _ No _ Comments: 218 [...]... English Language Learners: Children and adults who are learning English as a second or additional language This term may apply to learners across various levels of proficiency in English English Language Learners may also be referred to as non -English speaking (NES), limited English proficient (LEP), and nonnative speaker (NNS) 25 ESOL: English for speakers of other languages Students whose first language. .. particular to English Language Learners Poor, racial and language minority children are at a disadvantage because the system 34 has consciously or unconsciously created obstacles preventing them from gaining high academic achievement English Language Learners share similar characteristic to those of poor and minority children In Veritasville about 70% of the families of English Language Learners live... of English Language Learners are directly correlated However, the professional development in the Veritasville Public Schools has not created the desired impact for English Language Learners Significant research has been conducted around the specific needs of English Language Learners, but only a few isolated programs have the commitment to support teacher training to effectively educate English Language. .. progressive: first assessment, then evaluation Home language: The language or languages spoken in the student’s home by people who live there Also referred to as first Language (L1), primary language, or native language Language minority: In the United States, a student whose primary language is not English The individual student’s ability to speak English will vary Language objectives: Statements that identify... experiences The ultimate goal is accessibility for English Language Learners to grade-level content standards and concepts while they continue to improve their English language proficiency (see Scaffolding) Sheltered teachers: Teachers who teach content subject matter to English language learners using sheltered instruction (SI) techniques Social language: Basic language proficiency associated with fluency... the knowledge and skills necessary to achieve success among English Language Learners Teachers educating English Language Learners in urban districts have an immense challenge in front of them They are the products of an educational system that has not provided adequate training to modify their beliefs and skills toward language minority children The tight labor market for teachers places 19 low-resourced... Study This study was a qualitative study of middle school teachers’ beliefs about English Language Learners The researcher used a triangulated analysis of data collected about teachers’ beliefs towards English Language Learners before and after the introduction of professional development focused on teaching English Language Learners Data was collected through teacher questionnaires, interviews and observations... Native Language: An individual’s first, primary, or home language (L1) Native English speaker: An individual whose first language is English Non -English speaking (NES): Individuals who are in an English- speaking environment (such as U.S schools) but who have not acquired any English proficiency Primary language: An individual’s first, home, or native language (L1) Scaffolding: Adult (e.g., teacher) support... of Language proficiency) Language competence: An individual’s total language ability The underlying language system as indicated by the individual’s language performance 26 Limited English Proficient (LEP): A term used to refer to a student with restricted understanding or use of written and spoken English; a learner who is still developing competence in using English Native Language: An individual’s... taught in English Teachers’ training and knowledge along with teaching practices have a direct impact in the education of English Language Learners This influence can be enhanced with specifically designed professional development The current content of professional development has not been able to significantly influence the beliefs and teaching practices of teachers educating English Language Learners