English Language Learners
Statistics
The percentage of racial/ethnic minority students enrolled in kindergarten through high school increased from 25% in 1980 to 47% in 2013. In 2013, the percentage of minorities enrolled in school in the United States was as follows: 13.9 % African American, 23.5% Hispanic, 4.6% Asian, 1% Native American, 3.7% 2 or more races, and less than 1% Pacific Islander. The fastest growing minority population in schools are Hispanic students, increasing from 8.5% of the total population of school-aged children in 1980 to 23.5% of the total population of school-aged children in 2013. (http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d14/tables/dt14_101.20.asp?current=yes). While the languages spoken by English Language Learner (ELL) students in the United States are very diverse, Spanish is the most common first or home language, spoken by 71 percent of ELL students. Chinese was the second most common language spoken in ELL students' homes representing 4 percent of ELLs, followed by Vietnamese (3 percent) and French/Haitian Creole (2 percent) (http://www.migrationpolicy.org/research/top-languages-spoken-english-language-learners-nationally-and-state). This growth trend in minority and ELL student populations supports the need for additional research and training regarding appropriate academic and behavior strategies for English Language Learners.
What are ELLs?
English language learners (ELLs) are students with a primary language other than English who have a limited range of speaking, reading, writing, and listening skills in English. This might include students who have been identified and determined by their school as having limited English proficiency (LEP).
The percentage of racial/ethnic minority students enrolled in kindergarten through high school increased from 25% in 1980 to 47% in 2013. In 2013, the percentage of minorities enrolled in school in the United States was as follows: 13.9 % African American, 23.5% Hispanic, 4.6% Asian, 1% Native American, 3.7% 2 or more races, and less than 1% Pacific Islander. The fastest growing minority population in schools are Hispanic students, increasing from 8.5% of the total population of school-aged children in 1980 to 23.5% of the total population of school-aged children in 2013. (http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d14/tables/dt14_101.20.asp?current=yes). While the languages spoken by English Language Learner (ELL) students in the United States are very diverse, Spanish is the most common first or home language, spoken by 71 percent of ELL students. Chinese was the second most common language spoken in ELL students' homes representing 4 percent of ELLs, followed by Vietnamese (3 percent) and French/Haitian Creole (2 percent) (http://www.migrationpolicy.org/research/top-languages-spoken-english-language-learners-nationally-and-state). This growth trend in minority and ELL student populations supports the need for additional research and training regarding appropriate academic and behavior strategies for English Language Learners.
What are ELLs?
English language learners (ELLs) are students with a primary language other than English who have a limited range of speaking, reading, writing, and listening skills in English. This might include students who have been identified and determined by their school as having limited English proficiency (LEP).
Interventions
According to What Works Clearinghouse, the following interventions and strategies have been proven to improve reading and English language development for English Language Learners:
According to What Works Clearinghouse, the following interventions and strategies have been proven to improve reading and English language development for English Language Learners:
- Fast ForWord® Language
- Instructional Conversations and Literature Logs
- Read Well®
- Peer Tutoring and Response Groups
- Vocabulary Improvement Program for English Language Learners and Their Classmates (VIP)
- Bilingual Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition (BCIRC)
- Arthur
- Reading Mastery
- Enhanced Proactive Reading
- Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies
Assessment
ELL students are often assessed by schools using English language proficiency assessments, such as the ACCESS for ELLs. Two common scores from language proficiency assessments are BICS and CALP. Basic interpersonal communicative skills (BICS) are conversational language skills needed to interact in social situations, for example, when speaking to a friend on the telephone. BICS refers primarily to context-bound, face-to-face communication. Some assessments will provide a Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (CALP) score from 1 to 5, which measures the student's level of academic language proficiency. Academic language proficiency takes a longer period of time to develop, when compared to conversational proficiency (i.e., BICS). Research supports the use of Nonsense Word Fluency in grades K-2 to screen students for reading problems and predict early reading proficiency. Oral Reading Fluency is a measure that can also be used to screen for reading problems in 1st grade and up.
Special Education Evaluation
"Determining the appropriateness of referring an English Language Learner (ELL) to the special education referral committee is a difficult decision in light of the student’s limited proficiency in English, amount of formal education, and potential cultural differences. Care must be taken to determine whether learning and behavior problems demonstrated by the student indicate a disability or, instead, are a manifestation of language, cultural, experiential, and/or sociolinguistic differences... a student may not be denied an evaluation for special education services solely due to the lack of proficiency in English" (NCSPA, 2010).
When determining whether an ELL has a disability, schools must use scientifically and evidence based interventions to help address students’ needs. The strategies and interventions used should have empirical data supporting their use with ELL students. The school must also examine the environment, instructional strategies, and curriculum in the student’s regular classroom to evaluate all possible reasons for academic or behavior difficulties. It is critical to interview the parents, teachers, ESL teacher, tutors, and any other school professional that has contact with the student. When assessing the cognitive ability of ELL children, the best practice is to use a nonverbal assessment and cross-battery approach. ELL children tend to score higher on nonverbal tests than on verbal tests due to lower English language proficiency. The results of highly verbally-loaded cognitive tests of ability for ELLs should be interpreted with caution. If possible, the student should be evaluated by a bilingual school psychologist, who speaks both English and the student's native language. However, it can be difficult to find a school psychologist fluent in two languages. A school psychologist who has been trained in understanding cultural diversity, ecological assessment, integrating language proficiency data, and is able to work with an interpreter can be capable of assessing ELL students.
ELL students are often assessed by schools using English language proficiency assessments, such as the ACCESS for ELLs. Two common scores from language proficiency assessments are BICS and CALP. Basic interpersonal communicative skills (BICS) are conversational language skills needed to interact in social situations, for example, when speaking to a friend on the telephone. BICS refers primarily to context-bound, face-to-face communication. Some assessments will provide a Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (CALP) score from 1 to 5, which measures the student's level of academic language proficiency. Academic language proficiency takes a longer period of time to develop, when compared to conversational proficiency (i.e., BICS). Research supports the use of Nonsense Word Fluency in grades K-2 to screen students for reading problems and predict early reading proficiency. Oral Reading Fluency is a measure that can also be used to screen for reading problems in 1st grade and up.
Special Education Evaluation
"Determining the appropriateness of referring an English Language Learner (ELL) to the special education referral committee is a difficult decision in light of the student’s limited proficiency in English, amount of formal education, and potential cultural differences. Care must be taken to determine whether learning and behavior problems demonstrated by the student indicate a disability or, instead, are a manifestation of language, cultural, experiential, and/or sociolinguistic differences... a student may not be denied an evaluation for special education services solely due to the lack of proficiency in English" (NCSPA, 2010).
When determining whether an ELL has a disability, schools must use scientifically and evidence based interventions to help address students’ needs. The strategies and interventions used should have empirical data supporting their use with ELL students. The school must also examine the environment, instructional strategies, and curriculum in the student’s regular classroom to evaluate all possible reasons for academic or behavior difficulties. It is critical to interview the parents, teachers, ESL teacher, tutors, and any other school professional that has contact with the student. When assessing the cognitive ability of ELL children, the best practice is to use a nonverbal assessment and cross-battery approach. ELL children tend to score higher on nonverbal tests than on verbal tests due to lower English language proficiency. The results of highly verbally-loaded cognitive tests of ability for ELLs should be interpreted with caution. If possible, the student should be evaluated by a bilingual school psychologist, who speaks both English and the student's native language. However, it can be difficult to find a school psychologist fluent in two languages. A school psychologist who has been trained in understanding cultural diversity, ecological assessment, integrating language proficiency data, and is able to work with an interpreter can be capable of assessing ELL students.
Websites
http://www.dpi.state.nc.us/curriculum/esl/
http://www.livebinders.com/play/play?id=1089921
http://carolinatesol.shuttlepod.org/
http://www.migrationpolicy.org/programs/ell-information-center
http://www.colorincolorado.org/
http://www.ideapartnership.org/using-tools/dialogue-guides-section-list/322-dg-english-language-learners-ell-collection/dg-ell-collection/1511-dg-english-language-learners-ell-in-multi-tiered-systems-of-support-mtss-collection.html