ccrs, els, and the changing role of the esl educator

CCRS, ELs, and the Changing Role

of the ESL Educator

John Segota, CAE

Associate Executive Director for Public Policy & Professional Relations

TESOL International Association

2016 ACTFL Convention

Boston, Massachusetts

Overview

• CCRS and English Language Proficiency

• Impact of Paradigm Shift

• The Role of the ESL Educator

• New Roles in the New Paradigm

• Key Challenges for ESL Educators

• Redefining Preparation


• Approximately 13,000

members in over 150

countries

• 100+ affiliates

worldwide


Resources

Prof. Devel.

StandardsAdvocacy

Research

Next Generation Standards & Assessments

College- & Career-Ready Standards

• CCSS

• NGSS

• State standards

CCRS Assessments

• PARCC

• Smarter Balanced

• State assessments

English Language Proficiency Standards

• WIDA

• State standards

ELP Assessments

• ACCESS

• ELPA 21

• State assessments

ELP Standards

Define:

– Expected progressions of English language acquisition

– Elements, forms, or functions of language to be developed

– Levels of accuracy, complexity, or fluency to be attained

Valdes, Kibler, & Walqui, 2014

ELP Standards

Establish for parents, policy makers, school

administrators, and practitioners:

– Ways that English learners are assumed to grow in their use of English over time

– Language abilities to be expected at different levels of development

– Aspects of language that will need to be measured in determining progress


Standards and Assessments for ELLs

Content Standards (CCSS

and NGSS)ELP Standards

ELP Assessments & ELP Test Items

National Content-Area Assessments

& Test Items


Role of the ESL Educator

First Convening –CCSS & ESL

Educators (2013)

Professional Paper –New Expertise for

ESL Educators (2014)

Second Convening –Preparation of ESL Educators for New

Era (2015)

CCSS for ELs – Changing Role

of ESL Teacher

1. What are ESL educators’ current

roles in implementing the CCSS

for ELs?

2. What should ESL educators’

roles be to ensure that ELLs

achieve with the CCSS?

3. What are the most promising

strategies to support ESL

educators as they teach the

CCSS?

Changes in the Expertise of ESL Professionals

• Shifts caused by

the new standards

• New demands for

ESL educators

• Changes needed in

professional

preparation

Preparation of ESL Educator in

Era of CCRS

• What has changed?

• What has been the impact of

policy?

• What has been the impact of

professional preparation for

this new context?

• What preparation could have

prepared you for the new

context?

Old Paradigm

Content Language

Mo

stly

vo

cab

ula

ry,

Gra

mm

ar

Stanford, University. April 19, 2012. Language, Literacy and the Common Core.

New Paradigm

DiscourseText (complex text)

ExplanationArgumentation

PurposeTypical structure of text

Sentence structuresVocabularyPractices

Co

nte

nt

Langu

age

Stanford, University. April 19, 2012. Language, Literacy and the Common Core.

New Paradigm

Two Key Challenges for ESL Educators

1. Language practices required by the new standards

2. Inclusion of ELLs in new standards-aligned instruction


Language practices required

by CCSS/NGSS

Disciplinary Practices

disciplinary practices related to conceptual

understanding

disciplinary practices related to analytical

tasks

disciplinary language practices


Disciplinary Practices in CCSS - ELA

CCSS Key Practices for ELA

1. Support analyses of a range of grade-level complex

texts with evidence

2. Produce clear and coherent writing in which the

development, organization, and style are appropriate

to task purpose, and audience

3. Construct valid arguments from evidence and critique

the reasoning of others

4. Build and present knowledge through research by

integrating, comparing, and synthesizing ideas from

texts

5. Build upon the ideas of others and articulate their own

when working collaboratively

6. Use English structure to communicate context-specific

messages

Council of Chief State School Officers, 2013

Sample Embedded Analytical Tasks

Key CCSS ELA Practice 1: Support analyses of a

range of grade level complex texts with evidence

– Render an understanding of what has been read through assembling details and ideas

– Use evidence to make inferences beyond what is explicitly stated

– Extract evidence from a variety of text structures

– Build both vocabulary and content knowledge through comprehension of texts

Sample Embedded Receptive Language

Practices



– Comprehend text being read aloud or silently

– Comprehend talk about the meaning of a text being read aloud or silently

– Comprehend oral and written classroom discourse about investigating text for details as well as assembling those details both orally and in writing

Sample Embedded Productive Language

Practices



Communicate orally and in writing ideas, concepts, and

information related to the reading of complex literacy and

informational texts and evidence-supported analysis, including:

• Identifying evidence within a text

• Explaining the meaning of particular details

• Explaining the meaning of the text as a whole

• Creating written and oral analyses of on-level text

• Presenting and explaining evidence to others

• Answering questions by providing details from textual analysis

Inclusion of ELLs in New

Standards-Aligned Instruction

• How much (and what kind) of language do

students need to be placed in an inclusive

Standards-based classroom environment?

• What criteria should be used to make such

decisions?

• What should classrooms look like?

• What curricula can best facilitate linguistic and

intellectual/academic development?


Success for ELLs

Content Development Language Development

Content Area Teacher

• Subject area knowledge & expertise

• Academic objective writing skills

ESL Teacher

• Language development knowledge & expertise

• Language objective writing skills

Implementation of CCRS: Systemic Approach

The triangle of interaction: Critical components for effective EL educationStaehr Fenner and Segota, 2012

2013 Convening - Findings

Most ESL Educators

– Understand the importance of academic language

– Are experts in language development

– Are impacted by lack of recognition and uniformity in the TESOL field

2013 Convening - Findings

Most ESL Educators

–Work with content area teachers in an open-ended way

–Maintain various roles and status in schools

– Have no clear role in the school’s CCSS implementation

New Roles in the New Paradigm

• ESL Educators

– Experts

– Advocates

– Consultants

• Principals and Administrators

– Supporters

– Buffers

– Pedagogical leaders

New Roles for ESL Educators

• Co-teaching or closer collaboration with

content-area teachers

• Professional development providers for

content-area teachers

• Developing push-in models in which ESL

teachers are in the classroom with content-

area teachers

Maxwell, 2013

Redefining Preparation

Teacher preparation must be re-

conceptualized for the new paradigm so that ESL educators are able to:

– Understand how and why language is used in various disciplines

– Create opportunities for learners to engage in language-rich disciplinary Practices in both ESL and content-area classroom settings

– Engage in effective collaboration with other educators (and vice-versa)


Advancing Professional Expertise

ESL educators must

– Be conscious of the theories that underline

practices, and re-examine both to arrive at a

richer and more thorough understanding of

possibilities, opportunities, and challenges

– Address what pedagogical scaffolding needs to

be provided for students so that they can

participate in practices that are beyond their

current levels of developmentValdes, Kibler, & Walqui, 2014

2015 Convening Findings

What is happening now?

• Greater shift towards more collaboration and

co-teaching

• ESL educators asked to provide more

professional development for their peers

• In some cases, more support happening at

district levels

• ESL educators not necessarily included in

planning teams

2015 Convening Findings

Pre-service programs need to prepare ESL

educators for new role and context

– New demands of college- and career-ready standards

– Support and preparation for effective collaboration

– Peer-teaching techniques

– Field experience

– Leadership development

2015 – Key Recommendations

1. Preparation for effective collaboration

must be included both at the pre-service

and in-service level.

2. Preservice preparation of ESL educators

should include more aspects of leadership

development.

3. Testing and accountability policies should

take into account the practicalities of

instructional time.

What’s next?

• What’s needed in teacher education and

preparation?

– Revision of TESOL P-12 Professional

Teaching Standards (CAEP)

• What tools and resources are needed for

ESL educators in this new paradigm?

• What else?

More information

http://www.tesol.org/CommonCore

John Segota, CAE

[email protected]

Twitter: @JohnSegota

SlideShare.net

http://www.tesol.org/CommonCore

mailto:[email protected]

ccrs, els, and the changing role of the esl educator

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