As the Iowa Core gains momentum, administrators and teachers across the state are presented with a golden opportunity to incorporate the needs of English language learners (ELLs), the nation's fastest-growing body of students (ASCD, 2012), into their district Core implementation plans. Districts must embrace ways to ensure that ELLs are engaged in the simultaneous development of English language proficiency and content knowledge, skills, and abilities detailed in the Core. Such a comprehensive and inclusive approach is a prerequisite for Iowa to reach its ambitious targeted outcomes of successfully engaging all students in a rigorous world-class educational system (Iowa Department of Education, 2012).

A variety of current educational initiatives claim their efforts target "all" learners. However, without applying critical language acquisition principles and research, such generalized initiatives for all learners are destined to fall short in meeting the needs of ELLs. Research that claims to be useful for increasing ELL achievement should be considered for implementation with ELLs only if it has actually included these students and been interpreted from an ELL perspective. Administrators and teachers must interrogate both research and practice to ensure that they are truly meaningful for and applicable to ELLs, not simply generalized best practice.

The Need for Change

The number of ELLs both across the country and in our state is growing exponentially. Nationally, approximately 22% of students are children of immigrants, representing the fastest-growing population under 18 in the United States (Mather, 2009, p. 3). In Iowa, there has been a 332.8% increase in the number of ELLs between 1999-2000 and 2009-10, from 4,821 to 20,867 (NCELA, 2011, p. 1). Such significant demographic shifts, paired with Iowa's goal to develop world-class schools, signal the need for a paradigm shift in how we teach and assess our students.

In 2007, Deborah Short and Shannon Fitzsimmons highlighted the challenges faced by ELLs inherent in learning a new language and new academic content simultaneously. The new Common Core State Standards demand that teachers engage students in more rigorous work, yet fall short of providing guidance regarding how to effectively engage ELLs, asserting that it is "beyond the scope of the Standards to define the full range of supports appropriate for English language learners" (Common Core State Standards Initiative, 2010, p. 6). Yet the majority of teachers are not prepared to work with ELLs; the latest (2012) report on national Title III (ELL) funding implementation asserts that, for the 2009-2010 school year, "73 percent [of district ELL administrators] reported that 'lack of expertise among mainstream teachers to address the needs of ELs [English learners]' was a moderate or major challenge'" (p. xxvi). Dr. Robert Linquanti, Project Director and Senior Researcher at WestEd, sums up the current situation in stating that "huge shifts are going to be needed in teachers' pedagogical practice" (Linquanti, 2012).

We assert that the confluence of changing demographics and a call for more rigorous curriculum indicate the need for a systemic paradigm shift in the way that ELLs are served.

Administrators must build classroom capacity to provide access to the Iowa Core for all children in the mainstream classroom, where all teachers are responsible for the learning of each student, including ELLs. This can mean that, with administrative support, English as a second language (ESL) teachers can take on more collaborative roles, such as:

• mentoring content teachers by developing differentiated instruction and/or assessment strategies,
• co-teaching with content teachers who provide reciprocal mentoring in the content area (Jones-Vo, Fairbairn, Hiatt, Simmons, Looker, & Kinley, 2007),
• locating and sharing leveled reading materials that support the Iowa Core,
• incorporating strategies that promote comprehensibility, interaction, and higher-order thinking (Kauffman, 2007, p. xiv), and
• providing other ESL-specific supports designed to increase instructional capacity.

Since academic language requires explicit instruction and is not simply absorbed, even by native speakers of English, K-12 classroom teachers must assume the responsibility to advance the content knowledge, skills, and abilities encompassed in the Iowa Core while developing academic English language. This dual approach to instruction (using content as the vehicle for academic English language development) will benefit all learners in the classroom and serve the pivotal function of including ELLs in meaningful Core instruction. Further, this approach represents the most efficient and economical way to increase ELL achievement.

The Iowa Core as Vehicle for Language Development  

and Increasing Student Achievement

• Know your students
• Increase comprehensibility
• Increase interaction
• Increase higher-order thinking
• Make connections to previous learning
• Differentiate instruction and assessment according to ELP levels
• Match grading to differentiated expectations



The IDEAL Paradigm: Increasing Differentiated ELL Achievement through Leadership

 

 

While all of the strategies listed above serve the goal of increasing ELL achievement, the best starting point is to know your students. From there, the addition of each strategy listed in clockwise order provides a logical approach of creating learning and assessment opportunities that are meaningful and appropriate for ELLs and non-ELLs alike. The operationalization of this model is outlined for both administrators and teachers below.

The IDEAL paradigm for serving ELLs will only come to fruition under the purposeful guidance of excellent leadership. School leaders must:

• encourage new relationships between and among all staff members,
• embed time for meaningful collaboration designed to facilitate the simultaneous learning of content and academic language, and 
• afford teachers "credit" for this essential work.

While each teacher brings specific expertise to the classroom, synergy can develop when teachers are provided specific scheduled time for the purpose of sharing reciprocally to increase instructional capacity. While the classroom/content teacher possesses critical knowledge, skills, and abilities related to the Iowa Core, ESL teachers bring a host of insights and strategies related to making content accessible to ELLs. Their partnership is essential to meaningfully engage both ELLs and non-ELLs in the simultaneous learning of content and language.

In order for these synergistic relationships to develop, time must be specifically set aside for partnering in the development of both lessons and assessments across the curriculum. In one powerful example, math and ESL staff at an urban elementary school benefited from weekly dedicated time to share lesson plans, teaching strategies, and materials. As a result, 100% of the ELLs in the building made gains on the district criterion-referenced tests in each of the three years during which the initiative took place (Jones-Vo, Fairbairn, Hiatt, Simmons, Looker, & Kinley, 2007), garnering national attention (U.S. Department of Education, 2005).

To ensure the stronghold of the necessary collaboration required for a paradigm shift, building leaders must incentivize their high expectations for collaboration between and among teachers by valuing and publicly recognizing such efforts.

We recommend 3 concrete structures for enacting this critical paradigm shift:

• Professional learning communities (PLCs) focused on the new paradigm,
• Ongoing professional development presentations that provide guidance on implementation of the new paradigm, and 
• Evaluative tools (e.g., walk-through templates) crediting teachers for embracing the new paradigm in specific, measurable terms.

Professional learning communities can undertake various aspects of the new paradigm (e.g., knowing your students, increasing comprehensibility) focused on book studies, investigating strategies, studying data, etc.

Two recommended resources:

Vogt, M., & Echevarria, J. (2008). 99 Ideas and Activities for Teaching English Learners with the SIOP Model. Boston: Pearson Education.

Fairbairn, S., & Jones-Vo, S. (2010). Differentiating instruction and assessment for English language learners: A guide for K-12 teachers. Philadelphia: Caslon Publishing.

When teachers themselves lead these professional development sessions, they have the freedom to select topics that are most relevant to their context and to analyze resulting student work. This ownership promotes improved practice leading to enhanced student achievement.

Presentations conducted by district and outside experts are another important source of professional development that can be paired with PLCs. In our work with districts around the nation, we have found the sharing of teacher implementation (e.g., lesson plans, differentiated assignments, student work, teacher-developed assessments) to be powerful and indispensable, encouraging the innovation necessary to meet the needs of ELLs.

To ensure seamless implementation of the new paradigm, we have witnessed the power of administrative walk-throughs during which a template addressing ELL-specific strategies was used to collect data. These data were then shared regularly with building staff in a non-evaluative manner, leaving teachers to celebrate their successes and recognize areas for improvement on their own. As a result of allowing the data to "speak for itself," teachers assume responsibility for improving their practice to better meet student needs.

By moving to the IDEAL paradigm facilitating ELL success, teachers and administrators open the door for the nation's fastest-growing population to achieve its academic potential by participating fully in the Iowa Core. In the words of Iowa Director of Education Dr. Jason Glass, "The Iowans who came before us shouldered the responsibility and gave this gift of education to all of us. It is now our responsibility to pay it forward for future generations of Iowa" (Iowa Department of Education, 2012, p. 2).