COLLABORATION between classroom teachers and English language learning (ELL) experts in class corresponded with a steady rise in test scores for students who are non-native English speakers in the United States, the Christian Science Monitor has reported.
In St. Paul, Minnesota, officials have adopted the team-teaching model in primary schools to narrow the gap between English language learners (ELLs) and their native English speaking peers.
Making up 40 per cent of the public school district, St. Paul’s ELLs are doing particularly well compared with many other urban districts in the US. That has prompted educators from as far away as Alaska and England to come see what’s at work here.
Valeria Silva, St. Paul’s ELL director, says, in the past, the ELL specialist “would pull five or six kids out of the room ... and then they would come back in 30 minutes and try to connect again with what the class was teaching.... It was very disruptive.” At present, students in a class are split into groups during the lesson. An ELL specialist takes the kids who are still learning English, while a subject teacher works on the other side of the classroom with students at a higher level of literacy.
Nationwide, 5.4 million K-12 (kindergarten through 12th grade) students speak limited English, and they urgently need help. According to the US National Assessment of Educational Progress, only 4 per cent of eighth grade ELLs scored at or above “proficient” in English reading, compared with 32 per cent of non-ELLs. Meanwhile, 25 states of the US saw the number of ELLs more than double from 1993 to 2003.
“It’s extremely important, as we see a fast growing population of ELL students, that we adapt to their needs and give them the tools so they can be a success,” says Bob Wise, president of the US Alliance for Excellent Education.
To ensure progress, experts call for a number of key changes. They include: improving tests so educators can better measure native language and English abilities, as well as a student’s grasp of academic content; giving all teachers better preparation to work with ELLs; adjusting the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law to refine accountability requirements and support for ELLs.
“The goal is that we close the gap? It’s revolutionary, but it takes time ? we’re changing consciousness; we’re changing systems,” says Kathleen Leos, assistant deputy secretary of education, at the US Office of English Language Acquisition.
Many teachers are frustrated, however, because they feel that “it has become less about developing English language proficiency and more about test prep,” says John Segota, a spokesman for Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, US.
NCLB also requires schools to ensure that all teachers are rated as “highly qualified”. But when it comes to academic subjects, “teachers that can teach a rigorous course with ELL students are hard to find,” says Melissa Lazarín, senior policy analyst for education reform at the US National Council of La Raza, a Hispanic advocacy group in Washington.21ST
