New guide to instruction in Common Core for ELs
(District of Columbia) English learners will better meet the rigorous outcomes set by the Common Core State Standards if language development and general education teachers work together, according to guidance released by Council of the Great City Schools.
The guide, titled – A Framework for Raising Expectations and Instructional Rigor for English Language Learners – addresses the higher language demands of the new college- and career-ready standards and provides ways in which schools can meet them.
“There are few efforts that explicitly and in a practical way connect the changes that need to occur in the design and delivery of (English Language Learning) and the language development instruction that must also occur across the content areas for students to fully realize the expectations of the disciplines,” said authors of the report, from one of the nation’s key representatives of large urban school districts.
“For English Language Learners, this means that both targeted services (and) instructional programs for English Language Learners and general education must share the responsibility for developing discipline-specific content knowledge and academic language proficiency,” the report said.
Although big city schools have struggled for years with the educational demands posed by immigrant students, the challenge has become more complex with the recent move to the Common Core standards, prompting administrators in different parts of the country to employ different strategies.
In Long Island, N.Y., districts are considering before- and after-school language tutoring programs and bilingual counseling for their recent immigrant and refugee students.
Saint Paul, Minn., where approximately one-third of students are classified as ELs, is using a co-teacher model to help present information learned in class in a way students understand, while also reinforcing English skills so students are more likely to graduate on time.
The development of academic and discipline-specific English should occur throughout the day with the help of every teacher in every subject.
In addition to expanding student vocabulary significantly, experience in general education classes is valuable for ELs because it “also deepens a student’s understanding of how language can be used for New guide to instruction in Common Core for ELs :: SI&A Cabinet Report :: The Essential Resource for Superintendents and the Cabinet: