Closing the Achievement Gap for

ELL Students NYSUT Train the Trainer

Event –Promoting Literacy for ELLs

at all LevelsMarch 18th, 2006

Presenter: Giselle Lundy-Ponce, AFTglundypo@aft.org

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GoalsProvide information about

the growing ELL populationReview the main challenges

this population confronts, social and economic consequences, and actions schools need to consider to address these issues

Discuss resources to address these challenges

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ELL School-Age Population

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

1991 2005

ELLEnrollment

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LEP enrollmentLEP enrollment

Total K-12 enrollmentTotal K-12 enrollment

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90% United StatesUnited States

School Enrollment Rates

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Who Are They?

80 percent of ELLs are Latino

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Who Are They?

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

Asian EasternEur

MiddleEastern

Other

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Where Latinos come from

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Mexico Ctrl/ SoAmer

Other PuertoRico

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Most Common Languages Spoken

by ELLsSpanishVietnamese

HmongChinese, Cantonese

KoreanHaitian Creole

ArabicRussian

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Latino Population Overall As of 2006, there were over 40 million Latinos

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

1960 2006 2030

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Where Are They?The bulk of ELLs are

concentrated in cities with AFT affiliates – such as

BostonCorpus ChristiHoustonHartfordLos AngelesNew York CityMiamiSan Antonio

And rapidly growing insmaller cities like

Hammond, IN;Dalton, GA; and

Durham, NC

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Academic ChallengesLatino ELLs have the

highest dropout rate of all groups – 43 percent (Non-Latino ELLs have a 6 percent dropout rate)

Persistent achievement gap – between 38 percent and 57 percent of Latino students perform below grade level

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Academic Challenges4th Grade Math NAEP Scores

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

2000 2003 2005

WhiteStudents

LatinoStudents

ELL Students

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Academic Challenges8th Grade Math NAEP Scores

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

2000 2003 2005

WhiteStudents

LatinoStudents

ELL Students

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Academic Challenges

4th Grade Reading NAEP Scores

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

2002 2003 2005

WhiteStudentsLatinoStudentsELL Students

15

Academic Challenges

8th Grade Reading NAEP Scores

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

2002 2003 2005

WhiteStudents

LatinoStudents

ELL Students

16

Academic Challenges

12th Grade Reading NAEP Scores

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

1998 2002

WhiteStudents

LatinoStudents

ELL Students

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Academic Challenges

1998 Civics NAEP Scores

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

4thGrade

8thGrade

12thGrade

WhiteStudents

LatinoStudents

ELL Students

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Academic Challenges2000-02 Writing NAEP Scores

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

4thGrade

8thGrade

12thGrade

WhiteStudents

LatinoStudents

ELL Students

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Academic Challenges2005 ACT-Tested High School Graduates Meeting

ACT College Readiness Benchmark for Reading

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

High-IncomeStudents

WhiteStudents

LatinoStudents

Low-IncomeStudents

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Academic Challenges:Post-Secondary Preparation

Latinos accounted for only 10 percent of Advanced Placement (AP) examinees, compared to 66 percent of White Students

Only 19 percent of Latino high school graduates are highly or very highly qualified for admission to a four-year higher education institution, compared to approximately 40 percent of Whites

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Academic Challenges:

Only 11 percent to 16 percent of Latinos graduate with a bachelor’s degree compared to 37 percent of Whites and 21 percent of African-Americans

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Educational Challenges:Post-Secondary AttainmentOnly 11 percent to 16 percent

of Latinos have a bachelor’s degree compared to 37 percent of Whites and 21 percent of African-Americans

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Degrees Awarded in 2000

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Latinos Whites

Associate

Bachelor's

Master's

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Instructional ChallengesNationwide, less than 3 percent

of ALL teachers of ELLs (i.e., any teacher

with at least 1 ELL in his/her classroom) have received formal preparation, resources, and certification to work with them

Only 12.5 percent of ALL teachers nationwide have had a maximum of one day of professional development related to ELLs in the past three years

04/18/23

4%1%

16%

30%29%

10%

57%53%

Less than 1% 1% to 10% 11% to 30% 31% or More

Non-ELL StudentsELLs

Percent of ELLs in Schools

Instructional Challenges:Linguistic Isolation

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Socio-Economic Realities

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Socio-Economic Challenges: Poverty

Two thirds of ELLs come from low-income families

One third of Latino children live in poverty and lack any form of health insurance

Latinos comprise almost 25% of all people living in poverty, but make up 14% of the population

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Socio-Economic Challenges: Parental Levels of EducationLatino School-Age Children with

Parents who Have Less than a HS Diploma: 48%

African-American School-Age

Children with Parents who Have Less than a HS Diploma: 19%

White School-Age Children with Parents who Have Less than a HS Diploma: 9%

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Socio-Economic Challenges: Annual

Income Less than 30K

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

LEPLatinos

Latinos Blacks Whites

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Socio-Economic Challenges:Jobs in Low-Wage Service

Industry

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

LEPLatinos

Latinos Blacks Whites

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Overall Barriers

Achievement Gap

Less Academically Challenging and College Preparatory Coursework

Lack of Access to Specialized Instruction

Poverty, Lack of Health Insurance, Lack of Information about Higher Education, Low Levels of Prior Formal Education

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Giving our Members a Hand

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What is Colorín Colorado?A Web site originally launched

in 2003 by the Reading Rockets project of PBS Station WETA.

It was originally created only for Spanish-speaking parents.

Contains bilingual information for parents on how to help their children read and succeed at school.

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Why is it called ColorínColorado??

If you're from a Spanish-speaking country, you probably recognize the playful phrase "colorín colorado." It's from a verse that many children and adults say after reading a good story together: "¡Y colorín, colorado, este cuento se ha acabado!" ("Colorín colorado, and that is the end of the story!"). There is no literal translation, but it’s similar to “And they lived happily ever after”

Those who grew up speaking Spanish often smile at the name of the web site. The saying brings back happy memories of childhood for generations of people from many different countries. Making people smile about reading seemed like a perfect way to begin. And so that's how we got ColorínColorado!

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Colorín Colorado has received many awards and recognitions…

EPpy finalist 2004, Best Internet Community Service Effort

American Library Association, Great Web SiteUSA Today Hot SiteNational Association of School PsychologistsSchool Library JournalNational PTA Magazine

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and fan mail… “I work for the Parents Information Center of

Delaware and I work with Hispanic parents. I am always looking for resources for parents and your web site is a magnificent resource for the parents that only read/write Spanish. I thank you for this information that is available in Spanish.” – Maria

“I stumbled on this web site when I was

looking for some bilingual handouts to use at an upcoming program I'm doing at our Head Start center. Our small southern county in south Georgia is home to more and more Hispanic families. Thanks for this and your many other internet resources!” – Norma M.

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ColorinColorado.org is successful in providing great information for parents, but we knew something was missing…

Information for educators!

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So, Reading Rockets and AFT decided to collaborate to create practical, research-based information for educators on how to teach English language learners to read, learn, and succeed in the classroom…

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It was the start of a beautiful partnership!

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Colorín Colorado’s new educator’s

section was created in cooperation

with the following researchers: Dr. Margarita Calderón, Principal Research

Scientist, Center for Data-Driven Reform in Education (CDDRE), Johns Hopkins University

Dr. Claude Goldberg, Professor, Department of Teacher Education at California State University, Long Beach, and Research Psychologist at UCLA

Dr. Diane August, Senior Research Scientist, Center for Applied Linguistics

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And the AFT ELL Educator Cadre!

Ada Pujols-Torres, NYCassandra Lawrence, NJCatalina Fortino, NYChristine Rowland, NYClaudia Navarro, FLCynthia Lundgren, MNElaine LeBoeuf, CAGinny Thomas, TXHobie Hukill, TX

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And the AFT ELL Educator Cadre!

Janet Montoya Schoeppner, NMKristina Robertson, MNLinda Guthrie, CAMilagros Santiago, ILMiriam Martínez, NMMiriam Soto-Pressley, INRebecca Palacios, TXRita Haecker, TXSusan Lafond, NY

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The educator’s section includes

the following information:Background information on teaching

ELLsHow to reach out to Latino students

and familiesPlacement and assessmentTeaching readingTeaching content areasResources

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Parent Outreach Toolkit

Provides useful information about Latino cultures and values

Provides helpful suggestions for involving parents in the classroom

Includes actual parent workshops with video components in English and Spanish that focus on PK-3 literacy development

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Thank You!

¡Gracias!