The Impact of the Common Core State Standards on Instruction for ELLs

June 12, 2012FLDOE CCSS Institute

Diane Staehr Fenner, Ph.D.

Presentation Goals• Increase understanding of: – ELL demographics in FL as compared to nation– Common Core State Standards’ challenges for

English language teaching and learning– Interplay between academic language and CCSS for

ELLs– Features of academic language and challenges it

poses for ELLs– How to better support content and language

development of English learners in standards-based instruction

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ELL Demographics Nationwide• The face of public schools has changed dramatically over

the past 3 decades• Over the past 15 years, ELL student enrollment has nearly

doubled• ELLs now constitute nearly 11% of the PreK-12 population,

close to 6 million students• 80% of ELLs speak Spanish but not a monolithic group• Experts predict that one-quarter of the total U.S. public

school population will be made up of ELLs by 2025• It is imperative for ELLs to access the content of the CCSS

and to demonstrate proficiency on assessments 3

ELL Demographics in Florida (2010-2011 Data)

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• Approximately 240,000 ELLs in FL K-12 (~9% of students are ELL)

• State with the 3rd highest number of ELLs in the US (CA is #1, TX is #2)

• FL ELL graduation rate: 59.7%• FL overall graduation rate: ~80%

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Application of Common Core State Standards for English Language Learners (2010)

CCSS and ELLs• ELLs require “appropriate instructional

support.” What does that mean?• How will your district or school ensure that

teachers are “diagnosing each student instructionally, adjusting instruction accordingly, and closely monitoring student progress?”

• How will you support these strategies?• Are your teachers prepared?

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Role of Academic Language

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ELLs’ ability to access the CCSS and achieve on the PARCC assessment (and English Language Proficiency assessment) is predicated on their ability to acquire academic language

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Defining Features of Academic Language

• Academic language is language that stands in contrast to the everyday informal speech that students use outside the classroom environment

• How it differs from social English – Discourse level: Discourse complexity – quantity and

variety of oral and written text– Sentence level: Language forms and conventions – types,

array, and use of language structures– Word/phrase level: Vocabulary usage – specificity of word

or phrase choice– Defining features of academic language all operate within a

sociocultural context for language use

World-Class Instructional Design and Assessment (WIDA), 2011

Defining Features of Academic Language

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VVocabulary

Sociocultural Context

Grammar (Language Forms & Conventions)

Discourse ComplexityDiscourse LevelSentence Level

Word Level

Adapted from World-Class Instructional Design and Assessment (WIDA), 2011

Language with Content• The challenge: ELLs must have access to the grade-level

content knowledge included in the CCSS• Prerequisites for ELLs to access the CCSS:

– Building background– Comprehensible input– Develop language and literacy skills in the context of

content area instruction– Scaffolding instruction– Practice and application– Frequent, formative assessment

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Strategies to Better Support Content and Academic Language Development of English

Learners in Standards-Based Instruction

•Knowledge of the population of ELLs served (culture, level of literacy in students’ native language, prior schooling, etc.)

•Knowledge of students’ English language proficiency level across all domains (Speaking, Listening, Reading & Writing)

•Appropriate use of ELL scaffolds that directly support both content and academic language acquisition

Sample CCSS Addressed by Unit Using “We the People” Text

ELA Standards – Reading: Informational Text (Grade 8)Key Ideas and Details• RI.8.1. Cite the textual evidence that most strongly supports an analysis of

what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.• RI.8.2. Determine a central idea of a text and analyze its development

over the course of the text, including its relationship to supporting ideas; provide an objective summary of the text.

• RI.8.3. Analyze how a text makes connections among and distinctions between individuals, ideas, or events (e.g., through comparisons, analogies, or categories)

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Use Features of Academic Language to Analyze the Following Text’s Demands for ELLs

Discourse Complexity Grammar (Language Forms and Conventions)

Vocabulary Usage Sociocultural Context

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From “The Preamble: We the People” (Monk, L.)

The first three words of the Constitution are the most important. They clearly state that the people—not the king, not the legislature, not the courts—are the true rulers in American government. This principle is known as popular sovereignty.

But who are “We the People”? This question troubled the nation for centuries. As Lucy Stone, one of America’s first advocates for women’s rights, asked in 1853, “‘We the People’? Which ‘We the People’? The women were not included.” Neither were white males who did not own property, American Indians, or African Americans—slave or free.

Text Analysis: Grade 8

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Analysis of the Text’s Academic Language Demands for ELLs

Discourse Complexity Grammar (Language Forms and Conventions)

• Rhetorical questions• Dense text• Logical connectors• Coherence (e.g., sequencing

of text)

• Interrogatives• Formulaic expressions (e.g.,

“look no further than”)• Dependent & independent

clauses

Vocabulary Usage Sociocultural Context• Idiomatic expressions (e.g.,

founding fathers)• Polysemous words (e.g.,

clearly state)• Technical language (e.g.,

suffrage, principle)

• Assumes deep knowledge of US constitution and relevant US history (e.g., women’s rights, slavery, civil rights, suffrage)

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CCSS Unit Teacher Directions Consideration for ELLsBrief definitions offered to words students would likely not be able to define from context

Depending on their level of English language proficiency, ELLs will have difficulty with many more words than native speakers

Avoid giving any background context

ELLs will likely not know the historical, political, and social context necessary to comprehend this text

Close reading approach…levels the playing field for all students

It levels the playing field for all students who know the context and possess academic language – not ELLs

Students initially grapple with rich texts

“Grappling” will look much different for an ELL than for a native speaker of English; ELLs may tune out completely

How Can Teachers Teach A Lesson Using This

Text to ELLs at Different Levels of English Language Proficiency?

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• ELL scaffolding strategies– Building background knowledge– Designing content and language objectives– Targeting instruction based on language objectives– Pre-teaching academic and content-specific

vocabulary and idiomatic expressions– Engaging ELLs before, during, and after reading– Providing targeted support for academic language

The Role of Teachers in Implementation of CCSS for ELLs

18Staehr Fenner & Segota, 2012

CCSS Assessment Considerations for ELLs

• Results of ELLs’ standardized tests are “far from valid” due to English Language Proficiency (Plank, 2011)

• How standards and assessment systems support ELLs will depend largely on how we develop and implement next-generation assessment systems and relate them to instruction, PD, and accountability

• Formative assessment is the most important aspect of the comprehensive assessment system to get right for ELLs because it is the most instructionally relevant

• Strengthen use of accommodations that address ELLs’ linguistic needs

19Robert Linquanti, 2011

PARCC’s Plans to Address ELLs• Established Accessibility, Accommodations, and

Fairness Technical Advisory Committee, comprised of state leaders, educators and researchers that have extensive expertise with this population

• Will make use of the principles of "universal design" in developing assessment tasks to ensure that extraneous factors do not impede students from demonstrating what they know and can do

• Up to local, state and federal policy makers to determine exactly how PARCC assessment results are used for accountability purposes

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Goals and Outcomes

Self-Assessment • Do you have a better understanding of Common Core

State Standards’ impact on English language teaching and learning?

• Can you recognize features of academic language and challenges it poses for ELLs in accessing the CCSS?

• Do you have a clearer understanding of the considerations to better support ELLs in standards-based instruction framed on the CCSS?

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CCSS for ELLs Resources• Application of CCSS for ELLs

http://www.corestandards.org/assets/application-for-english-learners.pdf • CCSSO CCSS ELL Meeting Materials

http://programs.ccsso.org/projects/ELLCONF/material.php • Colorín Colorado

http://www.colorincolorado.org/educators/common_core/ell/• Strengthening Assessment for ELLs

http://www.stanford.edu/group/pace/PUBLICATIONS/TECHNICALREPORTS/2011_PACE_RENNIE_ASSESSMENT_REPORT.pdf

• Stanford University’s Understanding Language Project www.ell.stanford.edu• WIDA Academic Language

http://www.wida.us/research/agenda/AcademicLanguage/index.aspx 22

For More Information

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• Diane@DSFConsulting.net• www.dsfconsulting.net