ESA 3 – Title III April NewsLetter Dear Consortium Members, As the frenzy of the end for the year approaches, I want to thank you for your continued involvement in activities that help support teachers who work with English Language Learners in our state. As we, as educators, expand our understanding of working with English Language Learners, we embark on welcoming diversity, embracing differentiation, and meeting the needs of all kids in our districts. No two language learners are the same – from the Hutterite Colony Kindergartener to the seventeen-year-old who enrolls in US schools for the first time with no English – each has a unique background, past experiences and motivations. Each district, too, has different understandings, schedules, resources. We keep our eye-on-the-ball – to provide learning experiences tailored to the needs of whoever enters our classrooms. Language is power – and to provide our students the linguistic skills to participate fully in society benefits us all. The Letter of Intent to join the State-Wide Title III Consortium should be coming soon from the DOE. Please join to help keep Title III support strong and active. If you have questions, please contact
[email protected] As the year comes to a close, please remember to call your District ESL Team together to reflect on the program that was begun this year. Perhaps the questions included in this Newsletter can guide your conversations and planning for refining your District Core ESL Plan. Kind Regards, Gwyneth Dean-Witte ESA 3 Title III Consortium MONITORING – Don’t forget this important part of the process!
Students who have exited the ESL program or exited the LEP status in Infinite Campus need to be monitored for two school years to make sure they are keeping up with studies and continuing to make progress. Are you in charge of Monitoring students? Try to gather three pieces of data (attendance, grade report, teacher input, formative assessments, etc) twice a year and staple it to the Monitoring Form. This stays in the Cumulative File as documentation of your district’s efforts to meet needs of Language Learners. As your District ELL Team meets this Spring for program evaluation, bring up any second-year monitoring students – make decisions as a team about their status. Then celebrate exited students! Exiting students proves your district is providing instruction that is effective!
April 2016 PO Box 228, Platte, SD 57369 605.337.2636 *to raise the proficiency level of ELLs in South Dakota *to provide quality professional development to teachers *to provide support as Districts Core ESL Plans are developed
Professional Development Opportunities Title I Conference – Save the Date August 1-2 in Chamberlain Title III will be under the umbrella of Title I with the ESSA, so this is an excellent chance to find out what is new in supporting ELs (English learners) and district responsibility.
ND/SD Colony Teacher Conference, Watertown, June 1-2 Register* - $50/day https://www.escweb.net/nd_seec/catalog/confe rence.aspx?conference_id=33152 *S.D. attendees - When creating your account to register please choose the following options: REA/Organization: South East Education Cooperative; District/Site: South Dakota Schools
ENL Endorsement Cohort #2
Registration will begin in March 7th. There is no priority for ESA 3 Title III Consortium members due to the creating of the state-wide Title III Consortium. The registration is capped at 24 participants. Please register quickly to save your spot. We will look forward to working with you! https://store.dwu.edu/NonDegreeCredit. ENL662 Use access Code: B919 The location of the face-to-face meetings are tentatively in Watertown. Flyer linked to our website: http://midcentralcoop.org/esa3/titleIII/
GO TO STRATEGIES – July 25 Sioux Falls, July 26 Oacoma Attend this free one-day workshop presented by author Ms. Laura Lukens. We have been talking about these strategies and this booklet all year – and now we are lucky enough to be able to attend the workshop presented by one of the authors! Sponsored by the DOE – See you there! http://southdakota.gosignmeup.com
ESA 3 Title III Consortium – Supporting ELs and Schools in South Dakota
APRIL Welcoming Families TIP: Make the enrollment process manageable for ELL parents. A. What you need to know School enrollment is a complicated process for any family. For ELL families, a number of other obstacles can arise: • There is no interpreter available. • Parents are unaware of services (such as free- and reduced-lunch) for which they qualify. • They don’t understand how bussing works. • They are confused about their rights and their children’s rights. • They are reluctant to show any form of identification. *A school system very different from the U.S. system • A situation with a lot of mobility (as in the case of migrant students) • A situation without any schooling at all (such as a refugee camp).
Yet regardless of how it’s done, ELL parents must have access to the same information as non-ELL parents. Sending information home in English will not ensure that it is read and understood. Getting this information doesn’t just help the school operate more smoothly – it can make a critical difference in keeping children healthy and safe. Whether through translated forms or an interpreter, ELL parents need to know about the basics, such as: qEnrollment procedures qThe school schedule qTheir child’s schedule qAttendance policies and procedures for absences qBussing and transportation qHow breakfast and lunch work (such as lunch accounts, codes, or policies) qFree- and reduced-lunch options qHolidays and school closures qWeather delays qProcedures for alerting the school to their child’s medical conditions, medication, and allergies. ELL also parents need information about their child’s academic program, such as: qTheir child’s classes and who their child’s teachers are qThe school grading system and report cards and Assessments (classroom and standardized) qParent conferences qInformation about the English-language program and placement procedures (121) qSpecial services, such as gifted programs or special education as needed qHomework help and resources and the school library qClubs, sports, and extra-curricular activities. Finally, Debbie Zacarian underscores the importance of sharing information about the following in her book, Transforming Schools for English Language Learners qStudent and parent rights, Emergency contact cards and procedures, The student handbook and code of conduct. B. CONSIDER: *Bilingual staff: When possible, hire bilingual staff to work in the main office. •Translated forms: General forms are available in other languages from the state education sites, and there may already be some translations available through your Department of Education. • Enrollment night: Schedule an “enrollment night” in which families can learn about the enrollment process and school policies with interpreters on hand. • School liaisons: Hire a part-time staff person who speaks the language and guides families through the enrollment process • Welcome centers: Having a centralized ELL welcome/intake center managed by bilingual staff may help streamline enrollment and placement procedures. • Welcome kits: Put together a “welcome kit” that includes key information, basic school supplies in a backpack, and educational activities for your ELL families. • Technology: Consider offering translations of your forms online, such as these from Los Angeles Unified School District, or an automated enrollment form in multiple languages. **From Colorin Colorado.com
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Grammar Gallery
- your ELD curriculum solution
Grammar Gallery will not be provided to Colony Teachers next year, as the consortiums are restructured into a state-wide consortium. This web-based curriculum is low-cost and highly effective. Please consider purchasing it for your Colony teachers, your ESL teachers, your general education teachers to use for grammar instruction for all students. Each district needs resources/curriculum to teach English Language Development. This resource is comprehensive, CCSS and WIDA aligned. A number of districts have purchased GG to use for their ESL Curriculum for K-12 next year. Also, a number of districts have also adopted Grammar Gallery for their K-6 grammar instruction. If you have any questions about this resource, please contact me
[email protected] OR contact the program rep, Bob Batson,
[email protected] Most of Colony teachers utilized this in ELD instruction. If your district has a Colony, please contact your teachers for some information as well.
WIDA RESOURCES - Consider in your planning for next year!
WIDA Early Years Calendars – promote language development with family activities – excellent way to help welcome a new family. https://www.wceps.org/store/wida/ProductDetails?ProductID= 221&CategoryID=18 Available in Spanish, English and may
other languages. NEW Version of the Can Do Descriptors – This edition is organized around four over-arching communicative purposes, called Key Uses: Recount, Explain, Argue, and Discuss. Watch the free webinar at https://www.wida.us/standards/CAN_DOs/#keyuses Article – What Can We Reasonably Expect? By Cook, Boals and Lundberg presents a research-based looks at the academic achievement of English Language Learners. Find it at WIDA.us at the Download Library, under the Research link.
ESA 3 Title III Consortium – Supporting ELs and Schools in South Dakota
District Core ESL Plan Evaluation – an important part of the process As the end of the year approaches, and your District ESL Team is called together to reflect on the progress made this year and plan for next year, please let these questions guide your conversations. They have been adapted from the Minnesota Department of Education. ACCESS scores should be to districts in early May and those results will also guide your discussions. To compare if adequate growth has been made, compare Scale Scores using the percentile growth charts. Comparing last year’s Composite Score to this year’s Composite Score is like comparing apples to oranges. That doesn’t show growth. Use the scale scores – check out the WIDA website and/or attend the Fall 2016 Language Acquisition Plan Writing Workshop to learn about using percentile growth charts for determining programming effectiveness. **As your ESA 3 Title III Consortium staff make their final visit to your district, please don’t hesitate to visit with them about your questions. Curriculum Is there an ESL curriculum in the school? How well does it complement the mainstream curriculum? How does the curriculum balance high expectations for ELL with their limited facility in English? How does the school ensure that every ESL student has access to the standards-based curriculum (both in mainstream and ESL courses)? How is academic content integrated with language learning throughout the curriculum (both in mainstream and ESL courses)? Instruction How adequately are mainstream teachers prepared to teach ELL? How adequately are ESL teachers prepared to teach ELL? How often do teachers collaborate to adjust instruction for ESL students? How does instruction develop academic language and learning strategies? Assessment To what extent are ELL and mainstream assessment practices coordinated? Is there a clear written policy for assessing ELL? How do stakeholders have access to the policy? To what extent are assessments for ELL derived from individual student needs? How are assessments adapted for ELL? Are alternative assessments offered for ELL? How is guidance provided to mainstream staff in the use of alternative assessments? Staff Development To what extent does the school support effective staff development for educational personnel (administrators, teachers, paraprofessionals and other staff) who work with ELL? To what extent is there a school-wide effort to have ESL and mainstream teachers work together and learn from each other in order to support the academic achievement of ELL? How are questions and concerns of teachers addressed through staff development? How often are ESL and Bilingual Education teachers in the school sought out as experts for staff development on programming for ELL? How often do administrators help provide the necessary time for staff development? Family and Community Involvement How are members from the communities of ELL included in school activities? How well does the school achieve effective two-way communication with ELL families and their communities? How do school administrators support the efforts of educational personnel in their efforts to address the needs of ELL families and their communities? Leadership Is there a vision or mission for the school of which teachers are aware? To what extent are decisions about the academic achievement of ELL made on the basis of school data? To what extent does school leadership reflect the concern for achievement of all learners? To what extent does school leadership reflect the input of various stakeholders (students, parents, community, mainstream staff, ESL staff)? What sort of effort do school personnel make to include ELL, their families, and community based organizations active participants in the school’s decision-making process? Governance Who are the stakeholders in the governance of the school? How does the decision-making process include all stakeholders? How are federal, state and district policies aligned within the school? How are school policies that address the needs of ELL developed, and how are those policies made accessible to school staff and other interested parties? Resources To what extent do ELL have access to the same resources as all other students? How are stakeholders made aware of available resources to support ELL achievement? How often do stakeholders have input in the process of allocating resources (planning, coordination, monitoring and review)? To what extent does the use of resources demonstrate alignment of federal, state, and district policies with site and ESL program mission and objectives for ELL?
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District – Consortium Contact List Jean Larson Groton Britton-Hecla Milbank Clark Willow Lake Tripp-Delmont Mitchell Miller Hitchcock-Tulare **Imagine Learning Contact **Learning difference vs learning disability Cindy Nagel Platte Kimball Wessington Springs Wolsey-Wessington Sanborn Central Menno Bon Homme **Regional Workshops
Imagine Learning – online support for ELLs and struggling readers Thank you to everyone who attended the Round 2 training – Resources and Reports which was held in Huron. The resources available are wonderful supports to teachers and offer a wide range of targeted direct-instruction opportunities through the Action Areas tools. To maintain fidelity, students must be engaged in the program 3-4 times a week for 20-40 minutes each, depending on age. Consider in your planning for next year. PD Opportunity - There is something for every K-12 Teacher in this workshop! Any questions can be sent via email to:
[email protected] [email protected]
Motivate, Engage, & Challenge EVERY student! Transforming Ordinary into Extraordinary In this make-and-take session, we will share 30 strategies and methods to transform ordinary worksheets into engaging activities and games. Participants will be given examples, instructions, templates, and time to create their own versions that will be classroom-ready, such as: Maze Dominoes, Horse Race, Card Sort, Jigsaw Puzzle, Relay Race, Kahoot, Plinko, Connect Four, Sums Up, Lucky Bucket, Klikaklu Location – Date & Registration Link Platte July 12th http://midcentral-coop.org/registrations/transformingordinary/ Huron July 13th http://goo.gl/forms/49tjYaHgNH USF Graduate Credit Available! Lindsey Brewer NBCT & Lori Keleher NBCT
Robin Fisher Parkston Lake Andes Mt Vernon McCook Central Parker Gwyneth Dean-Witte Iroquois Todd County Plankinton Freeman Deubrook Deuel Arlington Sioux Valley Elkton Pierre *Estelline *Woonsocket *Howard **Gramm Gallery contact person **ENL Endorsement Program **Newsletter
Contact Information Diane Olson, Director ESA 3
[email protected] Gwyneth Dean-Witte,
[email protected] Cindy Nagel, Instructional Specialist,
[email protected] Jean Larson, Instructional Specialist,
[email protected] Robin Fisher, Instructional Specialist,
[email protected] Education Service Agency, Region 3 PO Box 228, Platte, SD 57369 605.337.2636
