English Language Learner Work Group ACTION PLAN // Version December, 203
Lead Contributors to the ELL Action Plan: All: Roxana Norouzi and Chelsea Whealdon Positive Identity and Primary Language Development: Bernard Koontz and Michele Aoki Parent Engagement: Paula Steinke, Isabel Muñoz-Colón, Danielle Eidenberg-Noppe, Laurie Bohm Data Collection: Rosa Villarreal and Pete Bylsma Strong Instructional Practice: Stephanie Zikopoulos, Vickie Damon, Jane Robb-Linse, Judy Lemmel, Argentina Back Post-Secondary Success: Laura DiZazzo, Nina Will Williams, Nicole Yohalem, Cynthia Gaede *Acknowledgements for continual action plan review and input: Community Center for Education Results Staff, Road Map Community Network Steering Committee, Road Map Data Advisors Group, Road Map High School to College Completion Work Group, Road Map Birth to Third Grade Work Group, Regional Education Lab at Education Northwest, University of Washington College of Education and Tracy Curley for graphic design. Special thank you to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation along with other funders for their generous support of the ELL Work Group and Action Plan.
Road Map Project English Language Learner (ELL) Work Group Alexandra Manuel-Davis Professional Educator Standards Board Argentina Back Puget Sound Educational Service District Bernard Koontz Highline Public Schools Cynthia Gaede Green River Community College Danielle Eidenberg-Noppe Office of the Education Ombudsman Dave Larson Tukwila School District Dr. Edward Vargas Kent School District Elizabeth Coghlan Federal Way Public Schools Erin Jones Federal Way Public Schools Gil Mendoza Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction Isabel Muñoz-Colón (Co-Chair) City of Seattle Office for Education Jane Robb-Linse Puget Sound Educational Service District Jason Greenberg Motamedi Education Northwest Jon Hall Federal Way Public Schools Judy Lemmel Federal Way Public Schools Julie DeBolt Auburn School District Kay Lancaster Puget Sound Educational Service District Laura DiZazzo Seattle Central Community College Laurie Bohm White Center Promise LiLi Liu Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Linda Elman ELL consultant Luisa Sanchez-Nilsen Federal Way Public Schools Lynda Petersen Community Center for Education Results Manka Varghese University of Washington Department of Education Michele Aoki Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction Molly Moss Renton School District Nicole Yohalem Community Center for Education Results Nina Will Williams Tukwila School District Paul McCold Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction Paula Steinke Child Care Resources Pete Bylsma Renton School District Rosa Villarreal Kent School District Roxana Norouzi (Staffer & Co-Chair) OneAmerica Sonja Griffin City of Seattle Office for Education Stephanie Zikopoulos Renton School District Theresa Deussen Education Northwest Veronica Gallardo Seattle Public Schools Vickie Damon Renton School District All rights reserved OneAmerica 203 www.weareoneamerica.org 206.723.2203
The Road Map Project English Language Learner Action Plan & Implementation Toolkit Table of Contents Introduction... Structure of Key Definitions...5 Framework...6 Strategies...7 Implementation Toolkit...8 Positive Identity and Primary Language Development...8 Parent Engagement... 3 Comprehensive Data Collection... 9 Strong Instructional Practice...24 Post-Secondary Success...3 Emerging Projects...39
The Road Map Project English Language Learner Action Plan V. Introduction Launched by The Community Center for Education Results in 200, the Road Map Project is a direct response to the growing opportunity gap in South King County. The Road Map Project s collective action initiative is aimed at driving dramatic improvements in student achievement cradle through college and career in the low-income communities of South King County. The commitment is to double the number of students in the region who are on track to graduate from college or earn a career credential by 2020. OneAmerica / December 203
Strategizing for Change In December 20, the Road Map Project issued a baseline report outlining the state of education in the seven Road Map school districts: Auburn, Federal Way, Highline, Kent, Renton, (South) Seattle, and Tukwila. The report revealed the Road Map Region is home to almost 20,000 ELL students who speak more than 60 different languages. The most recent data released by the Road Map Project indicates that ELLs comprise 6 percent of the region s students. The majority of King County s ELL students (69%) reside in South King County and across districts the number of ELLs is highest in kindergarten and first grade, and then slowly declines with each grade level. Though most ELL students reach English language proficiency in three to five years, those who enter high school with low levels of English proficiency experience much greater challenges. ELL students and their families add immense richness and diversity to the region. However, given the dual challenge to learn English and academic content, ELL students are at significant risk of falling into the achievement gap and consistently score far below their non-ell peers in all core content state assessments. As a result the Road Map Project has stressed systemic changes in our educational system to support ELLs and increase achievement for this student population. As the largest immigrant advocacy organization in Washington State, OneAmerica has worked for 2 years to build power in immigrant communities. In addition to demonstrated success in community organizing and policy advocacy, OneAmerica also has a strong background in research and strategy development. OneAmerica s dedication to improving public education to promote equity for all students led to a partnership with the Road Map Project and leading the English Language Learner Work Group with the aim of improving education results for ELL students in the region. The ELL Work Group is a key place where collective action comes to life. Comprised of representatives from school districts, community based organizations (CBOs), research institutions, early learning, higher education and state education departments, the group has spent the last two years identifying high pay off strategies that will close the glaring achievement gap for ELLs in the region. The Road Map Project 203 Results Report, http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/ cced/203annualreport/#/8 2 OneAmerica / December 203
Recent Successes for ELLs As a result of this collective action work over the past two years, the ELL Work Group has secured several victories for ELLs. These include: implementing policies and practices in all seven Road Map Districts to allow students to earn competency based credit for knowledge of their home language 2, leading the fight to secure $8.8 million in new state dollars for extra support to ELLs who are in transition (level 4s) 3, and gaining funding to provide over 80 ELL endorsements to teachers and principals in the Road Map Region. and refine the plan, an all-day retreat to mutually determine priorities, inventories of current district and department practices, and numerous meetings throughout the year with experts in each of the key focus areas. The purpose of the action plan is to identify key systems level change strategies for ELLs that will help the Road Map Project reach the 2020 goal and support the successful integration of ELL students in the school system. The action plan and implementation toolkit, developed by leaders of the ELL Work Group, articulates comprehensive action steps for creating a stronger and more equitable education system for ELLs. These have been huge victories for ELL students and families, and the ELL Work Group has been determined to impact change for ELLs by shifting education structures to reflect a more equitable system. Through these victories the Work Group has not only urged local and state leaders to build a more comprehensive education infrastructure system that facilitates success for ELLs but the group has also realized their collective power to impact change. Action Plan Background The Road Map ELL Action Plan is the result of the collaborative work of individuals and organizations invested in closing the educational opportunity/ achievement gap for ELLs in South King County. In early 203, after working together for a year and a half, the team began developing an action plan framework by researching and establishing best practices to effectively support ELL students. This included monthly Work Group meetings to design 2 Road Map World Language Credit Program: http://www.k2.wa.us/worldlanguages/road- Map/default.aspx 3 Transitional Bilingual Instruction Program Exited Dollars Guidance and Allocations: http:// www.k2.wa.us/bulletinsmemos/bulletins203/b038-3.pdf Prior to creating the action plan, OneAmerica gathered the educational experiences of over 550 immigrant parents and students in seven South King County school districts of the Road Map Region 4. Through focus group discussions, one-on-one interviews, and survey questionnaires, the study revealed key findings around school communication, family and 4 Breaking Down Education Barriers: Voices from Immigrant Youth and Families in South King County OneAmerica, 202: https://www.weareoneamerica.org/sites/weareoneamerica. org/files/breakingdowneducationbarriersreport.pdf OneAmerica / December 203 3
student engagement, and ELL academic advancement. In 202, teachers were also convened to share their experiences and gain insight into the major barriers and solutions to ELL student success in the classroom. This background information and the direct voices from students, parents, and teachers in the community were instrumental to informing the action plan priorities. In addition to parent, student, and teacher experiences informing the action plan, the strategies also incorporate a wealth of national research on ELL best practices, a deep analysis of student data, and feedback from experienced practitioners on methods that effectively facilitate ELL success. The action plan has I think that [the ELL program] is been continually vetted by good because my daughter says that research partners, experts she doesn t understand a lot of the in the field, and several partners outside the ELL words [in her regular classes], but Work Group in the Road it concerns me that when she goes Map Region. to her ELL class she misses more classes and falls behind. In reality, In early 203, the it hurts me that she doesn t see and group determined the learn what everyone else does. priorities and defined the elements that must exist - Parent Interview in every institution for comprehensive support of ELL students, intentionally placing the student at the center of all efforts. Most importantly, the Work Group emphasized that they believe that linguistically and culturally diverse students and their families bring value and asset to our classrooms and communities. To ensure all students reach their full potential, current and former English language learners must be intentionally prioritized within our educational structure, with accountability tied to ELL student performance within all institutions. This laid the basis for which all components of the action plan were developed around, prioritizing that in order for ELL students to be successful, these students must be viewed as assets to the school community. The Work Group was also determined to ensure that the entire education system, as opposed to solely the ELL departments, are equipped to meet needs of ELL students Action Plan Components Success for ELLs means several things: ELLs must receive high quality supports along the education continuum from birth through college graduation and the system must reflect the varying needs of these students from a strengths based perspective. Education systems must be designed and equipped to establish positive self-identity around heritage and culture while also cultivating development of the primary language in addition to English. ELLs must also be educated within a system that provides pathways for parents to engage in and support their child s learning through leadership opportunities. Data collection for ELLs must better reflect the diverse and varying needs of the student population in order to target resources and interventions. ELLs must have equitable access to core content instruction alongside their non-ell counterparts 4 OneAmerica / December 203
and a teacher corps that is trained to deliver content simultaneously with language acquisition. Finally, high schools and community colleges must establish strong and supportive pathways for ELL students to advance and succeed in college and career. The action plan framework identifies and calls out five focus areas that must be addressed in unison to support ELL students Positive Identity and Primary Language Development, Parent Engagement, Comprehensive Data Collection, Strong Instructional Practice, and Post-Secondary Success. For each of these five pieces of the pie the group has prioritized two overarching goals. From there, strategies were developed to achieve the goals, and an accompanying implementation toolkit was created to outline detailed action steps for implementation of each strategy. The action plan has truly been developed in the spirit of collective impact. Implementation of the Action Plan In January 204, the ELL Work Group will begin the process of identifying and implementing emerging projects from the action plan, forming project teams, and setting immediate targets while using the action plan framework and implementation toolkit as a guide. While next steps will be heavily influenced by the implementation toolkits, the toolkits are intended to be a guide (rather than a strict how-to ) which can be used as resource for districts, CBOs, higher education, early learning, and other stakeholders. Certainly, the strategies will shift and change as implementation progresses. As the Work Group moves forward with action steps, key partners will connect to achieve the work that has been outlined. Searching for funding as well as securing project leads and external collaborators will also be underway as projects are identified Guided by the action plan, the ELL Work Group will create pathways that lead to stronger positive identity and bilingualism as a key method of ELL education, provide opportunities for parent voice and leadership, use data effectively to better understand the diverse ELL student population, more effectively prepare and train teachers to instruct ELLs, and ultimately establish a path for ELL students to graduate from college and enter a successful career. Structure and Key Definitions The framework outlines the five focus areas (pieces of the pie) in the action plan that must be addressed systemically to support ELL students and the two overarching goals for those areas. The focus areas include: positive identity and primary language development, parent engagement, data collection, instructional practice, and post-secondary success. The strategies articulate broadly what is needed to achieve the two goals for each focus area. Anywhere between two to five strategies may be listed for each goal. The implementation toolkit contains the more detailed and concrete steps for how to implement each strategy, and thus achieve the overall goals. The action steps serve the purpose of further articulating how to get started, how to scale, and how to excel within each strategy. There is one toolkit for each of the five focus areas. Project teams will be formed and identified in 204. The group has done some preliminary work analyzing crossover between focus areas to identify emerging projects. When the projects are solidified and teams are formed, each team will own various action steps throughout the implementation toolkit. Some projects which have been identified preliminarily that may materialize into 204 projects include: building cultural competency through regional training opportunities; regional messaging around strong ELL systemic supports to students, parents, communities, and district leaders; support for instructional trainers and coaches to integrate ELL teaching strategies (train the trainer framework); regional training/support around common core and English Language Development Standards alignment; consistent typology data collection across districts and increasing the number of bilingual/dual language programs. OneAmerica / December 203 5
Reflect linguistic and cultural diversity in curriculum and teaching practice Provide primary language instruction Create articulated pathways for high school to college completion Provide outreach and guidance for postsecondary options Promote family engagement support that reflects student demographics Communicate importance of primary language and culture to families Train all teachers to support ELLs and align with new standard Train state, district, and school leadership in ELL needs Collect defined ELL typology data Use appropriate assessments to determine needs and course placement Action Plan Framework We believe that linguistically and culturally diverse students and their families bring value and asset to our classrooms and communities. To ensure all students reach their full potential, current and former English language learners must be intentionally prioritized within our educational structure, with accountability tied to ELL student performance within all institutions. 6 OneAmerica / December 203
Strategies Positive Identity & Primary Language Development Parent Engagement Comprehensive Data Collection Instructional Practice Post-Secondary Success Reflect linguistic/cultural diversity in curriculum and teaching practice Ensure social studies, English, science, and other curricula are inclusive and culturally relevant Ensure school environments reflect students cultural and linguistic heritage Hire/develop instructional staff and leadership that reflect diversity and language of student population Provide primary language instruction Increase primary language instruction during school day and through extended learning opportunities, partnering with CBOs and early learning settings Increase dual language programs Promote family engagement support that reflects student demographics Engage ELL families in supporting their children s learning from birth through post-secondary Provide linguistically diverse families with education about ways to support their children s success in school Promote leadership skills and access points for linguistically diverse families to have a voice/ influence in schools and early learning settings Communicate importance of primary language and culture to schools, families, and communities Districts, schools, and CBOs to demonstrate and communicate the value of primary language and culture Collect clearly defined ELL typology data Create clear definitions of ELL subcategories across Road Map Region Create process for typology data collection across Road Map Region House data in a common portal to monitor trends and track students across region Ensure that data is regularly disaggregated by ELL status and used to inform instruction and support students and families Use appropriate assessments to determine needs and course placement Provide assessments in students primary languages that accurately measures student academic knowledge and course placement Train all teachers to support ELLs and align with new standards Provide support for ELL coaches to continually improve practice and guide educators Provide ongoing cultural competency professional development for leadership/ teachers/providers Align ELL teaching to Common Core State Standards and Next Generation Science Standards Provide professional development for general education teachers on strategies for long-term ELLs and special education/ell students Ensure content area teachers receive training and ongoing coaching for working with ELL students Train state, district, and school leadership in ELL needs Develop professional learning communities at the administrator level focused on ELL needs Create articulated pathways for high school to college completion Provide all secondary-level ELLs (newcomer, long-term, and former) with equitable access to general education, credit-bearing coursework Develop authentic relationships aimed at sharing resources and knowledge between secondary schools and community/ technical colleges Promote meaningful pathways for ELLs into college through district and college partnerships Provide outreach and guidance for post-secondary options Promote awareness, advising, and preparation to ELL students and families Provide information and resources to linguistically diverse students and their families (including undocumented students) regarding postsecondary options and funding opportunities OneAmerica / December 203 7
IMPLEMENTATION TOOLKIT Positive Identity and Primary Language Development GOAL : Reflect students linguistic and cultural diversity in curriculum and teaching and integrate this into daily practice STRATEGY : Ensure social studies, English, science and other curricula are inclusive and culturally relevant Road Map Lead: Puget Sound Educational Service District (PSESD) Project Team Review current district policies to ensure they are well implemented, ongoing, and functioning Establish review processes to screen for bias and name plan to address racial equity with appropriate stakeholders Artifacts TBD 204 2 Staff/faculty/leadership utilize data to develop deep understanding of their students cultural/ linguistic background and integrate this into daily practice Professional development for teachers/staff/faculty addresses white privilege/race, authentic relationship building, and supporting positive identity development for students and families Portfolio that demonstrates this TBD 204 Professional development infrastructure addresses culturally responsive teaching 3 Instruction throughout the day and across K-2, as evidenced in Classroom Based Assessments (CBAs) and other student work, engages students in learning not only about multiple cultures, but also to reflect on relationships between cultures and themselves Social studies, English and science classroom materials and online content includes topics and authors that are representative of the school community and diverse student population Portfolio that demonstrates this TBD 204 8 OneAmerica / December 203
Positive Identity and Primary Language Development GOAL : Reflect students linguistic and cultural diversity in curriculum and teaching and integrate this into daily practice STRATEGY 2: Ensure school environments reflect students cultural and linguistic heritage Road Map Lead: PSESD Equity Region/districts ensure schools identify their ethnic and linguistic demographics and represent that publicly School signage and announcements are regularly provided in multiple languages Artifacts TBD 204 2 Library materials and various classroom and extracurricular activities throughout the school day reflect linguistic and cultural diversity e.g. global music programs, culturally contextualized math problems, science case studies that are relevant to diverse student population Student and parent leadership activities engage students/families in self-reflection and opportunities for them to impact the development of a culturally and linguistically responsive school system Portfolio that demonstrates this Parent/student accountability TBD 204 OneAmerica / December 203 9
Positive Identity and Primary Language Development GOAL : Reflect students linguistic and cultural diversity in curriculum and teaching and integrate this into daily practice STRATEGY 3: Hire/develop instructional staff and leadership that reflects diversity and language of student population Road Map Lead: PSESD Equity Implement hiring strategies and practices to ensure staff/faculty/leadership/school boards accurately reflect student population Include parent, student, and community voices in hiring processes Develop and implement systems and funding to support bilingual para-educators to earn their teaching certificates 5 Support bilingual and diverse parents in becoming para-educators Approved policies that demonstrates protocol in hiring practices and supporting para-teacher pipeline Project team coordinates with Alexandra Manuel- Davis at the Professional Educator Standards Board 5 Professional Educator Standards Board bilingual para professionals to teacher pipelines http://pathway.pesb.wa.gov/alternative_routes/routes and Washington State teacher credentialing programs http:// pathway.pesb.wa.gov/alternative_routes 0 OneAmerica / December 203
Positive Identity and Primary Language Development GOAL 2: Support high quality instruction in primary language 6 STRATEGY : Increase primary language instruction/development during school day and through extended learning opportunities (after-school/weekend/summer programs) partnering with CBOs and birth to Pre-K programs (early learning) Road Map Leads: Schools Out Washington/ Road Map Project Community Network Steering Committee Ensure families are informed about heritage language learning programs e.g. provide accessible directory of programs in multiple languages Develop advocacy and support for heritage language programs at all levels of leadership Web page District core operating budget TBD 204 Sponsor heritage language learning, leading to literacy, for students through programs that students participate in on a weekly basis in a variety of formats, including online Program artifacts TBD 204 2 Work with parents and community to develop capacity for heritage language instruction Increase number of students who can earn full credits 7 for competency based language credits through parent/cbo tutoring opportunities Ensure districts develop core funding scheme to support world language credit (competency based language testing) # of students earning 3+ competency based world language credits 3 District funds sponsor programs that increase primary language instruction for students (on-site in schools when feasible), and provide technical assistance to developing programs Districts/schools/CBOs/faith community refer families to these programs Program artifacts TBD 204 6 Research in the field of education for English language learners clearly indicates that bilingualism is an asset to students, both cognitively and academically: (Collier & Thomas, 2004), (Miramontes, Nadeau, & Commins, 997), (August & Hakuta, 998) 7 Road Map World Language Credit Program: http://www.k2.wa.us/worldlanguages/roadmap/default.aspx OneAmerica / December 203
Positive Identity and Primary Language Development GOAL 2: Support high quality instruction in primary language STRATEGY 2: Increase Dual Language Programs Road Map Lead: Highline School District: Bernard Koontz and Rachel Hoff Engage school boards, senior leaders, and principals in discussions about implementing/ funding Dual Language Programs, including pre-k settings Pass policies and procedures to support and implement bilingualism and dual language programs 8 Meeting notes District core operating budget TBD 204 Develop an information campaign for staff and community to understand the benefits of Dual Language Programs 2 Initiate and sustain -5 Dual Language Programs across Road Map Region Expand Dual Language programming for up to 25% of students in school system to access # of established programs TBD 204 3 Increase number of teachers with bilingual endorsements to grow capacity of dual language programs # of teachers earning bilingual endorsements TBD 204 8 See Highline School District s strategic plan and goal to graduate every student bilingual and biliterate by 2026 http://www.hsd40.org/site/default.aspx?pagetype=3&domainid=4&moduleinstanceid=2075&viewid=047e6be3-6d87-430-8424-d8e4e9ed6c2a&renderloc=0&flexdataid=779&pageid= 2 OneAmerica / December 203
Parent Engagement GOAL : Develop family engagement and education support that is reflective of student demographics and establishes expectations to more effectively support ELL students and families STRATEGY : Engage ELL families in supporting their children s learning from birth through post-secondary Road Map Lead: TBD Project Team Create regional messaging for linguistically diverse families that includes school readiness, strategies for supporting student success, and post-secondary planning Develop a regionally centralized online platform to house translated documents in languages represented in the region to be accessed by districts and CBOs to support regional messaging efforts as well as other translated documents that can be used across districts Partner with healthcare providers, realtors, housing authorities, early learning providers, promoters, family resource centers, faith institutions, immigrant/refugee serving organizations, etc. to disseminate information to families CBOs, schools, and families partner to create local level coalitions to support the needs of linguistically diverse families and their children s education 0 a) Identify opportunities and gaps for established and emerging linguistically diverse communities b) Identify, share, and align current resources across systems (student and family data, programs, funding, affinity groups, etc.) c) Identify funding to support family engagement strategies Develop student and family level goals and targets to measure success of coalition Change in Road Map Parent Engagement indicator # for ELL families: % of parents who feel knowledgeable and confident in their ability to support their child s education system, pre-k through college 9 TBD 204 TBD 204 2 9 Road Map Parent Engagement Indicators Page 6 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/cced/203annualreport/#/8 0 See the Southeast Seattle Education Coalition (SESEC) as an example: http://allfivesinfive.wordpress.com/ Measurements could include parent surveys, student academic and behavioral data (reading and math scores, attendance, discipline), awareness of community resources such as tutoring supports for students and community services for families OneAmerica / December 203 3
Parent Engagement GOAL : Develop family engagement and education support that is reflective of student demographics and establishes expectations to more effectively support ELL students and families STRATEGY : Engage ELL families in supporting their children s learning from birth through post-secondary Road Map Lead: TBD 3 4 Districts and CBOs partner to create and support a network of Cultural Navigators (also known as Cultural Brokers) 2 a) Convene ongoing meeting of district and CBO staff currently engaged in the work of a cultural navigator to share information, identify opportunities and gaps, and align practices 3 b) Ensure that families have access to Cultural Navigators throughout the region c) Identify funding to support regional Cultural Navigators Districts, schools, early learning, and higher education settings ensure language accessibility for linguistically diverse families a) Road Map Region develops regional language access policies and procedures to ensure access to quality interpretation and translation services in all schools b) Share translators/interpreters across districts for specific communities c) Develop and implement a plan to recruit, higher, and retain linguistically and culturally diverse (certificated, classified, and administrative) staff that represent the communities within the region 4 Change in Road Map Parent Engagement indicator # for ELL families: % of parents who feel knowledgeable and confident in their ability to support their child s education system, pre-k through college Project team to collaborate with Community Network Steering Committee Project team to work with Office of Education Ombudsman (OEO), statewide Language Access taskforce and PSESD 2 Cultural Navigators are defined as having knowledge of the values, beliefs, and practices of a cultural group or community as well as the school system and community resources and who act as liaisons between families, CBOs and school systems. Roles of the Cultural Navigator may include: Conducting workshops for parents on helping students with homework and how to use online progress monitoring tools, outreach to parents about parent-teacher conferences, family nights, and other school activities, organizing families to become involved in the PTA, Building Leadership Teams, and other committees, working with school staff to organize cultural events, and connecting the school to other cultural and social service organizations as appropriate. 3 Purpose of meetings is to allow districts to identify areas where resources can be shared. For example, specific cultural communities can be supported by Cultural Navigators across districts. 4 In coordination with strategies in primary language and positive identity development to grow more diverse staff/faculty/leadership/school board representation 4 OneAmerica / December 203