Copyright © 2012
American Institutes
for Research.
All rights reserved.
Theories and Models for
Developing Effective
Instruction and Assessment
Practices for ELLs Diane August Managing Researcher
June 2013
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Overview: Who are ELLs?
www.air.org/focus-area/edu
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Presentation Overview
• English-language learner challenges and
strengths
• Guiding theory- and research-based
principles for developing effective
instruction and assessment practices that
integrate language and content mastery
• Models of effective practice
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Challenges and Strengths
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Challenges and Strengths
• Challenges
• The new standards call for
comprehension and use of sophisticated
language.
• The new assessments may not
adequately measure knowledge and
skills of ELLs.
•Strengths
• ELLs can draw on their first language skills
and knowledge. .
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Guiding Principles for ELL
Instruction and Assessment
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Guiding Principles for Instruction
and Assessment*
1. Instruction for ELLs is standards-aligned,
rigorous and grade-level appropriate.
2. Instruction provides deliberate and appropriate
scaffolds.
3. Instruction develops conceptual understanding
and language competence in tandem.
4. Instruction fosters ELLs’ autonomy by
equipping them with strategies necessary to
comprehend and use language in a variety of
academic settings.
* Adapted from Understanding Language Principles, January 2013
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Guiding Principles for Instruction
and Assessment
5. Instruction leverages ELLs’ home languages,
cultural assets, and prior knowledge.
6. Instruction moves ELLs forward by taking into
account their English proficiency levels and
prior schooling experiences.
7. Diagnostic tools and formative assessment
practices are employed to measure students’
content knowledge, academic language
competence, and participation in disciplinary
practices.
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Models of Effective Instruction and
Assessment
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1. Instruction is rigorous and grade
appropriate: The Gettysburg Address.
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2. Instruction provides deliberate and
appropriate scaffolds.
• Watch a video clip of an actor playing Abraham Lincoln
deliver the Gettysburg Address.
• Read about the Gettysburg Address.
• Watch a video clip about Abraham Lincoln.
• Do an interactive reading about the Civil War.
• Do an interactive reading about the Declaration of
Independence (“a new nation”).
Students engage in activities to build background
knowledge about the Gettysburg Address prior to
reading it.
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Students engage in interactive reading of the Gettysburg
Address and have access to glossed vocabulary; answer
supplementary questions; and can use sentence frames that
can be adapted for different levels of language proficiency.
2. Instruction provides deliberate and
appropriate scaffolds.
Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this
continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated
to the proposition that all men are created equal.
score –twenty
bring forth –
create
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1. What does Lincoln mean by “four score and seven years ago?”
Four score and seven years ago means______ years ago.
2. What does Lincoln mean by “our fathers”?
By “our fathers” Lincoln means __________________________________.
3. What is he saying is significant about the new nation? Is he saying that no one has been free or equal before? So what is new?
Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this
continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to
the proposition that all men are created equal.
score – twenty
bring forth – create
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the men who founded the U.S.
Questions for All Students
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4. The new nation was conceived in liberty. What does the phrase “conceived in
liberty” mean?
“Conceived in liberty” means that the nation _______________________.
5. What does “proposition” mean?
“Proposition” means _________.
6. What is he saying is significant, or important about the new nation? Is he saying
that no one has been free or equal before? So what is new? He is saying it is significant, or important that the new nation, America, was ____________
in ________. This means that it was created for all people to be _______. Some people ____________ free or equal before. The new thing is that America was ___________ to the proposition that _____ men are created _______ and ________.
was created to be free
a plan
conceived liberty
have been
dedicated all equal
free
free
Supplemental Questions
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Students engage in a functional analysis of the text to help
them unpack complex sentences.
3. Instruction develops conceptual understanding
and language competence in tandem.
1. .
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Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent,
a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all
men are created equal.
WHO (Actor): our fathers
WHAT HAPPENED (Action):
WHAT (Recipient):
DESCRIPTOR (Detail):
DESCRIPTOR (Detail):
WHERE (Detail):
WHEN (Detail):
3. Instruction develops conceptual understanding
and language competence in tandem.
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Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent,
a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all
men are created equal.
WHO (Actor):
WHAT HAPPENED (Action):
WHAT (Recipient):
DESCRIPTOR (Detail):
DESCRIPTOR (Detail):
WHERE (Detail):
WHEN (Detail):
3. Instruction develops conceptual understanding
and language competence in tandem.
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Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent,
a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all
men are created equal.
WHO (Actor): our fathers
WHAT HAPPENED (Action): brought forth
WHAT (Recipient):
DESCRIPTOR (Detail):
DESCRIPTOR (Detail):
WHERE (Detail):
WHEN (Detail):
3. Instruction develops conceptual understanding
and language competence in tandem.
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Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent,
a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all
men are created equal.
WHO (Actor): our fathers
WHAT HAPPENED (Action): brought forth
WHAT (Recipient): a new nation
DESCRIPTOR (Detail):
DESCRIPTOR (Detail):
WHERE (Detail):
WHEN (Detail):
3. Instruction develops conceptual understanding
and language competence in tandem.
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Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent,
a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all
men are created equal.
WHO (Actor): our fathers
WHAT HAPPENED (Action): brought forth
WHAT (Recipient): a new nation
DESCRIPTOR (Detail): conceived in Liberty
DESCRIPTOR (Detail):
WHERE (Detail):
WHEN (Detail):
3. Instruction develops conceptual understanding
and language competence in tandem.
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Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent,
a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all
men are created equal.
WHO (Actor): our fathers
WHAT HAPPENED (Action): brought forth
WHAT (Recipient): a new nation
DESCRIPTOR (Detail): conceived in Liberty
DESCRIPTOR (Detail): dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal
WHERE (Detail):
WHEN (Detail):
3. Instruction develops conceptual understanding
and language competence in tandem.
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Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent,
a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all
men are created equal.
WHO (Actor): our fathers
WHAT HAPPENED (Action): brought forth
WHAT (Recipient): a new nation
DESCRIPTOR (Detail): conceived in Liberty
DESCRIPTOR (Detail): dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal
WHERE (Detail): on this continent
WHEN (Detail):
3. Instruction develops conceptual understanding
and language competence in tandem.
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Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent,
a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all
men are created equal.
WHO (Actor): our fathers
WHAT HAPPENED (Action): brought forth
WHAT (Recipient): a new nation
DESCRIPTOR (Detail): conceived in Liberty
DESCRIPTOR (Detail): dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal
WHERE (Detail): on this continent
WHEN (Detail): four score and seven years ago
3. Instruction develops conceptual understanding
and language competence in tandem.
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Strategies Example –Students learn to use cognate
knowledge to increase comprehension.
4. Instruction equips students with
strategies to foster autonomy.
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Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or
any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met
on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of
that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that
that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do
this.
English Word English Meaning Spanish Word
having to do with the
activities of citizens
to form an idea or bring
something to life
a part of a whole
to be at the end of
something; the last
civil civil
conceived concebido
portion
final final
porción
4. Instruction equips students with
strategies to foster autonomy.
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Students have access to background information in their
first language.
El Discurso de Gettysburg es un discurso pronunciado por el Presidente Abraham Lincoln y es uno de los más conocidos en la historia de los Estados Unidos. Fue pronunciado durante la Guerra Civil Norteamericana, en la tarde del jueves 19 de noviembre de 1863. Lincoln pronunció su discurso en el conmemorativo Cementerio Nacional de los Soldados en Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, en honor a los hombres que murieron durante la Batalla de Gettysburg.
5. Instruction leverages first language
knowledge and skills.
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Students read the Gettysburg Address with a partner in
English or in Spanish. After reading, they note one thing
they learned and one thing they would like to understand
better.
(1) Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
(1) Hace ochenta y siete años, nuestros padres crearon en este continente una nueva nación, concebida bajo el signo de la libertad y consagrada al principio de que todos los hombres son iguales.
5. Instruction leverages first language
knowledge and skills.
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Students receive direct instruction in key/high frequency
vocabulary that includes definitions in their first language.
5. Instruction leverages first language
knowledge and skills.
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6. Instruction considers prior
knowledge and skills.
• ELLs have varied levels of first and second language
proficiency and content area knowledge.
• It is crucial to ensure that ELLs acquire skills and
knowledge that are precursor to those at grade-level.
• Process:
Vertically align skills and knowledge for each standard
to determine the precursor skills and knowledge that
need development.
Assess ELLs’ precursor knowledge and skills.
Develop these skills and knowledge with the goal of
moving towards grade level standards.
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6. Instruction considers prior knowledge
and skills. CCSS Reading Standards, Grades 2-7: Determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their development; summarize the key supporting details
and ideas.
• RI 2.1.2 Identify the main topic of a multiparagraph text as well as the
focus of specific paragraphs within the text.
• RI 3.1.2 Determine the main idea of a text; recount the key details
and explain how they support the main idea.
• RI 4.1.2 Determine the main idea of a text and explain how it is
supported by key details; summarize the text.
• RI 5.1.2 Determine two or more main ideas of a text and explain how
they are supported by key details; summarize the text.
• RI 6.1.2 Determine a central idea of a text and how it is conveyed
through particular details; provide a summary of the text distinct from
personal opinions or judgments.
• RI 7.1.2 Determine two or more central ideas in a text and analyze
their development over the course of the text; provide an objective
summary of the text.
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7. Diagnostic tools and assessment
practices are employed.
• Assess student’s first and second language
knowledge and skills and monitor progress.
Assess in L1 for students with L1 education.
• Use similar scaffolds during instruction and
assessment.
• Ensure students understand task demands of a
particular question and vocabulary associated
with the task demands.
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Word Bank
produced conceived Declaration of Independence
eighty-seven equal United States
liberty idea dedicated
_______________years before the Gettysburg address, the
__________________________________ was signed. The signing
________________a new nation called the __________________. The
nation was ______________ in ______________or created without
force. The nation was _______________to the ______________ that
all men are created ______________.
7. Diagnostic tools and assessment
practices are employed.
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Question Standard Additional Support for
ELLs
Why did Lincoln deliver the
Gettysburg Address?
RI.8.6 Determine
the author’s
purpose.
In the first paragraph, Lincoln
states that the new nation was
“conceived in liberty.” The phrase
“conceived in liberty” can mean
two things in this speech. What
does it mean?
RL.8.4 Determine
the meaning of
words and
phrases as they
are used in a text
3. In the third paragraph, Lincoln
says, “we can not dedicate –we
can not consecrate –we can not
hallow –this ground.” What
reason does Lincoln give for why
they can’t do these things?
RI.8.1 Support
an analysis of
what the text
says
• how to respond when
the question word is
“why”
• providing a complete
answer to a two-part
question.
• vocabulary: states,
paragraph phrase
• how to respond when
the question word is
“what reason”
• vocabulary: reason
7. Diagnostic tools and assessment
practices are employed.
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References
August, D., & Shanahan, T. (Eds.) (2006). Developing literacy in second
language learners: Report of the National Literacy Panel on Language
Minority Children and Youth. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum
Associates.
August, D., & Shanahan, T. (2010). Effective literacy instruction for English
learners. In Improving education for English learners: Research-based
approaches. Sacramento, CA: California Department of Education.
Baer & Schmitz, (2001)
Bialystock, (2001)
Fisher, D., Frey, N., & Lapp, D. (2012). Text complexity: Raising rigor in
reading. Newark, DE: International Reading Association.
Gibbons, P. (2003). Meeting language learning: Teacher interactions with
ESL students in a content-based classroom. TESOL Quarterly, 37(2),
247-273.
Vom Dorp, (2001)
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Diane August
E-Mail: [email protected]
ELL Center: [email protected]
1000 Thomas Jefferson Street NW
Washington, DC 20007
General Information: 202-403-5000
TTY: 887-334-3499
Website: www.air.org
