Using Language Development Standards to Guide Teachers in Helping English Learners Access the Common Core

• In Event: Roundtable Session 28
  In Roundtable Session: Common Core State Standards, Language Standards, and English Language Learners: An Exploration of Implementation Processes

Abstract

The new standards – including Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and the Next Generation Science Standards – signal a fundamental upward shift in the knowledge, skills, and abilities that students must develop. The new standards also express a view of language proficiency far beyond vocabulary, control of grammatical forms and native-like fluency. As a result, states are writing English Language Development (ELD) standards that correspond to the CCSS standards. These new ELD standards call for high levels of cognitive engagement, metacognitive skills, and academic discourse across the disciplines.
In this session, the presenter discusses a language arts unit developed by the Understanding Language project at Stanford University, and its implementation in an urban district by teachers of English language arts (ELA) who work with English language learners (ELLs). The unit represents an intersection of the CCSS and ELD standards. The unit aims to foster understanding of the genre of persuasion through engagement with texts of various modes and production of an original persuasive paper. The unit is based on the notion that ELLs develop conceptual and academic understandings as well as the linguistic resources to express them through participation in rigorous activity that is well scaffolded.
A pilot study on the implementation of the unit in one district was undertaken both as a reality check for the components of the unit and a gauge of teacher reaction to the demands found in both the CCSS and ELD standards. Four teachers of ELA participated in professional development concerning the CCSS and ELD standards. During the professional development, the teachers discussed the structure of the exemplar unit and the shifts they would have to make to address both sets of standards. These teachers used the unit in their English Language Arts curriculum and engaged their students with the activities. Data collected from the teachers’ classrooms include: student writing samples, classroom videos, student interviews, and teacher interviews. Student writing samples and classroom videos were analyzed using rubrics for academic language, while student and teacher interviews were analyzed thematically.
The pilot study discusses how teachers responded to and interpreted the shifts in practice that the CCSS make necessary. The study describes the following changes fostered by the implementation of the unit: (a) changes in teachers’ attitudes towards ELLs; (b) changes in teachers’ understanding of the academic demands of the CCSS; and (c) changes in teacher practice. The paper also connects these changes to the types of support provided to the teachers by the district.
The paper is significant because it sheds light on two important issues related to the implementation of the new college and career readiness standards: (a) how ELD standards can be used to guide teachers’ efforts to give ELLs access to the more complex knowledge and skills required by the CCSS; and (b) how the use of the ELD standards may affect ELL students’ opportunities to develop academic discourse. In addition, the paper addresses the district’s role in supporting the implementation of the CCSS with teachers of ELLs.

Author

• Lydia Stack, San Francisco Unified School District