Collaborative Planning to Propel Improved Instruction for English Learners

• In Event: Co-Teaching for English Learners: Evidence-Based Practices and Research-Informed Outcomes

Abstract

Objectives or purposes
We share findings from two studies on collaborative practices of co-teachers in elementary settings as they examine student data to make decisions and plan classroom instruction for English learners. We highlight the potential of out-of-classroom planning sessions that focus on co-designing instruction that marries the expertise of EL specialists and classroom teachers. We conceptualize these planning sessions as sites of negotiated meaning and knowledge construction that may lead to enhanced teacher cognition and effective instructional plans that, in turn, have the potential to benefit English learners.

Perspectives
A sociocultural perspective allows us to examine the link between the social and the cognitive to illuminate collaborative instructional practices, what emerges from them, and teacher’s perceptions (Johnson, 2009; Vygotsky, 1978). Teaching involves continuously learning from unique and ever-changing experiences and contexts through knowledge construction (Borg, 2003). Collaborative inquiry teams focused on student learning have been linked to improved EL student learning (Gallimore, Ermeling, Saunders, & Goldenberg, 2009). In our studies, teachers interpret student assessment data that guides decisions about culturally and linguistically appropriate instruction for English learners in their classrooms. The goal of co-teaching is to provide a partnership in which mainstream and EL teachers meet the needs of a diverse group of students in their classroom (Hoffman & Dahlman, 2007) through the integration of content-based teaching with EL-accessible teaching (Davison, 2006).

Methods
The first study explored the practices and perceptions of one first-grade team as they collaborated to plan co-taught instruction for their English-learning students in a large urban school district. This study employed qualitative case study methodology to provide an in-depth exploration of the actions and perceptions of teachers.

The second study employed formative experiment to develop a linguistically-responsive reading intervention for English learners in a rural early elementary school. A collaborative group r co-constructed and implemented the intervention.

Data sources
Both studies utilize qualitative data sources: interviews, focus groups, document review, and observation. Quantitative data sources in the second study include growth trends in student reading assessment data.

Results
Findings from the first study indicated that the team's collaborative planning promoted practices that may improve the teachers' understandings of English learners and transform classroom practice; and the participants, though dissatisfied with aspects of their collaborative practices, felt that overall they were better teachers because of them. Results from the second study indicate that teacher knowledge of language and reading development increased because of their collaborative efforts. Moreover, this new knowledge prompted a change of instructional practice and a pedagogical innovation.

Significance
Together, these studies yield findings about how collaboration looks in practice. They substantiate the assertion that shared knowledge and expertise enhances instructional plans and results in stronger programs for English learners, but also raise dilemmas around teacher communication, identity, and decision-making. Implications point to a need for support and guidance for co-teachers both in terms of time and resources, but also in developing their relationships so that the potential outcomes for English learners are not overshadowed.

Authors

• Amy Frederick, University of Wisconsin - River Falls

• Anne Ittner, Western Oregon University