Effective Schools for Teaching and Reaching the Other Latino Students

• In Event: To Know English Learners Is Not Enough: A Call to Include the Other English Learners

Abstract

Objectives:
To address the characteristics of effective schools that work for the Other (non-Mexican) Latino students.
To propose human capital policies and practices to increase their access to high-quality teaching.

Theoretical perspectives: Effective school leaders and teachers are essential to ensure that the Other Latino students achieve the high standards for academic English and content areas necessary for them to lead fulfilling lives and become productive citizens in the 21st century (National Research Council, 2010). School districts that create a coherent vision to recognize the needs of English learners with professional development for all teachers have been in response to Office of Civil Rights reviews followed up with actions and resources (Horwitz et al., 2009). The EL dimension adds complexity because language proficiency is an avenue to content rather than content itself. In successful schools, there is coherence in: leadership and commitment to equity and access; effective instruction with certified and trained teachers with a major in the subject they teach and committed to the development of academic language; and a school community that promotes a culture of trust and collaboration to work on continuous improvement (Fullan, 2011).
Methods: A socioconstructivist approach is used to present a cohort of teachers and school administrators with cross-cutting methods for other Latino students to acquire same content and high-level skills that school reform advocates for all students (Goldenberg & Coleman, 2010). They make a personal connection with meaningful accountability systems where all students have access to quality curriculum, effective instructional practices and teachers, and supportive school environments to meet common core standards for career and college readiness. They debrief on a central component in all mechanisms for determining teacher effectiveness while incorporating student data through a professional development → teacher knowledge → instruction → student achievement loop.
Data sources: Data from two K-8 schools with large numbers of other Latino students (Puerto Rican, Dominican, and from South and Central American countries) that include: teacher expertise in the improvement and academic achievement of diverse students, cross-cutting methods for curriculum and teaching to ensure that students have access to the knowledge necessary for their later success, evidence-based methods for teachers to succeed from their practice and their effectiveness, and collegial working teams for action research opportunities and professional growth.
Results: Effective instruction is nested in effective school structures. Success with other Latino students is nested in teacher success. The features that cut across core content, academic language and literacy instruction, school settings, and teacher and student background are: School leadership support and structures, instructional components, equitable materials for content and academic language, sustained professional development and coaching, leadership, school-community relations, benchmark assessments, coaching of teachers, and monitoring implementation.
Significance: National and state policies need to include as non-negotiable: leadership support mechanisms and school structures, instructional practice to teach and reach the other Latino students; and, specific measures of teachers’ effectiveness in teaching and reaching students’ content area and academic English proficiency needs

Author

• Liliana Minaya-Rowe, University of Connecticut