Instructional Staff (cont.)

Paragraph 56. Within 10 days of receiving the October 1 school-level reports described in Paragraphs 54 and 55, within 30 days of receiving the March 1 reports and the June 30, 2012 report, and at each school’s probable organization meeting for the following school year, the District shall notify each school of shortfalls in ELL services it is able to identify in accordance with items (1)-(6) of Paragraph 55, and, within 10 days of providing such notice, shall provide the United States a copy of those notices for its review. Within 15 days of receiving such notice, each school shall submit a report to OELL verifying that it has taken reasonable steps to address those shortfalls and to ensure that each ELL (including SPED ELLs and ELLs arriving after the start of the school year) receives adequate ESL and SEI core content instruction consistent with Paragraphs 36-39 and 41-42 at his/her assigned school. The steps to be taken shall include the following, as appropriate:

• a. Reorganizing instructional groupings to ensure ELLs are placed with qualified teachers for ESL and SEI core content instruction; and/or reorganizing school populations to ensure ELLs are placed in cohorts and/or strands that maximize ELL teaching resources, consistent with Paragraph 46;
• b. Addressing class size issues through the annual BPS end-of-September adjustment process;
• c. Reassigning provisional ESL teachers and permanent ESL certified teachers with a primary program area of ESL, Bilingual Education, or SEI to teach ESL;
• d. Documenting that the principal asked all permanent ESL certified teachers with a primary program area other than ESL, Bilingual Education, or SEI to consent to teach one or more classes of ESL per day, documenting each teacher’s response, and assigning any willing teachers to ESL;
• e. Soliciting, with the consent of the sending school’s principal, voluntary teacher transfers from other schools where there are more ESL certified or Category trained teachers than are needed to provide the ELL services mandated by this Agreement;
• f. Reviewing application forms and transfer requests of ELLs who are not placed with ESL certified or SEI teachers who are trained in Categories 1, 2, and 4, to determine whether those students expressed a preference for another school at which there are sufficient classroom seats in classes with appropriately qualified teachers;
• g. Accelerating and facilitating Category, HILT, and ESL training of staff;
• h. Using the 10 hours of mandatory professional development time available to principals under the current CBA, Article V(E)(1)(a)(11)and prioritizing those 10 hours consistent with the priority set forth with regard to the 15 mandatory hours of professional development required by Paragraph 58;
• i. Hiring additional qualified (ESL-certified and SEI-trained) teachers;
• j. Designating additional funds for hiring qualified teachers; and/or
• k. Taking any other available steps, so that all ELLs are provided with the ELL services required by Paragraphs 36-39 and 41-42 of this Agreement.

Paragraph 57. If, for any ESL, HILT, or SEI core content class, no teacher is available who meets the requirements of Paragraph 48 (for ESL classes), Paragraph 52 (for SEI core content classes), or Paragraph 65 (for HILT classes), the District shall, to the extent practicable, assign substitute teachers who are ESL certified (for ESL or SEI core content classes) or who have completed Categories 1, 2 and 4 (for SEI core content classes only) and, if applicable, the HILT training set forth in Paragraph 65.

Paragraph 58. By December 15 of each year, the District shall provide written notice to schools whose reports do not reflect the capacity to comply with the terms of this Agreement that the schools must devote no less than 15 of the 18 mandatory hours of professional development set forth in the current CBA toward training designed to meet the school’s specific shortfall(s) in staff qualifications, given DESE requirements and the terms of this Agreement, including Category, supplemental SEI, or ESL training (e.g., a preparation workshop for the Massachusetts Tests for Educator Licensure (“MTEL”) examination for ESL certification that is taught by an ESL certified teacher and approved by OELL for this purpose). Such schools shall submit a plan to OELL by January 15 of each year that explains how they will use at least 15 of the 18 mandatory hours of professional development. By January 30 of each year, OELL shall review these plans, and if any do not comply with the terms of this Agreement, OELL shall report such schools and provide a copy of all of their responses and plans to the United States by February 15 of each year.

Paragraph 59. The District shall monitor the progress that SEI and ESL teachers are making toward obtaining the four categories of training (or whatever state training replaces it subject to Footnote 2) and ESL certification. The District shall report this information to the United States initially by April 30, 2012, and thereafter by October 15 and March 31 of each year.

Paragraph 60. The District shall ensure that all employees who evaluate teachers of ESL and SEI core content classes are adequately trained regarding cultural awareness and best practices in ESL instruction and sheltering techniques to deliver content to ELLs, so that they may be able to perform a meaningful evaluation of ESL and SEI instruction. Formal evaluations of ESL and SEI core content teachers, whether they are teaching core content to both ELL and non-ELLs or teaching in classrooms exclusive to ELLs, shall address the degree to which such teachers use ESL and/or sheltering strategies appropriately and effectively in their classes, consistent with the requirements for SEI classes in Paragraph 44. By April 30, 2012, the District shall, consistent with the requirements of Paragraph 43, revise its classroom observation tools for ESL and SEI classrooms to include items that assess whether the teacher is explicitly teaching reading comprehension and writing strategies for ELLs and otherwise aligning content instruction for ELLs with the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks. Toward that end, by December 30 of each year, beginning with the 2012-2013 school year, the District shall ensure that all employees who evaluate SEI and ESL teachers complete an abridged version of the Categories 1, 2, and 4, to be delivered in no less than 12 hours of in-class time and augmented with on-line and in-home assignments. Such training shall cover the topics of SEI and ESL instructional techniques, Second Language Acquisition, and Cultural Awareness, and shall be designed to provide evaluators with sufficient knowledge to carry out effective evaluations of SEI and ESL classrooms. Additionally, for employees engaged in evaluation who request assistance from OELL, OELL shall provide in-person, in-building assistance focused on how to conduct ESL and SEI classroom observations, including using the ESL and SEI classroom observation tools required by this Paragraph and Paragraph 43. By January 15 of each year, OELL shall report to the United States the name of any principal/headmaster or other employee who evaluates ESL or SEI teachers and did not complete the training required by this Paragraph.

Paragraph 61. The District shall provide annual training and a forum for discussion through the Principal Institute and other mandated principal gatherings such as monthly Academic Superintendent conferences regarding the following topics:

• a. The requirements of this Settlement Agreement;
• b. How to schedule ESL by proficiency level to maximize instructional time;
• c. How to assign Category trained staff to SEI classes and schedule SEI classes to maximize instructional time;
• d. How to evaluate ESL and SEI teachers, whether they are teaching core content to both general education students and ELLs in general education classrooms or teaching in classrooms exclusive to ELLs; including how evaluations may be completed with the assistance of other staff with expertise in ELL instruction, how to ensure the evaluations are rigorous, and how to maximize improvement in the delivery of services to ELLs consistent with the instructional practices required in Paragraph 44;
• e. Strategies for ensuring that SEI teachers complete at least Categories 1, 2, and 4 and that ESL teachers obtain ESL certification;
• f. The compensatory services available for newly identified ELLs and students previously deemed to have “opted-out” of programs or services for ELLs;
• g. How to communicate with parents/guardians of newly identified ELLs and students previously deemed to have “opted out” of ELL services about the availability of compensatory services; and
• h. How to communicate with parents/guardians who wish to opt their children out of programs or services for ELLs about the benefits of ELL services.

Paragraph 62. In order to promote high quality work by ESL teachers, particularly those who are new to the subject or have not taught it in the recent past, as well as compliance generally with the terms of this Agreement, OELL shall train any staff it employs, and other available District coaching staff, as instructional coaches in techniques for building school capacity to meet the educational needs of ELLs and in effective teaching strategies so they are equipped to assist teachers and administrators in delivering high quality services to ELLs.