Building Capacity for ELLs

Paragraph 56: District shall notify schools of shortfalls in ELL services and report documentation of the steps taken to rectify the deficit.

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:

1. 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;
2. Addressing class size issues through the annual BPS end-of-September adjustment process;
3. Reassigning provisional ESL teachers and permanent ESL certified teachers with a primary program area of ESL, Bilingual Education, or SEI to teach ESL;
4. 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;
5. 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;
6. 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;
7. Accelerating and facilitating Category, HILT, and ESL training of staff;
8. 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;
9. Hiring additional qualified (ESL-certified and SEI-trained) teachers;
10. Designating additional funds for hiring qualified teachers; and/or
11. 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 58: Schools whose reports do not reflect the capacity to comply must devote no less than 15 of the 18 mandatory hours of professional development to meet shortfalls.

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 62: OELL shall train its staff and other District coaching staff for building school capacity.

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.