Bilingual Education / ENL / ELL

The spring 2020 COVID-19 crisis was extremely challenging for all students, but created particular difficulties for our most vulnerable students, including English Language Learners (ELLs). These challenges exacerbated existing educational inequities, like a lack of access to technology and reliable WiFi needed for remote learning. It is critical that school reopening plans address the special needs of ELLs, and that all communications with ELL students and their families be in their preferred language and mode of communication. ELLs must be provided with the support needed to close the potential learning loss that may have been a result of the school closures due to COVID-19. As schools design their reopening plans, ELLs must be afforded the opportunity for full and equal participation whether it be through an in-person, remote, or hybrid model of instruction. While many ELLs may have benefited from learning through remote learning platforms, it is important to consider their unique needs and to strengthen the home language and supports necessary for English language development utilizing synchronous and asynchronous learning.

GUIDING PRINCIPLES

The Blueprint for English Language Learner/ Multilingual Learner Success (http://www.nysed.gov/common)

is a statewide framework that sets expectations for administrators, policymakers, and practitioners to prepare ELLs/MLLs for academic success, beginning in prekindergarten, and to lay the foundation for college, career, and civic readiness. The Blueprint sets forth eight principles of ELL education within which mandates of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) and Part 154 of the Regulations of the Commissioner are implemented. These principles provide guidance and resources to districts, schools, and teachers as they promote a better understanding and appreciation of Bilingual Education, English as a New Language (ENL), and World Language studies (including the indigenous languages of NYS). ELLs encounter many teachers and staff in school beyond the language development instructors in ENL and BE programs, which is why the Blueprint for ELL/MLL Success declares that “All teachers are teachers of ELLs/MLLs and must plan accordingly.” As the Rome City School District plans to reopen, we are committed to providing pedagogical best practices in which every teacher is prepared to design units of study in their own content area capitalizing on the home language and the English linguistic demands of ELLs.

INITIAL IDENTIFICATION OF ELL STUDENTS

NYSED has approved temporary emergency regulatory changes to the ELL identification process to address the backlog of newly enrolled students who need to complete the ELL identification process mandated by Part 154- 2.3(a) at the commencement of the 2020-21 school year.

• Qualifying schools that reopen using in-person instruction or blended/hybrid instruction will be required to complete the ELL identification process within thirty (30) school days of the start of the academic school year for all students who enrolled during COVID-19 school closures in 2019-2020, as well as all students who enroll during summer of 2020 and during the first twenty (20) school days of the 2020-2021 academic school year. After this twenty (20) day flexibility period, all schools that reopen using in-person or hybrid instruction will be expected to complete identification of ELLs within the required ten (10) school days of initial enrollment for all students pursuant to Commissioner’s Regulations Part 154, including the ELL screening, identification, and placement processes. The initial screening process should be followed in person for new entrants following the district’s safety protocols to ensure compliance with the Governor’s Executive Orders and Center for Disease Control (CDC) health and safety guidelines after commencement of regional reopening;

• Any new entrant enrolling in a school district, to the extent feasible, must be provisionally placed in a Bilingual Education program while awaiting NYSITELL results, as this is the program of default for districts which meet the enrollment threshold set forth under Section 154-2.3(d).

COMMUNICATION AND LANGUAGE ACCESS

All communications for parents/guardians of ELLs must be in their preferred language and mode of communication. As discussed in previous guidance, language access obligations under federal and state law – including but not limited to those pursuant to Part 154 – have remained in effect throughout school closures, and schools continue to have the responsibility to ensure that parents/guardians of ELLs/MLLS receive access and information available to other parents in the language or mode of communication they best understand. School districts should, to the greatest extent possible, provide interpretation and translation through a qualified interpreter/translator in the languages most commonly spoken in the district, and at a minimum in those languages spoken by a large number and percentage of ELLs.

UNITS OF STUDY

All ELLs must be provided the required instructional Units of Study in their ENL program based on their most recently measured English language proficiency level as evidenced in their most recent NYSESLAT or their NYSITELL assessment during in-person or hybrid learning. Former ELLs at the Commanding level of proficiency within two (2) years of exiting ELL status are to continue receiving Former ELL services in the form of Integrated ENL or other Former ELL services approved by the Commissioner under Part 154-2.3(h) during in-person or hybrid learning. Districts and schools are encouraged to review the proficiency of students who are entering their third year as a Former ELL at the Commanding level of proficiency in 2020-2021 (students who achieved Commanding on the 2018 administration of the NYSESLAT) and to provide these students with supplemental Former ELLs services as they deem appropriate.

EMERGENT MULTILINGUAL LEARNERS IN PREKINDERGARTEN

As more children in New York State begin their education in prekindergarten, there is an increasing need to support children from families who speak a language other than English at home in order to ensure that they have equitable access to these programs’ advantages. The Emergent Multilingual Learners (EMLLs), profile process allows prekindergarten programs to assess the home language exposure of children in prekindergarten. EMLLs are identified by the profile as having exposure to a language other than English but are not assessed for English proficiency (which occurs in kindergarten when the ELL identification process is conducted). Prekindergarten programs are expected to continue to implement best practices to leverage the home language in instruction, as well as to implement culturally responsive-sustaining education, in accordance with NYSED’s Culturally Responsive-Sustaining Education Framework (http://www.nysed.gov/bilingual-ed). This practice will help set the foundation for positive self-identity and acceptance.

PROGRESS MONITORING

With the cancelation of the 2020 NYSESLAT, schools must determine new methods to measure the English language proficiency levels of their ELLs to ensure that these students are receiving the appropriate level of instruction. Districts and schools are encouraged to identify and adopt additional progress monitoring tools to track language skills progress toward English Language Proficiency. Some options for schools to consider are provided below.

• Local Progress Monitoring Assessment Tool: District leaders are encouraged to formalize the use of their existing local informal progress monitoring tools, implement tools that will allow the monitoring and collection of student performance data to inform instruction, develop instructional goals for English and Home Language development, and help accelerate the learning. These progress monitoring tools can be used to plan, modify, and/or differentiate instruction. Refer to the Checklist for Developing or Selecting an English Language Proficiency (ELP) Progress Monitoring (Interim) Assessment provided by NYSED to guide the selection of progress monitoring tools to measure English Language Proficiency.

• Multilingual Literacy SIFE (MLS) Screener: The MLS, which is generally used in NYS for identification of SIFE, can also be administered for a general literacy evaluation. The MLS is a multilingual screener that determines students’ home language literacy and math skills to identify SIFE and design appropriate instruction. However, it can also be used by districts to conduct a general literacy screening of any newly identified ELL – even if they are not considered SIFE. This tool will provide a baseline of their academic and literacy level in their home language. Districts that use the MLS for this purpose are to use it to gain a snapshot of a student’s initial literacy level when school resumes for 2020-21, but not as an assessment of a student’s knowledge for the purpose of informing ongoing instruction.

A district that chooses to use the MLS as an initial literacy screener must take the following steps to ensure that the analysis does not impact their SIFE record keeping and data (i.e., to ensure that an ELL who undergoes the MLS for this purpose is not accidentally included in its SIFE count). If a district has never administered the MLS, they must first create an account on the MLS website and individually register each student (please see the MLS User Manual for detailed instructions). When answering the question “Why is the school district administering this test?” during registration of a student for an initial literacy screener, the district must select “This is going to help NYSED collect data about the usage of the MLS and the correct number of SIFE identified through the MLS” on the dropdown menu of four multiple choice options.

CULTURALLY RESPONSIVE-SUSTAINING EDUCATION FRAMEWORK

NYSED has created the Culturally Responsive-Sustaining (CR-S) Education Framework (http://www.nysed.gov/common/) to help educators create student-centered learning environments that affirm racial, linguistic and cultural identities, prepare students for rigor and independent learning, develop students’ abilities to connect across lines of difference, elevate historically marginalized voices, and empower students as agents of social change. The Framework provides guidelines that address contributions to be made by multiple stakeholders—including teachers, administrators, students, and community partners—in developing a strong CR-S education.

PROFESSIONAL LEARNING FOR STAFF

As we design professional learning opportunities for reopening, special consideration will be given to promote an understanding of Bilingual Education, use of home language, and the linguistically diverse needs of ELLs. In order to ensure that all NYS educators are aware of and able to address ELL needs, all teachers and administrators must receive professional learning related to serving ELLs as required by Commissioner’s Regulations Part 154. Districts must adhere to professional learning requirements set forth under Section 154-2.3(k), pursuant to which 15% of all teachers’ professional learning hours, and 50% of all professional learning hours for Bilingual Education and ENL teachers, must be targeted to the specific needs of ELLs. In addition to continuing their usual course of ELL-focused professional learning, teachers of ELLs (including ENL and Bilingual Education teachers, as well as content area teachers in non-ELL specific classes in which ELLs are enrolled) may require focused professional learning to strengthen their knowledge and skills to address new learning challenges that ELLs may face as a result of spring 2020 COVID-19 closures. In order to address these challenges, schools should consider targeted professional learning focused on utilizing technology to promote student independence and engagement, providing effective and meaningful feedback, and promoting peer to peer interaction. For ELLs, collaboration or cooperative learning with peers who have mastery in English or are non-ELLs is an impactful practice that should become a part of their learning. OBEWL recommends that focused professional learning opportunities be offered in, but not limited to, the following areas:

• Implementing collaborative models of instruction: co-planning, sharing best practices to support standards-based curriculum accessibility for ELLs;

• Progress monitoring: analyzing and interpreting data to inform instructional decisions; differentiating instruction; designing lessons that accelerate learning; and utilizing formative and summative assessments to identify and address instructional gaps;

• Implementing language-based strategies in all four modalities and teaching language skills across a standards-based curriculum;

• Utilizing digital tools that cultivate independent learning, critical thinking, and student engagement; and

• Building positive relationships/rapport among teachers, students and parents/guardians.

The Regional Bilingual Education Resource Networks (RBERNs ~ http://www.nysed.gov/bilingual-ed/regional-supportrberns) are available to provide technical assistance and resources and are in the process of identifying and developing additional professional learning opportunities to address the needs of ELLs.

RESOURCES

OBEWL and RBERNs resources are available to support ELLs/MLLs and World Language students and their parents/guardians as schools transition from COVID-19 closures to the reopening of schools in an in-person, remote, or hybrid model.

• NYSED Office of Bilingual Education and World Languages ~ (http://www.nysed.gov/program-offices)

• Regional Bilingual Education Resource Networks (RBERNs) ~ (http://www.nysed.gov/bilingual-ed)

• OBEWL Home Page ~ (http://www.nysed.gov/bilingual-ed)

• The Blueprint For ELL/MLL Success ~ (http://www.nysed.gov/common)

• Provision of Services to English Language Learners and World Languages Students During Statewide School Closures Due to the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Outbreak in New York State ~ (http://www.nysed.gov)

• Bridges SIFE Resources ~ (https://bridges-sifeproject.com)

• Interpretation and Translation Supports ~ (https://research.steinhardt.nyu.edu)

• NYSESLAT Cancelation Parent Notification Letter ~ (http://www.nysed.gov/bilingual-ed)

CONTACTS

Mrs. Jennifer DePerno

Director of Secondary Programs

409 Bell Road, Rome, NY 13440

jdeperno@romecsd.org ~ 315.338.6512

https://www.romecsd.org/educationalprograms