Project SAILL: Success through

Academic Interventions in Language and Literacy

University of Houston University of Texas at Austin Center for Applied Linguistics University of Miami

Celebrate Our Rising Stars Summit V Strategies to Close the Achievement Gap

Acknowledgements
Institute of Education Sciences, US Department of Education Brownsville Independent School District

Celebrate Our Rising Stars Summit V Strategies to Close the Achievement Gap

 Topics Presented

Overview of Presentation

Overview of the study (Diane August, Elsa Hagan) SIOP (Ari Sherris) Phonics and phonemic awareness (Elsa Hagan) Reading and skills practice (Diane August) Grammar and writing (Diane August) Storybook reading (Diane August, Mara Daz)

Process
Brief description Video clip/demonstration Discussion
Celebrate Our Rising Stars Summit V Strategies to Close the Achievement Gap

Study Organizational Chart

Principal Investigators Research Evaluation David Francis Coleen Carlson UH

Local Operations Elsa Hagan Brownsville/UH

Instruction Diane August Maria Carlo Elsa Hagan

SIOP Model Carolyn Adger Ari Sherris CAL

Celebrate Our Rising Stars Summit V Strategies to Close the Achievement Gap

3-Tier Model Sharon Vaughn Sylvia Thompson UT-Austin

Overview of Study Design

One district Brownsville Independent School District Two language of instruction models Very early transition (VET) Traditional bilingual education (TBE) School continues to implement the general model that the school has adopted
Half the classrooms randomly assigned to teach as usual and half use research-enhanced curriculum and teaching practices

Study is implemented in one grade per year Begin with K in 2004-2005 and continue through third grade
Currently in second grade classrooms
Celebrate Our Rising Stars Summit V Strategies to Close the Achievement Gap

Language of Instruction Models

Very Early Transition Traditional Bilingual - Emphasis in K - Emphasis in KinderGrade 1 on Spanish garten on English language and literacy language and literacy development with development with some English oral language Spanish oral language development support - Emphasis in Grades - Emphasis in Grades 13 2-3 on Spanish and on English language and English language and literacy development literacy development
Celebrate Our Rising Stars Summit V Strategies to Close the Achievement Gap

Assessment and Observations

Students assessed in English and in Spanish Student assessment in the beginning of the year and the end of the year in grades K-3 Assessments
Phonological Awareness Letter Names and Letter Sounds Woodcock Language Proficiency Battery: Letter Word ID, Passage Comprehension Woodcock Language Proficiency Battery: Picture Vocabulary, Listening Comprehension Authentic measures of English proficiency (story retell)

Observations of classroom language and literacy practices in all classrooms Observations for fidelity of implementation in research-enhanced classrooms

Celebrate Our Rising Stars Summit V Strategies to Close the Achievement Gap

Ongoing Support
Professional Development
Prior to the school year Every two months

Observations by mentors with feedback to teacher

In-class mentoring Weekly planning meetings

Celebrate Our Rising Stars Summit V Strategies to Close the Achievement Gap

 Tier 1 Phonics (Language Enrichment/Esperanza/ Esperanza Transition) Reading Practice and Skills
Modified MacMillan grammar and writing Modified MacMillan reading

3-Tiers of Instruction

Oral language development (story book and expository text reading) SIOP Tiers 2 and 3 Small group tutoring to build word reading, spelling, fluency, and vocabulary skills
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Schedule: Bilingual Program/Grade 2

Reading block (90 minutes) Spanish reading practice (modified MacMillan) Spanish grammar and writing (modified MacMillan) Transition phonics (Language Enrichment transition) ESOL block (60 minutes) English oral language development (read-alouds) English reading practice (modified MacMillan) SIOP Tiers 2 and 3

Celebrate Our Rising Stars Summit V Strategies to Close the Achievement Gap

Schedule: English Program/grade 2

90 minute reading block English phonics (Language Enrichment) English reading and skills practice (modified MacMillan) Oral language development (read alouds) ESOL block English grammar and writing (modified MacMillan) SIOP Tiers 2 and 3
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Project Benefits to Teachers

Effective research-based approach to delivering and organizing instruction for ELLs Additional materials Project tutors provide Tier 2 and Tier 3 intervention Ongoing, long-term staff development and mentoring Opportunities to collaborate with colleagues Participation in a study of national significance
Celebrate Our Rising Stars Summit V Strategies to Close the Achievement Gap

National Literacy Panel on LanguageMinority Children and Youth: Research findings that support our approach
Instruction in the native language aids achievement
Meta-analysis of all acceptable studies that compared English-only instruction with instruction that used some native language 15 acceptable studies that generated 71 effect sizes across 26 samples Bilingual education has a statistically significant positive effect on reading in English (with an effect size of about .40) These findings are consistent with other recent metaanalyses (Greene, 1997; Rolstad, Mahoney, & Glass, 2005) To provide some perspective, the National Reading Panel estimated that the average effect size of phonics instruction to be 0.44
Celebrate Our Rising Stars Summit V Strategies to Close the Achievement Gap

National Literacy Panel on LanguageMinority Children and Youth: Research findings that support our approach

Good instruction for English-language learners is similar to good instruction monolingual English students
English-language learners benefit from explicit instruction that builds phonological awareness, word reading skills, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension and writing

Celebrate Our Rising Stars Summit V Strategies to Close the Achievement Gap

National Literacy Panel on LanguageMinority Children and Youth: Research findings that support our approach
Adjustments are important
Effect sizes for English-language learners are lower and more variable than those for nativeEnglish-speaking students, suggesting that such teaching is likely to be necessary but insufficient for improving literacy achievement among the English-language learners. It is possible that combining high-quality instruction in the literacy components with efforts to enhance English oral language development in the context of this literacy instruction would lead to higher effect Celebrate Our Rising Stars Summit V sizes. Strategies to Close the Achievement Gap

National Literacy Panel on LanguageMinority Children and Youth: Research findings that support our approach
We work in a bilingual program where first language literacy development is encouraged while students acquire English literacy We explicitly teach phonological awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension and writing
Build on effective methods used with monolingual speakers Follow a format of introduce a concept, model and group practice, individual practice, and review Develop skills systematically and sequentially Differentiate instruction
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National Literacy Panel on LanguageMinority Children and Youth: Research findings that support our approach
We make accommodations to standard instruction
Introduce read-alouds (both narrative and expository) to build oral language proficiency, including vocabulary and listening comprehension Provide a lot more scaffolding (e.g., pre-teach some vocabulary, paraphrase text, ask ongoing questions to build comprehension, provide glossaries that include pictures as well as definitions) to ensure students understand the texts they are reading and listening to Capitalize on students first language proficiency and literacy (e.g., cognate awareness; transition phonics)

Celebrate Our Rising Stars Summit V Strategies to Close the Achievement Gap

Results for First Grade

No statistically significant differences between treatment and control group on early reading skills
Despite less time spent in reading practice for treatment groups All students doing well on early reading skills

Significant differences between treatment and control groups on standardized measures of oral language proficiency
Vocabulary Listening comprehension
Celebrate Our Rising Stars Summit V Strategies to Close the Achievement Gap

The SIOP Model

A means for making grade-level academic content (science, social studies, math) more accessible to second-language learners while at the same time promoting their English language development.

Celebrate Our Rising Stars Summit V Strategies to Close the Achievement Gap

Sheltered Instruction for Academic Achievement

(Echevarria, Vogt, & Short, 2004)

The SIOP Model:

Preparation Building Background Comprehensible Input Strategies

Interaction Practice & Application Lesson Delivery Review & Assessment

Celebrate Our Rising Stars Summit V Strategies to Close the Achievement Gap

SIOP Model of Sheltered Math Instruction

Strategies

Background Information

Structured Pairwork

Scaffolding

Math Journaling
Math Manipulatives

Spoken & Written Math Discourse Development

Think Alouds

Feedback

Celebrate Our Rising Stars Summit V Strategies to Close the Achievement Gap

Grade 2 Math Lesson

Typical Gr. 2 math lesson from district
math presentation & practice high on teacher talk, low on visuals lacks systematic treatment of math language

Enhanced Gr. 2 math lesson in treatment classrooms

explicit content and language objectives concept definition map links to prior knowledge and learner background goal directed oral pairwork (e.g., information gap activities in math) math Journals

Celebrate Our Rising Stars Summit V Strategies to Close the Achievement Gap

English Phonics Instruction for Students in all-English Program

Phonics review
Review of previously learned reading concepts (e.g., ch, ng)
Word study review (affixes)

New concept introduction Introduction of new reading concepts using four modalitiesvisual, auditory, kinesthetic, tactile

Reading and spelling practice

Reading, spelling, and writing practice of new concepts

Review
New days learning 2-3 previously learned concepts

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Transition Phonics Instruction for Students in Bilingual Program

Phonics review
Review of previously learned reading concepts (e.g., ch, ng)
Word study review (affixes)

New concept introduction Introduction of new reading concepts using four modalitiesvisual, auditory, kinesthetic, tactile

Reading and spelling practice

Reading, spelling, and writing practice of new concepts

Review
New days learning 2-3 previously learned concepts

Celebrate Our Rising Stars Summit V Strategies to Close the Achievement Gap

Phonics Instruction for Students

Alignment of phonics instruction and reading practice In the transition program, explicit instruction in similarities and differences between English and Spanish word reading, spelling, and grammatical conventions

Celebrate Our Rising Stars Summit V Strategies to Close the Achievement Gap

English Reading and Skills Practice for Students in English-only Program

Students learn second grade concepts
Second grade MacMillan reading program used to give students practice reading connected text and building skills Schedule
Days 1-2: Whole class guided reading of decodable story Days 3-4: Small group differentiated instruction using SAILL Safari/teacher choice of materials to reinforce reading concepts Day 5: Skill instruction and assessment Day 6: Flex day
Celebrate Our Rising Stars Summit V Strategies to Close the Achievement Gap

English Reading and Skills Practice for Students in Bilingual Program

Bilingual Program
Students learn first and second grade concepts First grade MacMillan reading program used to give students practice reading connected text and practice reading skills Schedule
Day 1: Guided Reading of Decodable Story Days 2-3: Teacher choice to reinforce reading concepts Day 4: Skill Day 5: Assessment Day 6: Flex day
Celebrate Our Rising Stars Summit V Strategies to Close the Achievement Gap

Spanish Reading and Skills Practice for Students in Bilingual Program

Very similar to English reading and skills practice
Days 1 - 2: Guided reading of decodable text, including pre-teaching of vocabulary Days 3 - 4: Differentiated instruction to build decoding and comprehension and to learn reading skills Day 5: Assessment and review in Spanish of concepts introduced in the English expository text Day 6: Flex day
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Grammar and Writing: English and Spanish

Day 1: new grammar concept or skill (e.g.,plural nouns) Day 2: grammar mechanics (e.g., letter writing conventions) Day 3: grammar assessment Day 4: Writing Day 5: Writing

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Writing: English and Spanish

5 week sequence for each genre (e.g. personal narrative, persuasive writing)
Week 1: Modeling: present genre, explore the structure of the genre Week 2: Group drafting: group practice to develop ideas and structure, group drafting) Week 3: Students draft composition Week 4: Student revisions (genre and conventions) based on teacher feedback Week 5: Students produce finished composition based on teacher feedback

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Oral Language Development

Use of rich childrens literature and expository text to build oral language proficiency, literacy and content knowledge
Teachers guide High quality childrens literature and expository text aligned with second grade science curriculum Picture cards
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Oral Language Development: Schedule

Days 1 and 2
Pre-teach key words Interactive Reading Closing Discussion

Days 3 and 4
Interactive Reading Closing Discussion Extending Word Meaning
Key Words Basic Words Other Words and Phrases

Day 5
Assessment

Celebrate Our Rising Stars Summit V Strategies to Close the Achievement Gap

Oral Language Development

Techniques
Pre-teaching of key words
use of visuals and act-outs (grade 1)

Interactive reading
Using pictures and demonstration to clarify meaning Paraphrasing key vocabulary and complicated chunks of text Building background knowledge Questioning techniques that allow the teacher to model comprehension strategies and clarify text (visualizing, drawing inferences, making connections from text-to-text and text-to-self, summarizing, inferring word meaning

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Oral Language Development

Techniques (cont.)
Closing discussion
Predictions and inferences Compare/contrast Summarization Connect text to own experience Evaluate the book

Extending word meanings

Basic words connected to theme (e.g. vehicles) Other words and phrases (e.g., idioms and other words that are challenging such as phrasal verbs, words with multiple meanings, adverbs, prepositions)

Review
Use of glossary that includes pictures of all the words and games

Assessment
Vocabulary Comprehension

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Oral Language Development

Techniques (cont.)
Partner-talk Repeat, elaborate, and rephrase

Celebrate Our Rising Stars Summit V Strategies to Close the Achievement Gap

Education is not the filling of a pail, but a lighting of a fire

William Butler Yeats

Celebrate Our Rising Stars Summit V Strategies to Close the Achievement Gap