English Language Learners & High Quality Instruction

Dr. Margarita Calderon, Professior Emerita/Senior Research Scientist from Johns Hopkins University recently reaffirmed that high-quality instruction is what matters most with English Language Learners (ELLs). Schools help ELLs achieve academically when the following eight features are fully implemented.
1.) Whole-school structures & effective leadership
*Coordinated quality instructin within and across grade levels
2.) Language, literacy & content
*Comprehensive approach to teaching essential components of reading
*Pre-teach academic vocabulary before content instruction
*Apply same strategies while teaching content
3.) Cooperative learning/interaction
*Interaction needs to be inclusive of ALL, yet differentiated as needed
*Discussion between teacher & students, and among students is critically important
4.) Professional development
*Include teachers working with secondary ELL students; especially re vocabulary, reading
comprehension and writing demands within specific content areas
5.) Teacher support via Coaching and/or Teacher Learning Communities (or PLCs)
*Annual conference for sharing successes & more in-depth learning
*Could be intra-district conference
6.) Parent/family support teams
*School-parent collaboration on school attendance
*Workshops & materials for parents to use at home with students
7.) Tutoring
*Data from benchmarks should inform tutor's focus of instruction
*Highly trained tutors whose instructional practices dovetail with teachers' practices
*Computer-assisted tutoring
8.) Benchmark assessments & monitoring of implementation
*For every grade level
*Data used to inform differentiation needs within Tier 1 instruction
*Data used to identify students who need to move to higher levels and/or students who need
more intensive interventions
Additional resources:
Teaching Reading to English Language Learners, Grades 6-12. (2007) Margarita Calderon. ISBN 978-1-4129-0926-6
Preventing Long-Term ELs, Transforming Schools to Meet Core Standards (2011) Margarita
Calderon and Lilian Minaya-Rowe. ISBN 978-1-4129-7416-5