Achieve, Inc.: The Standards And Accountability Movement

The American College Testing (ACT), 2010 concluded that a large number of high school students and high school graduates do not possess the knowledge and skills for college level work or career training. With the creation and implementation of common core standards, states and school districts have a clear set of student expectations to target

Reflecting back on my field experience, I was able to gain quality insight as well as a better understanding of the teaching and the learning process of ESOL in a mainstream classroom. My experience in Mrs. Little’s classroom has shown that the role of the ESOL teacher is to educate students in functional language skills, offer content that is academically challenging, and helps students acculturate to the new language and culture.

Common Core State Standards is being heard throughout the education world. Many cringe when the words are spoken and many fight to support what the words stand for. Common Core was introduced in 2009 by state leaders. Common Core State Standards were developed to prepare children for the business world or the reality after grade school. “The Common Core is a set of high-quality academic standards in mathematics and English language arts/literacy, also known as ELA” (About the Standards, n.d.). The goals for the standards outline what students should know before leaving his or her current grade level. “The standards were created to ensure that all students graduate from high school with the skills and knowledge necessary to succeed in college, career, and life, regardless of where they live” (About the Standards, n.d.). This is an ambitious goal, but with much support can be accomplished. According to Common Core State Standards Initiative (n.d.) The Common Core has been adopted by forty-two states already and is accompanied by District of Columbia and Department of Defense Education Activity. Common Core was developed to improve the academics in society’s schools. Academics in the past years have not been successful and the United States has fallen behind international education. “One root cause has been an uneven patchwork of academic standards that vary from state to state and do not agree on what students should know and be able to do at each

The all too familiar situation of English language learners (ELLs) struggling in a classroom that is not meeting their needs is the theme of this short film. ELL’s present unique challenges for teachers given how the California educational system calls for only one year of English language development (EDL). After this time, English language development goals rest on the shoulders of the general education teacher with the additional requirement of infusing SADIE strategies into their daily lessons.

With the United States demographics changing rapidly, school systems are flooded with students from other countries. According to state and national guidelines, these students do not have the language skills necessary to be successful in general education classrooms. Teachers often face the dilemma of how to effectively reach these students. Traditional methods or strategies do not fully reach these students, so teachers question themselves as teachers or question the student’s intellectual ability. This frequently causes misconceptions about teaching ELL students. Knowing how a new language is acquired helps many teachers build success quickly, making learning and teaching

Remember high school: homework, unpleasant teachers, deadlines, social interactions and standardized testing. Now imagine dealing with all of that, and other struggles, in a language you barely know; this is what the English Language Learning/English as a Second Language demographic faces daily. ELL/ESL students are twice as likely to drop out of high school as native speakers (Maxwell). Why then, one may wonder, aren’t more resources available to help ELL scholars learn not only English, but all of the subjects a well-rounded education includes?

There are many challenges that ELL students face; from the academic performance to poverty and social inequalities. Most ELL students don’t have access to the basic educational resources and opportunities. (LaChat, 2004) “In school, the greatest difference between English language learners and their peers is the magnitude of learning expected.” (LaChat, 2004) As noted the ELL students have started the educational race in the negative, with out the basic monetary and educational push as their counterparts.

Samson and Collins (2012) noted: "There is a sea change occurring in education across the country in the systematic way that everyone considers what" students should be learning and how teachers should be evaluated” (p.1). Amidst the extensive developments in the industry of teaching and learning, English as a second language (ESL) students are one subgroup of learners that command specific attention, mainly because of their increasing numbers and low-performance related to their non-ESL peers. Currently, there remained limited consideration paid to the quintessential measures, knowledge, and crafts that public education teachers ought to maintain to present possible guidance to ESL learners put in their classrooms.

In the secondary grades regardless of the number of students speaking a common language ESL programs are provided. The program helps English language learners develop proficiency in listening, speaking, reading and writing in the English Language. It is full time instructional setting using second language methods in grades pre-k through 8th grade and providing learners with a full time certified teacher to provide supplementary instruction in all subjects. ESL program also provides a part time service in which it is considered a pull-out program model with a part tine teacher that provides English instruction while student’s remains in a mainstream classroom ESL programs should teach the affective, linguistic and cognitive needs of ELL’s.

Currently, there is no one size fits all model for English language learning classrooms. Research is still being done and success and failures of these programs varies widely from more urban populations to rural populations. Common Core is now being implemented into all schools by the end of 2017, so finding a way to use Common Core in an ELL mainstream setting is now the current trend. That being said, “Despite the growing trend to keep ELL’s in the mainstream classroom, there is relatively little research that examines the benefits of teaching ELL’s in the mainstream classroom rather than in an English for speakers of a second language (ESOL) setting. McClure & Chanmaman-Taylor (2010). This leads to teachers being put into

Within the past Ten years, the number of English Language Learners (ELLs) has doubled. An increase of more then 2 million of ELLs students in the U.S schools, left professionals within the field of Education with no choice but to face the challenge of understanding cultural differences. Not to mention, understanding how these differences affect students’ performances in school or on standardized tests, learning style, overall all academic achievement as well as language development. These differences must be understood, valued and respected by all services providers, especially those who are responsible for placing students in the appropriate educational program according to their needs (Roseberry-McKibbin, 2014).

My TESOL educational background, research experience, and online teaching experience enable me to design ESL curricular, courses, and teaching materials, teach face-to-face, hybrid, and online courses, and collaborate with other colleagues to undertake research and enhance the teaching quality of the ESL program at CCC.

Through the years, many aspects in our society have become more competitive. Due to the economic problems that affect many countries, the process of finding a good job is getting tougher and more demanding. Regardless of what students are planning to do after they graduate from high school, students need to be college or career ready when they leave school. English Language Learner population in our schools is growing at a fast rate. ELL students form part of our society and the everyday changes taking place, will affect them too. ELL students need to leave our schools as well prepared as the native English speakers. Many students, regardless of their native language, struggle with Science and Math because they don’t understand the concepts that underlie the subject (Sotomayor, K. 2013)

The purpose of this paper is to address the current state of instruction for students who are acquiring English as a second language and demonstrate appropriate instructional supports that will aid English Language Learners, ELLs, to succeed in the classroom. We begin by identifying the student participant, the demographics of the community, school, and classroom, the methodology of the case study, and limitations. We will then analyze findings based on interviews, student work, and observations then conclude with recommendations that will support ELLs through the process of acquiring English. Finally, a reflection on the case study will be included that addresses the experience of the observer and impacts for future practice.

The 1994 reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) launched a prerequisite that each state set canons outlining what their students should understand and be capable of doing in core subjects and evaluate whether students were becoming proficient at those standards. Today, currently, as a result of these federal prerequisites, every state has in place a set of K–12 standards for essential subjects as well as an assessment system that measures growth toward math and literacy standards in grades 3–8 and once in high school. Conversely, the present ESEA does not ask states to study whether those standards are founded on proof of what students need to be successful in college and the workplace. Nor does the law ask that states’ standards build grade by grade toward college- and career-readiness. The result is that standards and assessments do not inform students, parents, or teachers whether students are on track toward college- and career readiness.