Mainstream Classroom Analysis

Hence, it is implied that the common core is just as effective as the teacher that is teaching it to their students. And, “preparing ELs to meet the Common Core standards must become a shared responsibility among all educators, including teachers of “mainstream” English language arts, as well as those in other content areas” (Bunch, G. C., Kibler, A., & Pimentel, S. (2012). Some educators, are “insufficiently equipped to teach ELs effectively could be that developing ELs’ language skills have traditionally been viewed as the responsibility of ESL teachers” (Bunch, G. C., Kibler, A., & Pimentel, S. (2012)). Because there has been an influx of ELL students in the main stream classroom, teachers are finding it more difficult to find an alternative and effective instruction for the ELL students in the classroom. Therefore, schools should provide, “teacher preparation and professional development programs that will be designed to support the deeper content, performance and language demands expected of students” (Santos, Darling-Hammond, Cheuk (2012)). By providing teachers with this CCS preparation, teachers will have a better understanding on how to approach ELL students in improving their oral language. And providing ELL students with “the language demands

Mrs. Alice McLoughlin-Doro is a Special Education teacher at Downers Grove South High School in Downers Grove, Illinois. The community is known for its excellent school districts. According to the 2010 census there were 47, 833 people living in Downers Grove with approximately 19,000 households and 13,000 families. The racial makeup of the school was reported to be 88% White, 3% African American, 5% Hispanic, 0.2% American Indian or Alaskan Native, 5% Asian, and 1.6% from two or more races. About 1.7% of families were below the poverty line. The school district report card reports the following racial/ethnic background for the school: 68.1% White, 10.3 African American, 11% Hispanic, 7.3% Asian, 0.2% American Indian, and 3.2% two or more races. The elementary schools, middle schools, and high school all perform very well academically receiving above state average scores on standardized tests. She has been working there for 10 years and is currently a Case Manager of 17 students, all with an IEP, all with different needs and goals in the LD department. She co-teaches two general education classes in English intervention, all freshman. Although she is a Special Education teacher, she works with all the students. She also teaches a READ 180, Tier 3 reading and english intervention. This is where we will be focusing on for this

In pursuing my ELL endorsement, I found it to be very beneficial to interview current ELL teachers. They shared their insight and expertise in this field. I interviewed the middle school ELL teacher at my school, an upper-elementary ELL teacher and early-elementary teacher in my district. I asked twelve questions that pertained to their experience teaching ELL. These responses are valuable to future ELL teachers and general education teachers who teach ELL in their classrooms.

Teachers have begun to question the practices of ELL students in receiving services and the regular education they will receive in some content areas. Though there is often a negative perception towards these students it seems it is on the side of the teacher and the additional work and accommodations they will need to provide and alter to meet a student’s needs. I was happy to speak with the ELL teacher and gain some insight on the current efforts to provide high expectations for ELL students through the use of additional tutors and opportunities. However, if we are not careful and if we stop questioning our practices on responses to ELL students, we will ultimately allow these practices to become stable and controlling.

Schools have legal and ethical responsibilities to all of their students, and cannot exempt ELL students from that fundamental truth. Federal guidelines prohibit the use of Title VI funds by schools that discriminate on the basis of race, color, or national origin (US Department of Education). These guidelines allow for the enforcement of fair treatment of all students. The importance of this treatment extends much further than funding. Even with the requirements for schools to provide services to these students, “51% of 8th grade ELL students are behind whites in reading and math” (Fry). The requirement of providing these services has a significant impact on this number; however the magnitude of this number suggests there may be room for improvement.

For teachers, I believe they are lacking in having efficient data, practices, and resources. These three categories play an essential role in educating, evaluating, and caring for ELL students. Communication is a huge factor when it comes to instruction in the classroom. In the past research has shown poor communication between teachers, students and families. Schools often lack in providing differentiated methods and tools to teach ELL students. Schools in the past have failed to offer the correct assessments that were needed in order to diagnose each student's needs and measure their individualized learning standards. Educators can easily become frustrated because there is such a wide range of English learners. This means academic levels are different and the educators have not received the proper training or instructions on how to correctly educate ELL students.

In order to meet the equal-opportunity challenge in education this mandate requires funding for all public schools at levels. This is sufficient to provide a rigorous curriculum in a wide range of subject areas, delivered by Highly–Qualified Teachers, with support by excellent school district leaders. This also, requires adequate funding for school districts that provide education for high numbers of students from low-income families, ESL students, including students with special needs (Baker, B. D., Sciarra, D. G., Farrie, D. (2010, p. 1).

My educational background with ELL students is minimal, as well as my own personal experiences to be relatable. I have had many short opportunities to build upon that have allowed me to grow professionally when working with students needing that extra reinforcement, encouragement, and motivation for academic support.

Week two of my classroom handbook will be of the topic problem solving skills used during conflict in the classroom. Kaiser and Rasminsky suggest a five step process that will effectively teach children at the early childhood level problem solving skills to last a life time. I will go over each step and then provide an example of what this process might look like in a classroom.

Over the past 15 years, the number of ELL and ESL students has rapidly increased to nearly 5 million. These students come in significantly below those of their peers in nearly every aspect of academic performance. In order to ensure that these students’ needs are being met, you must have a significant amount of coordination and collaboration throughout the educational system. Under the law, each school district must show that the entire student body as a whole is meeting the same academic standards. These subgroups (ESL and ELL students) must be meeting the state proficiency goal as well.

There are many factors that influence the diverse needs of an individual EAL learner that need to be assessed and taken into account when providing adequate classroom support:

Differentiating instruction for ELLS is extremly inportant for their success in school. Sheltered Contenent Instruction state, "REsearch suggests that English learners benefit from a seperate block of time for ELD or ESL." They also stated that sometimes this can not happen due to the large amount of ELL's in a classroom. In this case the teacher can co teach with an ESL teachers to help these students.

During the interview, Mrs. Gallagher discussed key areas that are essential for a successful ELL classroom. She shared some of the instructional strategies and techniques she uses in order to engage her class effectively. Because it is the beginning of the school year it is important to start off strong. “I try to set high expectations for my students and get to know who they are and their background knowledge.” I can see how this is important in order for students to feel comfortable in a subject that can be difficult and intimidating. She also mentions incorporating multicultural education in the curriculum. Another strategy that she uses for effective teaching is using visuals. “Visuals can help drive a point home.” When students are able to visualize new words or skills it is much easier for them to remember.

Through my bibliographic search, I was able to learn the specifics of what scholars were discoursing on in regards to this topic. Current debates began with the teachers themselves. One article found that ELL teachers were generally “unwelcoming” (Reeves 2006). Reasons for this were the concern that there’s not enough time to address all the students’ needs, too much work for teachers when students are also enrolled in non-ELL classes, and feelings of unqualification to teacher ELL students (Reeves 2006). Another area of discussion is whether ELL programs should take an inclusion approach vs exclusion (from normal school curriculum) approach. Inclusion is when students are mainstreamed for most of the day, with some specific ELL classes. If only in ELL classes, students may not have access to the mainstream education needed to succeed (Reeves 2006). One article stressed the importance of education at home as well. If English is not also spoken at home, acquisition is slowed (Allen 2011). Pride also affects the rate of learning, students will often claim to understand, even though they d not, to avoid the perception of being ignorant (2011).

The ELL team within District 427 is a small but effective group of 5 individuals. The teachers and administrators that are involved with the ELs are extremely passionate and constantly working with the numbers that they have to better service their students. The team meets frequently and is in constant contact within one another to help each other overcome obstacles that are occurring within their classrooms with their EL students. Although the team is small, they are only servicing a small population, and always open to change. If the EL enrollment were to increase, the team would increase as well. Their goal is to ensure that all of the students are being serviced for all of their needs for success.