educating english language learners dr paez

Chapter One The Impact of Professional Development on Middle School Teachers Educating English Language Learners Introduction The nation’s public schools now enroll large numbers of st

Chapter One

The Impact of Professional Development on Middle School Teachers

Educating English Language Learners

Introduction

The nation’s public schools now enroll large numbers of students who have been identified as English Language Learners According to Macias and Kelly (1996), 3,184,696 (7.3%) English Language Learners were enrolled in public and non-public schools The largest enrollments were in California, Texas, New York, Florida and Illinois Spanish was spoken by more than 77% of the English

Language Learners Even though a number of weaknesses have been identified

in the collection and reporting of education statistics for English Language

Learners (e.g , August & Hakuta, 1997; Hopstock & Bucaro, 1993), a sense of the challenges facing American schools can be seen from work carried on by a number of researchers In 1992 for example, 42% of students aged 16 to 24 reporting difficulty with English had dropped out of high school (McArthur, 1993) The challenges of educating students who do not speak a societal language are enormous In the United States, it is not only a question of teaching English; rather, it is a question of providing large numbers of students with access to the curriculum at the same time that they are learning English

The academic gap of English Language Learners is striking Many urban districts are faced with the challenge of changing and accommodating their traditional teaching practices to make English Language Learners effective

participants in current educational institutions Part of this challenge is to inform educators of the importance of understanding their own embedded belief

systems, stereotypes, and misperceptions A key element in becoming an

effective educator is recognizing one’s own limitations in educating new

generations of English Language Learners Educational systems are, for the most part, traditional institutions in which the agents representing the educational structures preserve the status quo Vision, courage and leadership influence the education of English Language Learners most effectively A new set of

modifications in beliefs is needed to progressively modify the way educational institutions operate In this age of high stakes testing and accountability, the burden on quality is in the effectiveness of educating all students

The population of school-aged English Language Learners has consistently and significantly increased over the past decade This has transformed the Veritasville Public Schools from a suburban district into one of the smallest urban school districts in the state The U.S Department of Education’s National Center for Educational Statistics defined an "urban" school district as one in which 75%

or more of the households served are in the central city of a metropolitan area Eleven million American children (one out of every four) attend urban schools 43% of urban school children are minority Most urban children attend schools in which more than half of the students are poor and they are predominantly or completely minority Millions of urban children fail to meet even the minimum standards on national tests In the poorest school districts, up to two-thirds of

students achieve below "basic" levels on national tests Lastly urban schools are larger, have higher truancy, double the violence and less parental involvement than non-urban schools (U.S Department of Education’s National Center for Educational Statistics, 2002) Urban districts in major cities across United States have a greater percentage of indifferent students, the emergence of students from single parent families, poorer and more culturally impoverished students, fewer teachers to address the needs of these students, and the increasing

apathy of the more affluent public members (Frady, 1985, p.11)

In regards to teachers there is no single component so central and important

to our hopes for saving the public school system as the teachers They are on the front line, having daily contact with the students, and are basically the ones that struggle to revive schools But the continual worsening of conditions in urban schools for teachers - low pay, overcrowded classes, increased responsibilities, outdated and meager resources - are disintegrating the number and quality of teachers in them Salary becomes a major issue when considering the quality and worthiness of teachers in urban compared to suburban schools For

example, in 1991 a teacher in a suburban school got paid 20% more annually than a teacher in an urban school (Kozol, 1991, p.30)

The schools of this nation are only as strong as the communities of which they are a part (Frady, 1985, p.85) With less money available from federal, state, and local governments due to the fact that the money is being allocated

elsewhere, schools are forced to rely on the people of their communities But

declining test scores, racial and social class prejudices, and inadequate school facilities have people abandoning the urban schools

This change has taken place progressively, with different ethnic groups

moving into the community The primary ethnic groups entering Veritasville

Public Schools are Spanish-speaking children, mainly from Uruguay, and a fast growing population of Brazilian students These students are impacting public schools, the instruction of our students, and the preparation of our teachers The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) requires that there be a “highly

qualified” teacher in every classroom by the end of 2005 In addition to the new

No Child Left Behind legislation, last November the State of Massachusetts passed a Bilingual Law that requires English Language Learners to stay in

sheltered immersion programs for no more than one year School districts face the challenge of preparing and training large numbers of teachers while retaining

a focus on quality and mastery of the curriculum content predetermined by the curriculum frameworks

Until the beginning of 2003, the Veritasville Public Schools educated its

English Language Learners in Transitional Bilingual Education (TBE), also known

as early-exit bilingual education (Ramirez, 1991) Now, unless a waiver is

requested and approved, all English Language Learners must receive Sheltered English Instruction Sheltered English Immersion, an approach using simple English, context and supplemental materials to explain meaning in content

areas The goal is to mainstream students quickly The program requirements

apply to all English Language Learners in all districts All districts must provide sheltered English instruction to English Language Learners, either in a separate sheltered immersion classroom or within a regular classroom These changes include every language and there is no minimum number of students per specific language Regular classroom teachers should anticipate that the English

Language Learners in their classrooms will increase because students may exit Sheltered English Immersion classrooms in one year or districts may provide Sheltered English Immersion within regular classrooms Teachers who provide Sheltered English Immersion must be qualified (Title VI of the Civil Rights Act) District professional development plans must include training in second language acquisition (Chapter 71, Section 38Q) No subject matter may be taught in any language other than English; teachers may use a "minimum" amount of the child's native language "when necessary." This provision does not apply to foreign language classes or special education programs School staff who

"willfully and repeatedly" refuse to implement the statute's provisions can be held liable and cannot be insured for this liability Those found liable will be barred from working in public schools for 5 years The provisions took effect for the 2003-2004 school year

Unfortunately for many districts, including Veritasville Public Schools,

students stop receiving adequate bilingual services at the time they enter regular education classrooms When students exit the bilingual program and enter the mainstream classrooms they are still lacking many necessary skills to be able to

compete academically with their monolingual English counterparts One of the main reasons for this is the fact that students learn language at different rates The acronyms BICS (Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills) and CALP (Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency) refer to a distinction between basic interpersonal communicative skills and cognitive academic language proficiency The distinction was intended to draw attention to the very different time periods typically required by English Language Learners to acquire conversational

fluency (BICS) in their second language as compared to grade appropriate

academic proficiency (CALP)

Conversational fluency is often acquired for a functional level within about two years of initial exposure to the second language, whereas at least five years is usually required to catch up to native speakers in academic aspects of the

second language (Collier, 1987; Klesmer, 1994; Cummins, 1981a) Failure to take into account the BICS/CALP (conversational/academic) distinction has resulted in discriminatory psychological assessment of bilingual students and premature exiting from language support programs (e.g bilingual education in the United States) into mainstream classes After the November 2002 election, traditional bilingual programs were changed to one-year immersion programs As

a consequence, the structure of language acquisition programs will be

re-designed without the solid research foundation necessary for effective language acquisition programs This change may increase the achievement gap between monolingual English speaking children and English Language Learners

It is a belief of the researcher that the future of a fair progressive society lies

in the academic advancement of every child, especially the children that

traditionally are being left behind A wealth of knowledge and talent goes

untouched because of the inability to effectively make these children full

participants of the sometimes complex social and academic environments One

of the fundamental changes needed in education is that every single teacher be adequately prepared to educate every student in his or her classroom The

achievement gap between racial and language minorities and mainstream

students, with or without bilingual programs, is unacceptable at this time in our history It is of extreme importance that every teacher contributes to the

education of racial minority students and English Language Learners in the same way that they try to help every other student

The professional development program implemented in this leadership project allowed teachers to be exposed to different opportunities in order to increase their knowledge about this population Teachers studied their own perceptions, limitations, and biases when educating English Language Learners Teachers also learned about effective strategies for teaching English Language Learners This study seeks to learn how participation in this professional development program will impact the beliefs and teaching practices of the participants who educate English Language Learners

This study conducted a triangulation data analysis Data was collected initially from the questionnaires given to all middle school teachers This information was

used to determine the supports necessary to effectively teach English Language Learners and to reconfigure professional development efforts As part of the data collection procedures, evidence was collected from a survey, interviews and observations of the classroom interactions of the selected teachers with English Language Learners The data was collected and analyzed to determine emerging patterns before and after the professional development

The professional development program offered as a component of this study allowed teachers to be exposed to different opportunities such as in-service training via staff meetings and focus group discussions during professional

development days There were approximately ten hours of high quality

professional development over the school year in the middle schools This

opportunity was designed to provide teachers with an understanding of the

language acquisition process at different times in the life of English Language Learners Additionally, teachers were exposed to an average of fifteen hours of new teaching strategies to improve the education of English Language Learners These opportunities were offered outside school Lastly, the teachers had a six-hour professional development day to share and discuss the material presented

Statement of the Problem /Focus of the Study

Regular education teachers have limited training, lacking the skills necessary

to adequately educate English Language Learners Teachers’ expectations when educating English Language Learners are lower for these students than those of

regular education students The initial assumption is that having limited language ability translates into limited cognitive abilities English Language Learners come from a variety of backgrounds with different knowledge and skill levels Some are very well versed in issues that often are not being taught in American schools Others lack the basic foundations in reading and writing to keep up with the standard American curriculum

Indeed, teachers probably vary greatly in how much influence they think they have on children Teachers are apprehensive about developing new teaching

practices that involve their sensitivity to individual differences in children and their ability to adopt appropriately different modes of treating them

Regrettably, unqualified or under-qualified teachers teach many programs designed to educate English Language Learners Teachers who are making progress toward completing alternative language program qualifications are sometimes replaced in the alternative language program classroom by

unqualified or less-qualified teachers; replaced teachers are reassigned to

mainstream classrooms

Another important aspect of the quality of programs for English Language Learners is related to the policy-making procedures Lisa Delpit (1995) describes that the “culture of power” is deciding for students they do not know They

routinely set up programs without the participation of the group that is most

affected by those decisions Consequently, principals evaluate and supervise teachers of English Language Learners and support educational programs for English Language Learners without expertise in or knowledge of alternative language program methods

Valdez (1997) states that language policy is an important concern and

children that do not speak the societal language face many difficulties in the school Churchill (1986) also makes reference to the importance of quality

program issues because language minorities have emerged as a central concern

of national education policy Many states are facing the challenge of how to react

to a negative climate about teaching the English language to English Language

Learners It is argued that children should be quickly taught English, implying that the learning is an easy transition However, it is unclear whether many policy makers truly understand the difficulties of teaching a language while maintaining high expectations and appropriate content instruction

Teacher embedded belief systems contribute greatly to the quality of teaching practices Many researchers such as Freire (1970) indicate that racism and whiteness influences American schools The fact that nearly 90 percent of

American schoolteachers are White and nearly 50 percent of all American school children are people of color begins to become an alarming issue

Teacher beliefs also impact the kind of environment that is formed in schools and classrooms The importance of trust is a critical component of ESL pedagogy where a safe, risk-embracing environment is the fundamental setting for

successful language learning Howard Becker (1952) claimed that teacher’s perception of the child’s ability to do school work determined the actual teaching technique Another study by Kohn (1973) revealed that teacher expectation of Mexican students was based on students’ appearance The central premise of this study was the concept of stereotyping of students and how the teachers are influenced by it This stereotyping, based on appearance, has been researched

on black children by Labov (1972), body build by Lerner (1969), social class by Mazer (1971), first names by Harari (1973), and culture by Leacock (1971), Rist (1970), and Delpit (1995) Another study by Pitt (1956) claimed that teachers label the students by ‘bright’, ‘average’, or ‘slow’, developing the corresponding

intellectual expectations This is more clearly defined by Millard (1971), Brophy and Good, (1970), and Rosenthal (1968) with the concept of self-fulfilling

prophecies enforced by teachers

Urban teachers need more than the generic teaching competencies

articulated by current professional teaching standards More importantly teachers need to understand their own belief systems and internal biases Once they gain

a full understanding of themselves as individuals they need to develop

competence This knowledge should reflect their understanding of local cultures, the political economy, the bureaucratic structure of urban schools, community and social service support networks serving urban centers, and the effective practices for English Language Learners

High quality professional development is a central component of teacher effectiveness in educating English Language Learners The research is very consistent on how professional development should be implemented Fullan (2001) presented how to better influence change in school settings Twenty-five years ago he concluded that “one-shot workshops were ineffective; topics were selected by people other than those receiving the in-service, and follow-up

support for improvement was rare” (Fullan, 2001, p 270) Presently, school districts have failed to learn from that conclusion, as most schools continue to employ the one-shot workshop method, or at best, fail to provide for consistency and follow-through as training is provided Making improvements in our

instructional program must happen in context, yet so often that is not the case (Fullan, 2001)

Darling-Hammond (1998) declared that teacher quality is the biggest predictor

of students’ success Her analysis of teacher performance and student

achievement articulated the need to rely on research and best practices when making decisions for student learning; however, that is not the case when we consider typical professional development opportunities that are provided for teachers Presently it is generally accepted that teacher learning takes place at a series of one-shot workshops, referred to as “hit-and-run” sessions by Darling-Hammond (Darling-Hammond, 1997, p 2), or with the help of a consultant hired

to share information with a large group of staff members This is the traditional way districts address their professional development needs

As noted by Darling-Hammond and McLaughlin (1995), professional

development strategies that are successful in improving teaching share several features:

• It must engage teachers in the concrete tasks of teaching, assessment, observation, and reflection that illuminate the processes of learning and development

• It must be grounded in inquiry, reflection, and experimentation that are participant-driven

• It must be collaborative, involving a sharing of knowledge among

educators and a focus on teachers’ communities of practice rather than on individual teachers

• It must be connected to and derived from teachers’ work with their

students

• It must be sustained, ongoing, intensive, and supported by modeling, coaching, and the collective solving of specific problems of practice

• It must be connected to other aspects of school change

(Darling-Hammond & McLaughlin, 1995, p 598)

The National Professional Staff Development Council (NSDC, 2004) has developed a comprehensive definition of high quality professional development

In essence, it is professional development that:

• improves the learning of all students and deepens educators' content knowledge

• provides teachers with research-based instructional strategies to assist students in meeting rigorous academic standards, and

• prepares teachers to use various types of classroom assessments

appropriately

Successful teachers have a deep understanding of the subjects they teach, use appropriate instructional methods, and apply various classroom assessment strategies These teachers participate in sustained, intellectually rigorous

professional learning regarding the subjects they teach, the strategies they use to

teach those subjects, the findings of cognitive scientists regarding human

learning, and the means by which they assess student progress in achieving high academic standards

An important part of professional development is the analysis of students’ performance Classroom assessment, when appropriately conducted, can

improve student learning as well as gauge achievement It is essential that

teachers have a range of methods at their disposal that promote learning as well

as measure it Therefore, successful professional development efforts regularly include opportunities for teachers to acquire formative classroom assessment techniques appropriate to the subject matter and types of performance called for

in state or local standards (NSDC, 2004)

In their role as instructional leaders, district and school administrators must make teacher content knowledge and skills related to curriculum, instruction, and assessment high priorities They do so by designing teachers' workdays to

include ongoing professional learning and collaboration and by providing

teachers with data to assist with formative classroom assessment In addition, they create a district and school culture of innovation and continuous

improvement by visiting classrooms regularly to observe instruction and by

engaging in frequent conversations with teachers individually and collectively about instruction and student learning (NSDC, 2003)

Corcoran (1990) explained that to meet rising expectations, teachers need to deepen their content knowledge and learn new methods of teaching They need

more time to work with colleagues to critically examine the new standards being proposed, and to revise curriculum In addition to this, in a different study, he explained that workshops and in-service programs often have a negligible impact

on teachers’ knowledge, skills, and dispositions because they usually place teachers in a passive role, fail to consider their previous experiences or the contexts in which they work, and offer few opportunities for follow-up (Corcoran, 1995; Little, 1993) Supervision frequently fails to foster professional growth because administrators lack experience in the teachers’ content area or have little time to provide assistance to those who need it (Corcoran, 1995; Darling-Hammond & McLaughlin, 1995) Corcoran reviewed what is known about

professional development - where it is now and where it needs to be He also researched the organization of professional development programs, the costs, and the effects on practice In addition to these he suggests the following

principles:

• Professional development should provide teachers with meaningful

opportunities to actively engage with new disciplinary ideas and acquire new instructional strategies (Little, 1993; Corcoran, 1995)

• Professional development should take individual teachers’ backgrounds into consideration as well as the contexts in which they work (Little,

1993) This stands in contrast to traditional approaches which typically present the same content to teachers with different levels of experience and who work in different settings When professional development takes

into account teachers’ experiences and work contexts, it is more likely to result in substantive changes in their practices

• Lastly, given that implementation of complex reforms often requires

support over a number of years (e.g., Fennema et al., 1996; Stein & D’Amico, 1998), professional development should provide teachers with sufficient time and follow-up support, including regular feedback from accomplished practitioners (Corcoran, 1995; Elmore, 1997)

Kaufman (1997) describes a professional development process that assists teachers in implementing successful instructional strategies by using equity as a framing tool for decision-making Teachers are able to improve the educational outcomes for all students by creating a framework around which to initiate

change Teachers learned to approach change using the following elements:

• A stance of critique and inquiry

• Data-driven decision making

• Investigation of best practices, including instruction, and curriculum This framework is a means of eliminating the fragmentation that typically accompanies the implementation of reform

In another research study, Mary Kennedy (1999) criticized the one-shot workshop approach to professional development and offered a number of

proposals for how professional development should be designed and organized Kennedy’s research indicates that:

• Programs should be lengthy rather than brief

• Teachers should have a role in defining the content rather than having the topics imposed on them

• The scheduled meetings should be interspersed with classroom practice rather than concentrated into a short period of time

• Teachers should work together in groups, rather than in isolation

Other research studies on professional development around content areas also highlight common effective principles Susan Loucks-Horsely (1996)

discusses some conclusions from the Professional Development Project of the NISE She presents a set of common principles that are found in excellent

professional development experiences for science and mathematics educators:

• Developing a clear, well-defined image of effective classroom learning and teaching

• Providing teachers with opportunities to develop knowledge, skills and teaching approaches

• Using instructional methods to promote learning for adults which mirror the methods used with students

• Strengthening the learning community of science and mathematics

teachers

• Preparing and supporting teachers to be leaders

• Providing links to other parts of the educational system

• Making continuous assessment part of the professional development process

Despite the comprehensive research of different theorists presented in

Chapter Two of this dissertation, it is clear that theories on teacher beliefs, quality programs for English Language Learners and professional development for teachers educating English Language Learners are remarkably underdeveloped Although many researchers are working to develop theories on teacher learning, much of the work within teacher education has relied on traditional behaviorist notions that ignore the teachers belief systems and the, social, dynamic, and generative quality of learning that can support the development of competencies needed in urban schools Theories of teacher learning must account for and perhaps promote a much-expanded concept of teacher competence

Significance of the Study

The major factors contributing to the significance of this project are the No Child Left Behind federal legislation and the new Massachusetts Bilingual Law These laws have created new requirements to ensure high quality instruction for every student Urban districts, primarily, need to provide teachers with the

knowledge and skills necessary to achieve success among English Language Learners

Teachers educating English Language Learners in urban districts have an immense challenge in front of them They are the products of an educational system that has not provided adequate training to modify their beliefs and skills toward language minority children The tight labor market for teachers places

low-resourced urban districts at a competitive disadvantage relative to resourced suburban districts Although periodic economic downturns may

better-temporarily heighten interest in teaching jobs, historically, this easing of pressure has not had a lasting impact on the supply of qualified teachers in urban schools Hence, urban students who face the challenges of poverty, immigration, limited English proficiency, and/or racial discrimination have the least access to a

qualified teaching force Often overlooked by short-term policy initiatives is that the shortage of qualified urban teachers is fueled at least as much by high rates

of teacher turnover and attrition as it is by insufficient numbers of qualified people being attracted to teaching Therefore, in addition to increasing the supply of new teachers, it is important to understand what makes teaching in urban schools a fulfilling career and offer policy solutions to enact that end There are early

indications that a key to such career satisfaction and longevity lies in creating cadres of urban teachers who have the technical, collegial, and political support required to have an impact on the quality of students' lives in classrooms and communities Longer-term solutions to the crisis in teaching require addressing a more broadly defined and intertwined program of research on urban teacher competency, teacher recruitment, and career longevity

Consistently urban districts have maintained the same professional

development support and the same hiring practices Urban districts must revise professional development and redefine hiring practices to accommodate the challenges of adapting to and effectively educating diverse communities The

research by Fullan (1993), Elmore (2000), and Darling-Hammond (1998), among others, points to the great need for the reorganization of professional

development in educational systems Changes are difficult and regretfully

presently detrimental for the students that struggle the most, the population of school-aged English Language Learners

Elmore (2002) has conducted extensive research on professional learning communities The main objective of his research is to bridge the gap between standards and achievement He proposes four guiding principles for professional development in education:

• The content of professional development should focus on what students are to learn and how to address the different problems students may have

in learning the material

• Professional development should involve teachers in identifying what they need to learn and in developing learning experiences in which they will be involved

• Professional development should be primarily school-based and built into the day-to-day work of teaching

• Most professional development should be organized around collaborative problem solving

Professional development of teachers and other educators must be regarded

as a lifelong process Education reform necessitates that educators engage in a process that ultimately helps all students achieve at high levels This professional

development must include a comprehensive system of formal and informal

experiences that continues throughout an educator’s career

Design of the Study

This study was a qualitative study of middle school teachers’ beliefs about English Language Learners The researcher used a triangulated analysis of data collected about teachers’ beliefs towards English Language Learners before and after the introduction of professional development focused on teaching English Language Learners Data was collected through teacher questionnaires,

interviews and observations Ten teachers were selected to interview, survey, and observe, five from each of the schools in which the Sheltered Immersion classes are located Pre-and-post questionnaires, comparisons, and contrasting themes were analyzed using Excel to tally the responses from the three

instruments Responses from the questionnaires and interviews were coded and organized by salient themes The researcher provided samples of actual

responses to illuminate themes identified

Limitations of the Study

The main limitation of this study was history Two main events, the federal No Child Left Behind Act and the new Bilingual Law in Massachusetts have created

a new awareness of teaching practices and the quality of education offered to English Language Learners The No Child Left Behind Act and the new Bilingual

Law are influencing a new sense of awareness that could compromise some of the results Therefore, it is difficult to attribute all of the findings from this study solely to the professional development program implemented The researcher, throughout this study, ensured that the environments in which the ten teachers operated were similar Exposing them to the same professional development opportunities was important in maintaining that all training was offered to both schools equally This prevented teachers from gaining exposure to different information about educating English Language Learners that might have

influenced the validity of the study

Another limitation in this study was the researcher’s role in the process As the administrator in charge of the academic performance of English Language Learners, the influence on teachers was significant This limitation may have prevented teachers from responding as openly and honestly as they might have

On the other hand, the researcher’s involvement in this process may have

positively influenced teachers to change their beliefs, teaching practices, and expectations when educating English Language Learners

Along with the researcher/participant influence in the study, consideration must be given to the bias of the researcher The researcher is a very strong leader in the area of quality education for English Language Learners; therefore,

he brings a unique subjectivity to the overall analysis and outcomes of the study

In order to control this limitation and to preserve the validity of the study, the researcher followed a strict protocol to analyze the evidence as it was presented

Smith (1991) reflected that any perspective carries a degree of bias that impacts measurements In a qualitative case study, the researcher is limited by being human, a necessary yet limiting condition in this situation that carries with it the possibility for mistakes having occurred, prospects having been missed, and biases having obstructed (Merriam, 1998)

Regression, maturation, testing, and selection are not considered a threat to the validity of this study On the other hand, instrumentation is always a threat to validity when the same person conducts the pre-and-post interviews and

observations The researcher, in order to avoid this threat, was careful about following the questionnaires, the interviews and the observations exactly as they were written

Another threat to external validity was the selection of the participants The subjects were asked to voluntarily participate A purposeful sampling of teachers was the main method of subject selection to balance gender, professional

experience, level of education, and years of experience Finally, it was

recognized that mortality is always a threat to validity because teachers could

have opted out of the study at any time

Definition of Terms

Academic Language: Language used in formal contexts for academic subjects

The aspects of language connected with literacy and academic achievement This includes technical and academic terms

BICS: Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills, face-to-face fluency, including

mastery of pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar English Language learners

typically acquire conversational language used in everyday activities before they

develop more complex, conceptual language proficiency

CALP: Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency, language proficiency

associated with schooling and the abstract language abilities required for

academic work A more complex, conceptual linguistic ability that includes

analysis, synthesis and evaluation

Culture: The customs, lifestyle, traditions, behavior, attitudes, and artifacts of a

given people Culture also encompasses the way people organize and interpret

the world, and the way events are perceived based on established social norms

Culture is a system of standards for understanding the world

Engagement: When students are fully taking part in a lesson, they are said to be

engaged This is a holistic term that encompasses listening, reading, writing,

responding, and discussing The level of students’ engagement during a lesson

may be assessed to a greater or lesser degree

English Language Learners: Children and adults who are learning English as a

second or additional language This term may apply to learners across various

levels of proficiency in English English Language Learners may also be referred

to as English speaking (NES), limited English proficient (LEP), and

non-native speaker (NNS)

ESOL: English for speakers of other languages Students whose first language is

not English and who do not write, speak, and understand the language as well as their classmates

Evaluation: Judgments about students’ learning made by interpretation and

analysis of assessment data; the process of judging achievement, growth,

product, processes, or changes in these judgments of education programs The processes of assessment and evaluation can be viewed as progressive: first assessment, then evaluation

Home language: The language or languages spoken in the student’s home by

people who live there Also referred to as first Language (L1), primary language,

or native language

Language minority: In the United States, a student whose primary language is

not English The individual student’s ability to speak English will vary

Language objectives: Statements that identify what students should know and

be able to do while using English (or another language) They support a student’s language development, often focusing on vocabulary, functional language,

questioning, articulating predictions or hypotheses, reading and writing

Language proficiency: An individual’s competence in using a language for

basic communication and for academic purposes May be categorized as stages

of language acquisition (see stages of Language proficiency)

Language competence: An individual’s total language ability The underlying

language system as indicated by the individual’s language performance

Limited English Proficient (LEP): A term used to refer to a student with

restricted understanding or use of written and spoken English; a learner who is still developing competence in using English

Native Language: An individual’s first, primary, or home language (L1)

Native English speaker: An individual whose first language is English

Non-English speaking (NES): Individuals who are in an English-speaking

environment (such as U.S schools) but who have not acquired any English proficiency

Primary language: An individual’s first, home, or native language (L1)

Scaffolding: Adult (e.g., teacher) support for learning and student performance

of the tasks through instruction, modeling, questioning, feedback, graphic

organizers, and more, across successive engagements These supports are gradually withdrawn, thus transferring more and more autonomy to the child Scaffolding activities provide support for learning that can be removed as

learners are able to demonstrate strategic behaviors in their own learning

activities

Sheltered instruction (SI): An approach to teaching that extends the time

students have for receiving English language support while they learn content subjects SI classrooms, which may include a mix of native English speakers and English language learners or only English Language Learners , integrate

language and content while infusing socio-cultural awareness Teachers scaffold instruction to aid student comprehension of content topics and objectives by

adjusting their speech and instructional tasks, and by providing appropriate background information and experiences The ultimate goal is accessibility for English Language Learners to grade-level content standards and concepts while

they continue to improve their English language proficiency (see Scaffolding)

Sheltered teachers: Teachers who teach content subject matter to English

language learners using sheltered instruction (SI) techniques

Social language: Basic language proficiency associated with fluency in

day-to-day situations, including the classroom (see Basic Interpersonal Communication

Skills)

Strategies: Mental processes and plans that people use to help them

comprehend, learn, and retain new information There are three types of

strategies: cognitive, meta-cognitive, and social/affective, and these are

consciously adapted and monitored during reading, writing, and learning

TBE: Transitional Bilingual Education, traditional model of bilingual education

The objective is to progressively transition L2 students into all classes that are taught in English

Teachers’ training and knowledge along with teaching practices have a direct impact in the education of English Language Learners This influence can be enhanced with specifically designed professional development The current content of professional development has not been able to significantly influence the beliefs and teaching practices of teachers educating English Language Learners Chapter one of this dissertation presents the statement of the problem,

the research question, the theoretical rational, the significance of the study and the design and limitations of the study Chapter two will present the literature review of the main research conducted in the areas of belief systems of teachers educating students different from themselves and how teachers’ methodologies are influenced by their beliefs and expectations This includes a review of the literature on racism and stereotypical behavior In addition, a review of effective teaching practices to effectively educate English Language Learners is included

As a final point, a review of high quality professional development will be

presented

Chapter Two

Teachers’ professional development and the ability to positively impact the education of English Language Learners are directly correlated However, the professional development in the Veritasville Public Schools has not created the desired impact for English Language Learners Significant research has been conducted around the specific needs of English Language Learners, but only a few isolated programs have the commitment to support teacher training to

effectively educate English Language Learners

There are three major themes identified in the literature related to this

research study The first theme centers on the major issues embedded in the belief systems of teachers educating students different from themselves The second focuses on how teachers’ teaching is influenced by their beliefs and expectations Along with that, the review of the literature connects how racism and stereotypical behavior have kept teachers from becoming effective when educating English Language Learners Lastly, the theme of high quality

professional development for classroom teachers educating English Language Learners was explored

Beliefs of Teachers

Among the most important aspects affecting teacher beliefs are the racially embedded belief systems Pablo Freire presents a good introduction to the understanding of race relations among educators Once we begin to “name”

(Freire, 1970/2000) racism and Whiteness in the US, and once we take a closer look at their influences on American society and the fact that nearly 90 percent of American school teachers are White and nearly 50 percent of all American

school children are people of color, it begins to become an alarming issue (Lara 1994) Included in the growing number of children of color is the growing

population of English language learners, which is increasing faster than “two and

a half times the rate of the general student population” (US Congressional

Record, 1989, as cited by Claire, 1995, p 189; 2000 Census)

This discrepancy between teachers and their students is also clearly reflected

in teacher preparation programs where Whites make up 86 percent of

pre-service teacher enrollment and the vast majority of teacher educators Billings, 1999) White women remain the majority of teachers and future teachers alike (Ladson-Billings, 1999; Suarez-Orozco, 2000) Given this population,

(Ladson-Ladson-Billings (1999) asks, “Where are the voices to challenge the

dysconscious racism (King, 1991) so prevalent among prospective teachers?” (p 226) With so many White teachers, teacher educators, and teacher education students, there are very few voices, indeed, to challenge the subtle and

pervasive forms of racism In light of these numbers, it is absolutely necessary that White people, and particularly White educators, take up the discussion of our own role in racism (Scheurich, 1993)

Several studies have presented the idea of different stages of racial identity among educators Helms’ (1990) created a process model of White racial

identity This model is a theoretical tool helpful in understanding the relationship between Whiteness and racism As a theoretical tool, it can be extremely helpful for those interested in better understanding Whiteness and racism Helms’ model

is the most used and most respected White identity model in the social sciences (Carter & Goodwin, 1994; Howard & Denning del Rosario, 2000; McAllister & Irvine, 2000; Tatum, 19921999) It proposes six stages of White racial identity that can help White people better understand the complexities of their racial positionality:

The first stage, Contact, is characterized by “nạve curiosity about or fear of

people of color” (Howard & Denning del Rosario, 2000, p 132) Most Whites begin their examinations of racial identity here

The second stage, Disintegration, is characterized by “discomfort or guilt,

shame, and sometimes anger when faced with recognition of one’s own

advantage based on race” (p.132) The Disintegration stage lives up to its name Those who enter this stage begin to recognize the privileges that characterize Whiteness and often feel as though the rug has been pulled out from under them

It can be a shocking, even frightening experience

The third stage, Reintegration, is a stage of denial where “anger and fear” are

redirected “towards people of color, who are seen as a source of discomfort (p 132) Firm comments such as, “Black people are racist too”, characterize this stage Helms’ notes that, “In this society, it is fairly easy to remain or fixate at the Reintegration stage, particularly if one is relatively passive in one’s expression of

it” (Helms, 1990, p 60) Indeed without perseverance and not a small amount of courage, it is very easy to remain in this stage indefinitely

If one can break free of the Reintegration stage, he or she can move on to the

Pseudo-Independent stage, which Helms describes as “the first stage of

redefining a positive White identity” (p 60) In this stage, feelings of White

superiority are abandoned but the residual White identity is negative Individuals

in this stage may try to “help” people of color “help themselves” as they do not yet see the responsibilities of Whites in the battle against racism Moreover, those in the Pseudo-Independent stage may negatively characterize Whiteness and feel uncomfortable in their own skin Only when the individual begins “the quest for a better definition of Whiteness” does she or he move out of the

Pseudo-Independent stage and “into the Immersion/Emersion stage” (emphasis

added) (p 62) Individuals in this stage are explorers with lots of questions

The sixth and final stage proposed by Helms is Autonomy, which is

characterized by a positive White identity coupled with active antiracist beliefs and actions Those who make it to Autonomy spend the rest of their lives working

to better understand themselves and to fight against racism While Autonomy is the goal, those who reach this stage do not have all the answers and do not suddenly lead un-racist lives Because racism permeates our society, to be

completely un-racist is impossible (Scheurich, 1993) Rather, those in the

Autonomous stage realize the depth of the problem and try to do something about it The challenge to overcome racism never ends, although the strength

one finds in finally understanding her or his White positionality makes the

struggle less difficult

Educational researchers optimistic enough to try to move their undergraduate students from the Contact stage to the Autonomous stage over one semester have been disappointed (Lawrence, 1998) Sleeter (1993), likewise, claimed defeat after a two-year series of workshops trying to transform the beliefs of practicing teachers It is important, then, to realize that attention to White racism through just one venue over a relatively short period of time is not enough to guide students through several different stages Several semesters of intensive attention to White racism and White identity would be needed to move most students and teachers to the Autonomy level (Lawrence, 1998) Another point that must be taken into consideration is that not all White pre-service and

practicing teachers begin their examination of Whiteness in the Contact stage of White Racial identity They can begin this exploration from any different stage of the model (Lawrence, 1998, McAllister & Irvine, 2000; Tatum, 1999) Moreover, most Whites examining their own Whiteness show characteristics of different stages at the same time (McAllister & Irvine, 2000)

In a competitive society in which success and the ability to succeed is

intimately related to academic achievement and assimilation of middle class values, the chance to obtain the skills necessary to succeed is not equally

available to every individual, in particular to English Language Learners Poor, racial and language minority children are at a disadvantage because the system

has consciously or unconsciously created obstacles preventing them from

gaining high academic achievement English Language Learners share similar characteristic to those of poor and minority children In Veritasville about 70% of the families of English Language Learners live below the poverty line They are in

an acculturation process in which similar perceptions and assumptions are made

of them They have many challenges in the new setting; language, economic hardship, and more importantly, the disenfranchisement of many English

Language Learner groups in America such as Latino students and English

Language Learners who are characterized by having the lowest academic

performance among “at risk” groups in education Tracking systems, language use, test designs, and lack of involvement of minority teachers and parents are some of the major hurdles faced by poor, racial and language minority children today

Other studies conducted by Leacock (1971), Rist (1970), and Delpit (1995) have exposed some of these major problems and provided an understanding of the different embedded beliefs and practices commonly used to educate

underserved students This body of research is not only specific to minority

students but demonstrates similar trends of performance affecting the education

of English Language Learners These researchers present culture as a complex interaction, strongly influenced by economic and social institutions that change individuals as well as the society in which they live The culture of poverty is viewed through a variety of lenses depending on who is making the analysis

Most of the research used to explain cultural differences has to be carefully analyzed to understand the context within which the subject is being viewed Sociologists and social psychologists have adopted a variety of concepts from anthropology to understand the social conditions leading to differences in-group behavior

Based on the common perception of subcultures, too many tend to believe that these minorities are poor because they want to be poor Society assumes the poor are the only ones responsible for their condition, essentially, because they do not have the desire or the initiative to move toward a middle class set of principles The families of English Language Learners in the great majority enter society at the bottom of the economic spectrum They find many limitations because of lack of support systems, language, and representation in the new setting There is a perception that the only cultural values and preferences

acceptable are those that characterize the middle class The major assumption made by the culture of poverty theorists is that the pattern of poverty is

perpetuated by itself These theorists claim that by the time children reach the age of 6 or 7, they have usually absorbed the basic values and beliefs of their culture On the other hand, middle class society oppresses various segments of the population, usually blacks and minorities, by maintaining the same set of circumstances designed originally with one thing in mind: the well-being of the white population in America Moreover, society invokes this “standardization” of

values to measure every other class of its people The outcome is that certain groups fail to live up to “middle class” ideals

Any number of factors can affect teacher expectations of what an incoming pupil is apt to achieve A child’s pigmentation or his or her accent or grooming can play a part A teacher may start off expecting much or little depending on whether the name on the roll is Juan Fernandez or Rachel Lefkowitz or Mario Ruffini or Viola Washington In short, the general aura of expectation may include

a subtle blending of subjective, even idiosyncratic, values, with some prevailing stereotypes thrown in These are not easy things to isolate and measure Indeed, they don’t always rise to a level of conscious awareness in the teacher’s mind

In a study based on interviews with a large number of teachers in Chicago, Howard Becker (1952) analyzed the responses of teachers to children from different social class backgrounds Becker claimed that the teacher’s perception

of the child’s ability to do school work determined her actual teaching techniques:

“the teacher expects that the amount of work and effort required of her will vary inversely with the social status of her pupils… Such consequences of the

teacher’s differential reaction to various class groups obviously operate to further perpetuate those class-cultural characteristics to which they object in the first place” Becker (1952) was vitally interested in the motivations behind the

discriminatory behavior of teachers He recognized the profound impact of the teacher’s self image on his perceptions of children Not only did middle-class teachers find it difficult to develop effective pedagogical strategies for conveying

information to lower-class children, not only did teachers have a hard time

disciplining such children, but they also seemed deeply offended by them He also adds “In terms of physical appearance and condition, lower class children disgust and depress the middle class teacher.” On the other hand, the

responsiveness and similarities of middle-class children to themselves made the teachers feel successful and rewarded in their work and increased their self-esteem as competent professionals The actions, behaviors, and values of

middle-class children were familiar, non-threatening and anticipated, while those

of lower-class children were viewed as disruptive and threatening Becker (1952) appreciated that teachers are human, need support and reinforcement and that if deprived of these they are likely to project their negative feelings onto their less powerful students The teacher’s feelings and perceptions about the abilities of children in class are largely a reflection of how successful teachers feel at

making them learn

Another study by Kohn (1973) revealed teacher expectations of Mexican students based on appearance The researcher proposed to find out whether teachers agreed or not on how “American” or how “Mexican” a child looked “You don’t stereotype a kid as Mexican, meaning having attributes of disinterest in academic things, less ability to learn, etc unless you perceive him as Mexican” The elementary school had over a fourth of the students with Spanish surnames They lived primarily in a low-income neighborhood with accompanying crowded, little homes, extended families under one roof, periodic trips back to Mexico, with

mostly Spanish spoken at home With a district policy at the time of grouping youngsters in the classrooms by reading achievement, most of the Mexican children were in the low groups After the teachers sorted the colored

photographs of all the Mexican kids according to their perception of which looked more Mexican, results indicated that those few children found in the top ability classes looked more American to their teachers When teachers in other schools who did not know the children sorted their photographs, there was no agreement

on appearance with the teachers who did know them On the other hand, when both groups of teachers sorted photographs of children nobody knew, the

correlation of agreement was over 90%

All of this suggests that teachers in general agree on which kids are looking, provided they don’t know them Once they know them, those that are achieving higher look more American to them What is American looking? What

Mexican-is Mexican? No definitions were given to any of the teachers involved in the study, and no one asked for any Each knew precisely what the words meant This in itself is merely interesting unless you put stereotyping with it

The central premise of this introduction to stereotyping is that whether they are aware of it or not, teachers teach to the stereotype Children who look as though they can make it in the world of the middle class are taught more, learn more, and fulfill the prophecy of the teacher by achieving better than those

he/she perceives as not able to “join the club” They, too, fulfill a prophecy by failing, which reinforces a teacher’s stereotyping in any subsequent class

Generalizing, or stereotyping, can be a means of making a rapid decision Blue walls are depressing Dobermans are vicious English food is flat Cats give you ringworms Latin men are romantic Latins are lousy lovers Under certain circumstances, each statement is true Under other circumstances the

statements are false If a primary grade teacher insists upon stereotyping all blue walls, English food, Dobermans and cats and/or one of the contradictions about Latin men, he/she causes no grave damage to the children in his/her classroom But does he/she stop here? What about creating winners and losers by

stereotyping? In an elementary school it happens all the time because the

children are at an age when they believe about themselves what the teacher believes about them Middle-class children are often seen as capable of higher achievement than lower-class children And Anglos are seen as having better potential than Browns or Tans or Blacks And cold-country foreign accents are indicative of higher ability than warm-country accents And, and, and

Research shows that in this nation dark-skinned people are valued less than light-skinned people When people looked at pictures of people’s faces and asked to match character traits (i.e untrustworthy, suspicious-looking,

undependable) they found something else As soon as people were told that certain pictures were of light-skinned Negroes, the attributes changed from positive to negative The people judging the pictures were, of course, middle-class Whites (Secord, 1956)