Miami-Dade County Public Schools Division of Bilingual Education and World Languages Dr. Joanne H. Urrutia Co

1. Miami-Dade County Public Schools Division of Bilingual Education and World Languages Dr. Joanne H. Urrutia Council of the Great City Schools BIRE Conference May 2008

2. Annual New Foreign Student Registration 19, 496 18,578 15,309 14,921 13,090 13,285 12,435

3. Top Ten Foreign Languages Used as Primary Language by Students • Other Chinese Languages denotes languages other than Cantonese and Mandarin • Source: Student Database System, compiled by the Office of Accountability and Systemwide Performance

4. Enrollment in Bilingual Programs

5. Policy Driven Reform

6. Policies Driving Reform All educational reform is executed within the context of existing and/or emerging policies at the: • National level • State level • District level • School level

7. National Level: No Child Left Behind Act • State academic standards • Assessment and accountability system • Instructional programs supported by scientifically-based research • High academic expectations for all students • Specific measurable performance objectives for various subgroups (FRL; ESE; ELL; etc)

8. NCLB and English Language Learners (ELL) • Monitor progress • Academic achievement (Title I) • English proficiency (Title III) • Challenges: • How to measure academic progress of ELL • Use valid measures to monitor academic achievement (simplified language or native language) • Development of ELL standards and assessments • Identify programs that are supported by scientifically-based research proven effected with ELL

9. State Level • Florida was already implementing many of the policies that were later incorporated in the NCLB. • 1990 LULAC Consent Decree • Teacher certification requirements on second language strategies • Curriculum requirements • 1999 Florida’s A+ Accountability Plan • Florida Comprehensive Achievement Test • School grades – based on FCAT

10. Legal Rulings & Guidelines • Florida Administrative Code Rule • Limited English Proficient (LEP)* students are entitled to “equal access to instruction in English which is equal in amount, sequence and scope, as that provided to non-LEP students.” (6A-6.0900-6A-6.0908, F.A.C.) * Also referred to as English Language Learners (ELL)

11. District’s Implementation • Ensure availability of instructional resources: personnel and materials (district and federal funds) • Implement coherent, standards-based curriculum and instruction • ELL must have access to grade level instruction while they are learning English • Instructional time must be equal to standard curriculum students • Superintendent’s initiative: • score cards linking student achievement (by subgroups) with evaluation of administrative staff

12. School Level • Instructional leadership: • Principal is knowledgeable of needs of ELLs and best instructional practices • Highly qualified teachers work with ELLs • Build capacity for all teachers to provide comprehensible instruction to ELL: • Provide explicit English language development instruction • Provide access to grade level academic content using ESL techniques or native language where possible • Ensure availability of quality instructional materials

13. Special Programs for English Language Learners

14. Instructional Programs • English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) • Basic Skill in the Home Language • Heritage Language Arts • Spanish and Haitian-Creole • Curriculum Content in the Home Language • Mathematics, Science, and Social Sciences • Individualize tutoring in the native language during and after school

15. Elementary Programs • Two hours of daily instruction in language arts/reading/writing/ESOL • 150 minutes weekly of language arts in the home language • 45 minutes daily of curriculum content in the home language (mathematics and science)

18. Secondary Courses • English Through ESOL • students grouped by grade levels • Developmental Language Arts Through ESOL • students grouped by English proficiency levels • Bilingual Curriculum Courses (BCC) • mathematics, science, or social sciences • offered when there are sufficient numbers of ELL students • Home Language Assistance Program (HLAP) • a dedicated bilingual teacher or paraprofessional to provide assistance/tutoring in the home language

19. Curriculum • Programs are guided by a Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) • Equivalent to grade-level CBC • Correlated to Florida Sunshine State Standards (SSS) • Guided by performance indicator

20. English Through ESOL CBC Literature Component

22. The Challenge • Meet mandates that require ELL students receive instruction that is equal in scope, sequence, and content to that of non-ELL students. • Provide necessary tools for the success of ELL students as the state raises the academic requirements. • Narrow the achievement gap created by second language acquisition.

23. Collaboration • Close working relationship between the District’s language arts and bilingual departments • Inclusion of ESOL strategies in all core content area • Florida require specific training for all teachers of ELL students • Full integration of instructional technology into the ESOL program

24. Data Driven Instruction • Monitor inclusion of ELL students in all district and state assessments with appropriate accommodations • Analyze ELL student performance data in state academic (FCAT) and English proficiency (CELLA) assessments

25. Assessment and Accountability Policies Use of assessment data to improve student achievement • Annual • State assessment: Florida Comprehensive Achievement Test (FCAT) (reading, writing, math, & science) (English only) • All ELL students participate, included in Florida’s A+ Accountability Plan only after two years in the program. • Results used for third grade retention and graduation from high school. • English proficiency assessment: OLPS-R (to be replaced by state’s CELLA) • Formative assessments • DIBELS, FORF, M-DCPS Interim Assessments, etc. http://oada.dadeschools.net/SAET/20072008TestingCalendar.asp

26. State Data Reports for AYP

27. FCAT Reading Percentages of Students Scoring at or above Achievement Level 3 on the Reading Component of the FCAT-SSS and Florida’s AYP Benchmark (in Red):2003-2007

28. FCAT Mathematics Percentages of Students Scoring at or above Achievement Level 3 on the Mathematics Component of the FCAT-SSS and Florida’s AYP Benchmark (in Red):2003-2007

29. District ELL Longitudinal Study

30. LONGITUDINAL VIEW OF ELL STUDENTS ACADEMIC PROGRESS Percentages of Different ELL Cohort Students Scoring at or above Achievement Level 3 on the Reading Component of the FCAT-SSS and Florida’s AYP Benchmark (in Red)

31. LONGITUDINAL VIEW OF ELL STUDENTS ACADEMIC PROGRESS Percentages of Different ELL Cohort Students Scoring at or above Achievement Level 3 on the Mathematics Component of the FCAT-SSS and Florida’s AYP Benchmark (in Red)

32. Future Plans • Use of new State Instructional Model codes for identification of best practices and instructional models. • Conduct evaluation of instructional technology being implemented in the ESOL program.

33. Continuous Improvement Model A never ending story . . .

34. Miami-Dade County Public Schools Division of Bilingual Education and World Languages Dr. Joanne H. Urrutia jurrutia@dadeschools.net http://www.dadeschools.net