Systems Approach to ELL Achievement: Hillsboro, Oregon

Path to Success: Improving equitable access and academic rigor for long-term English learners Paul R. Hanson, Science Teacher and Department Coordinator, Liberty High School, Hillsboro, Oregon PDF “A school with high academic optimism is a collectivity in which the faculty believes it can make a difference, that students can learn, and that high academic performance can be achieved.” – Hoy, Tarter, & Hoy, 2006 Long-term English learners at Liberty High School have experienced tremendous academic growth over the past four years. It hasn’t been easy, but thanks to a few pivotal changes, our school has turned a corner in the achievement – and confidence level – of English learners. In 2010-11, Liberty’s long-term English learners (LTELs) were doing the bare minimum amount of coursework they needed to graduate. Very few risked taking advanced social studies or language arts, and most took the minimum number of science and math classes. There was a glaring difference between the demographics of our advanced classes and of our school as a whole. The vast majority of Liberty’s LTELs are Hispanic. Four years ago, these students were falling into a huge opportunity gap: Hispanic enrollment was less than 20% of total course enrollment in advanced courses across the curriculum. Liberty’s staff wanted to close that gap and change the trajectory for LTELs. Our target was to increase Hispanic enrollment in advanced courses to 40%, to be reflective of our school demographics. Since 2011, we’ve made significant changes that are leading to impressive growth in access and achievement for LTELs. The graphs above tell the story: we’re seeing a trend of steady growth in Hispanic enrollment in all advanced courses, from science to language arts. For instance, in 2014-15, these students’ enrollment in AP European History is forecasted to be 47.22% – a big step up from 10.52% four years ago. Enrollment in our Portland State University Senior Inquiry program, a series of interdisciplinary college-level courses, is projected to be almost 50% Hispanic next year. The improvements for LTELs correspond with increasing numbers of students choosing to do the advanced/honors work in foundational courses. In 2010-11, only 17 students enrolled in AP Biology; that number jumped to 60 in 2011-12 and then to 120 in 2013-14. We’ve also had a substantial decrease in failure rates: the freshman failure rate dropped from 15% in 2009-10 to 6.2% the next year, and to less than 5% two years later. We’ve also seen a significant increase in students electing to take science courses beyond those required for graduation. Rather than avoid science as they did before, many students are now taking two science classes in one year. Three key factors have made these improvements possible: 1. Liberty High School staff believes that we have the ability to improve student achievement. We’ve created a culture of academic optimism – a shift in how teachers view students and how students view themselves as able to be successful with appropriate scaffolding. The school’s leadership is instilled with a value of success for all students, and the entire staff shares the belief that we want to engage and challenge all of our learners. 2. Our staff wants equity for all students. We don’t want AP classrooms and at-level classrooms to look like two entirely different schools. Previously, we had a traditional tracking system, particularly in the sciences, which resulted in at-level courses turning into remedial courses. We eliminated many of the prerequisites and the tracking, and opened up access to the advanced curriculum. We embedded honors activities within mixed-ability classes so students could opt in to the advanced options. This has created a climate where LTELs feel supported and safe to take the risk to do honors level work. 3. Liberty prioritizes targeted professional development for our staff. We had the vision and the will, but we needed time and training to develop the skills necessary to implement our vision. Our school adopted new approaches to teaching, including E.L. Achieve’s Constructing Meaning, to help us close our achievement gaps. In 2011, Liberty’s core freshman teachers were trained in Constructing Meaning (CM) to build their ability to make content comprehensible for all learners, especially English language learners. CM has been very much a part of creating success for our LTELs. We now have the resources to accelerate our instruction. While we were already providing students with differentiation and opportunities for higher levels of thinking, we needed additional support to know how to include the language instruction that was necessary for them to express the complexity of their thinking. Supporting the development of expressive language has opened many doors for students to engage and achieve. Our staff’s ongoing professional development includes weekly academic seminars to collaborate in developing our academic skills and making content more accessible to more students, as well as peer observations to share feedback and problem-solving strategies. We focus on engagement strategies to capitalize and build upon students’ background knowledge in order to support rigorous and culturally relevant teaching. Thanks to academic optimism, a belief in equity, and targeted professional development, Liberty’s failure rates have dropped while AP numbers have soared and now reflect the cultural and linguistic demographics of our school. But beyond changing the data, we’ve also experienced a paradigm shift in the academic climate, and students have responded phenomenally. Our LTELs have more opportunities for success because they feel safe to take on a challenge. It is exciting to see LTELs who used to say, “I don’t know if I can do it,” now flocking to advanced classes. They are no longer quiet, passive kids sitting on the side, not turning in assignments. They see themselves as being successful and capable. And, there is a greater sense of buy-in and inclusion throughout our whole school community.

ELL Achievement: Not just what you do, but also what you believe. Academic Optimism.

English Learner Achievement: It's not just what you do, but also what you believe By Elizabeth Macías, Director of Secondary Services, and Raquel Núñez, Director of Elementary Services There is little disagreement about some of the challenges English learners face in meeting the content and language demands of grade-level standards. To achieve academic success, students must be able to extract meaning and information from texts, evaluate evidence and relate it to other ideas and facts, and make informed, skillful language choices to express themselves. We know this works, but is there more? • Explicit attention to the grammatical features and vocabulary of English for authentic functional purposes coupled with well-structured, focused, and engaging opportunities for practice (Saunders and O’Brien, 2006; Ellis, 2005; Norris and Ortega, 2006; Keck et al., 2006) • Effective lesson design that includes a gradual release of responsibility (Fisher et al., 2007) • Ample opportunities to develop fluency by “trying out” newly acquired language through structured, engaging, and authentic oral and written practice (Lightbown and Spada, 2006; Norris and Ortega, 2006; Keck et al., 2006): The focus of E.L. Achieve’s work is on building teachers’ skills for delivering explicit language instruction using strong instructional pedagogy. However, the research is clear that achievement for English learners will not improve if teachers and administrators do not also have “academic optimism.” This has led us to highlight three elements that are instrumental for English learners’ success: • Strong instructional pedagogy • Explicit language instruction • “Academic optimism” for English learners These components do not live in isolation. Instead, they work in conjunction to promote academic success. Academic optimism has been conceptualized as a “triadic set of interactions” (Hoy et al., 2007) where collective efficacy supports trust in students and families, which in turn nurtures academic achievement (Kirby, 2009). Academic optimism is a construct that arose out of quantitative studies identifying three related school characteristics that had strong associations with academic achievement. Collective teacher efficacy, academic emphasis, and trust have each been linked to academic achievement, and in each instance the association was so strong that it overcame the effects of socioeconomic status (McGuigan, 2005). In addition to the importance of creating a culture of academic optimism, research has shown that English learners and students of color are more likely to succeed academically when they have strong relationships with teachers and counselors who value their knowledge and experiences – their funds of knowledge. These adults help students navigate the system and make connections between education and students’ individual lives. While one might believe that these relationships are a given, the dropout rates for English learners and students of color in many high schools continue to show that students feel disconnected and struggle to see a place for education in their lives. Students must not only have positive interpersonal connections with adults on campus, but they must also be challenged to reach the highest levels of academic achievement. Often we make assumptions about which students will or will not succeed in school, limiting our expectations of what they can achieve. Unfortunately, students’ smartness is often judged by their behaviors and not by what they actually know (Hatt, 2012). Research indicates that teachers use different instructional approaches based on their perceptions of students’ English proficiency, but their expectations are not always aligned with students’ actual capabilities (Hatt, 2012). Therefore when we examine the construct of academic optimism for English learners, we need to include the ideas of collective and individual teacher efficacy, academic emphasis, and trust. Additionally, it is imperative for English learners that their rich background and knowledge be recognized and incorporated into academic experiences. We must hold the belief that all children can learn and that it’s our responsibility to help them realize success. We also must be committed to gaining knowledge and skills to continuously improve our instructional pedagogy and delivery of explicit language instruction. References Ellis, R. (2005). Principles of instructed language learning. System 33 (2) (pp. 209-224). Fisher, D., Rothenberg, C., & Frey, N. (2007). Language learners in the English classroom. Urbana, Illinois: National Council of Teachers of English. Hatt, B. (2011, 2012). Smartness as a cultural practice in schools. American Educational Research Journal 49(3) (pp. 438-460). American Educational Research Association and Sage Publications. Retrieved from: http://aer.sagepub.com/content/49/3/438 Hoy, W. K., Tarter, C. J., & Hoy, A. (2007). Academic optimism of schools: A force for student achievement. In W. K. Hoy & M. F. DiPaola (Eds.). Essential ideas for the reform of American schools. Charlotte, NC: Information Age. Keck, C. M., Iberri-Shea, G., Tracy-Ventura, N., & Wa-Mbaleka, S. (2006). Investigating the empirical link between task-based interaction and acquisition: A meta-analysis. In J. Norris & L. Ortega (Eds.), Synthesizing research on language learning and teaching (pp. 91–131). Amsterdam: Benjamins. Kirby, M. M. (2009). Academic optimism and community engagement in urban elementary schools. Unpublished Doctoral Thesis. College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA. Lightbown, P., & Spada, N. (2006). How languages are learned. 3rd ed. New York: Oxford University Press. McGuigan, L. B. A. (2005). The role of enabling bureaucracy and academic optimism in academic achievement growth. Unpublished Doctoral Thesis. The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH. Norris, J. M., & Ortega, L. (Eds.) (2006). Synthesizing research on language learning and teaching. Philadelphia: John Benjamins. Saunders, W., & O’Brien, G. (2006). Oral language. Educating English language learners: A synthesis of research. 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Explicit Language Instruction-Needed for ELLs to Construct and Communicate Meaning