Pull-Out vs Push-In ESL Programs in Elementary Schools
Different Models for Teaching and Coteaching for English Learners YOUTUBE
Push-In ESL Instruction (Itinerant ESL: Lowell, STEM, Hillcrest, Hawthorne, Prarie, Summit View, Meadowbrook and Rose Glen)
During push-in instruction, the ESL teacher comes into the general education classroom to support ELs during content-area lessons. The ESL teacher may be supporting ELs during a mini-lesson next to her students while the general education teacher is teaching, or he or she may wait until instruction is completed and then work with ELs in a small group in the classroom.
There are different configurations as to how to group ELs in small groups and where in the general classroom. One popular push-in model is collaborative or co-teaching, where the ESL teacher instructs side by side with the general classroom teacher, at times leading, at times interjecting with specific language pieces, or at times modeling language strategies for all learners. He or she generally calls on ELs so they get a chance to participate in oral discussions while she scaffolds language for them to communicate effectively and move on the language trajectory.
In both cases, coplanning is needed to define the lesson objectives. This can be done by email, short conversations, using google.doc, via text, or sharing a common planning time.
Common Roles ESL Teachers Play while teaching academic language and content:
- Modeling
- Small Group Guided Instruction
- Conferring
- Conferring, Observing instruction, Co-planning with Content area teacher for language learners based in their ILPs (Individual Language Plans)
Pull-Out ESL Instruction (No Elementary School uses this method)
Pull-out ESL instruction means that the ESL teacher pulls students out of the general education classroom to work in a small group setting in another room. During pull-out instruction, ELs miss instruction that takes place in the general education classroom. Some ESL teachers pull out mixed-level proficiency groups while others pull out by proficiency level (i.e, newcomers, beginners, intermediate, or advanced students). Some practitioners believe that teaching to meet the needs at each proficiency level is beneficial. Others find that students need that mixed proficiency level to receive comprehensible input +1.
Best of Both Worlds: A Hybrid Model (Elementary Intensive ESL: Blair, Banting, Hadfield)
A hybrid model requires buy-in from administrators, professional development for classroom and ESL teachers, and the willingness to collaborate and not work in isolation with a closed-door policy. It is easier for us to pull our students out of their general education classroom, to teach in small groups in our rooms with our strategies and materials at our own and their pace. The affective filter may be lower, they take risks using language, and the results may be faster. However, their lives are in the classroom except for the times we pull them out. Supporting our ELs in the general education classroom accomplishes:
English learners benefit when teachers are
- scaffolding lessons so that they have a chance to shine amongst their classmates and participate in classroom instruction, discussions, projects, and assignments.
- immersing them in a continuous communicative experience with their monolingual peers in order to acquire English.
- implementing comprehensible input +1 so they can learn in their own setting.
- allowing them to stay in the classroom every day so they don’t feel “different” from their peers.
Teachers benefit because they are
- collaborating in planning lessons that include language, skills, and content goals ELs need to perform successfully.
- modeling best practices/strategies for ELs and for all learners.
- demonstrating what makes us language experts and what we can contribute to instruction.
- working in small groups after the lesson is delivered, just like teachers differentiate throughout the day.
- scaffolding so ELs can participate at every level of proficiency in accountable talk, academic conversations, and tasks.
- providing a continuity of instruction that is seamless for the learner.
- learning what the quality of a monolingual’s speech is like.
- ensuring that our students’ experiences are valued the same way as those of their monolingual peers.
These are a few reasons why we should move to this hybrid model, combining push-in or coteaching models for all ELs while additionally pulling out newcomers and very low-proficiency students to support them in small group instruction.
In everyday life, we all work in groups with people who have different levels of skills and competencies, language being just one of them. Replicating real life in the classroom is a way to teach life skills to all students
