English Learner Evaluation and Accountability Support

Who Should Participate

California district teams, including superintendent, board members, assistant superintendents/directors of curriculum and instruction, categorical programs and English learner program administrators; assessment directors; research and evaluation staff; site administrators, including principals and assistant principals; English learner program coordinators; and interested teachers

Goals of the Institute and Systemic Support

• Build local capacity of district/site leadership teams to evaluate English learner performance and progress in English language development (ELD) and academic achievement.
• Provide a forum and tools for improving curricular, instructional, and assessment practices to effectively assist English learner students.
• Integrate NCLB Title I and Title III English learner accountability requirements into local English learner accountability systems.

Format of the Institute and Support

The institute is offered in three full-day sessions, distributed over four months, so that district teams may complete tasks assigned between sessions. Institutes may be sponsored by county offices or state education agencies for multiple districts or tailored to an individual district. Introductory full-day and half-day sessions are also available. Support services are designed so that a district’s approach to serving English learners can be systemic in nature and in accomplishment. Currently, English Learner Evaluation and Accountability Support (ELEAS) works with a limited number of California districts ranging in size from 9,000 to 66,000 students. Systemic support services require about 20 days per year over a period of two to three years.

What You Learn: Institute Agenda

Session 1: Evaluating English Learner Services and Results for Accountability and Instructional Improvement: Overview and Conceptual Framework:

• Provide framework and tools for evaluating English learner performance data from multiple sources.
• Review essential questions to guide accountability for English learner and former-English learner success.
• Present and discuss strategies for setting performance expectations and monitoring progress in English language development (ELD) and academic core subjects, emphasizing implications of NCLB Title I and Title III accountability requirements.
• Explore applications via district examples. Discuss institute task assignment (due second session).

Session 2: Using and Improving Local English Learner Data for Instructional Decision-Making:

• Review completed Session 1 tasks in teams; receive individual assistance as needed.
• Use WestEd protocol to examine collection and use of local data (demographics, instructional and other services provided, and performance outcomes) to further explore service strengths and needs.
• Provide and review examples of formative assessments for English learners.
• Offer team work-time and individualized consultation on key issues.
• Discuss next institute task assignment (due third session).

Session 3: Addressing Instructional Implications of English Learner Assessment and Accountability Findings:

• Review completed Session 2 tasks in teams; receive individual assistance as needed.
• Use current research to explore the relationship between language and literacy.
• Provide examples of instructional approaches to maximize effective language and literacy learning for English learners.
• Facilitate reporting out from teams on identifying priorities from data, implementing programmatic/instructional changes, and/or planning next steps.
• Offer team work-time and individualized consultation on key challenges and next steps.

Who Facilitates Your Learning

Institute sessions are led by Robert Linquanti, WestEd Project Director and Senior Research Associate, and Zoe Ann Brown, Senior Program Associate, who have expertise and broad experience in helping states, districts, and schools to improve their assessment, evaluation, and accountability policies and systems for English learners. Systemic support services are also provided.

What Resources Support Your Learning

Each institute session includes tools and resources that clearly illustrate principles and concepts and that also allow for adaptation to local circumstances.

What the Research Says

ELEAS grounds its institutes and systemic support services on several strong research bases. The institutes are grounded in formative selfevaluation principles and practices that are highly useful for improving systemic practices and outcomes (Patton, 1997). The institutes advocate and demonstrate how to conduct data inquiries strategically for defining high-yield goals and pursuing continuous improvement in school districts (Schmoker, 1996; Petrides et al., 2005). Systemic support services advocate and aim to cultivate a strong sense of accountability from within educational communities (Newmann et al., 1997). This involves careful implementation and systemic approaches to improving English learner instructional services (August & Hakuta, 1997; Brisk, 1998; GWU, 2005). ELEAS efforts build educators’ capacities to promote high-quality academic language and literacy development and to accelerate English learners’ access to and engagement with grade-level academic subject matter (Carlo et al., 2004; Wong-Fillmore & Snow, 2000; Gibbons, 2002; Harvey et al., 2000; Walqui, 2000; Valdés, 2001). ELEAS also employs pragmatic, constructive, and principled responses to the many challenging issues related to high-stakes accountability for English learners (Abedi, 2004; Linquanti, 2001; Hakuta & Beatty, 2000).

What Participants Report

Over 200 districts have participated in ELEAS institutes since 2003, with comments from participants such as the following:

"Gave me a very clear picture of where we are, extremely helpful for our district in setting up our monitoring of English learner programs. The model expectations are very good as a starting point to write our own."

Districts utilizing ELEAS systemic support services cite outcomes including the following:

• Board-adopted ELD and academic achievement goals for English learners
• Consensus on instructional program expectations (Structured English Immersion; bilingual education; mainstream)
• Revised English Learner Master Plans that have purpose and focus
• Progress monitoring-systems made useful to teachers and stakeholders
• Implementation of student-shadowing methods that illuminate critical areas for professional development
• District study groups engaging in ongoing professional learning around current instructional research
• Compliance with state and federal accountability requirements
• Improved ELD and core academic achievement of English learners

Among districts that ELEAS has supported most extensively, Garden Grove Unified School District — with over half of its 50,000 students being English learners — was recently awarded the $500,000 Broad Prize for Urban Education.

Cost

The three-day institute is approximately $17,000, plus travel expenses. Systemic support services are about $25,000–$30,000 per year, plus travel expenses.

Contact Information

Robert Linquanti
510.302.4235
rlinqua@wested.org