Benefits of Bilingualism

I recently came across an article on BroadyESL on the benefits of bilingualism. I often wondered this before, however when I came across this it seemed to answer all of my questions. Some benefits include linguistic, cognitive, and linguistic benefits, individual benefits, as well as social benefits.

http://www.sc-languages-plus.info/2013/language-learning/the-benefits-of-bilingualism-06041163

School Policies and Practices

Below are school policies and practices that support high quality learning.

• Schoolwide vision of high expectations for all students
• Curriculum offered to all students is based on the same standards
• All students are provided with equal opportunities to achieve at high levels
• All studwents are provided with equitable learning resources and high quality instruction
• Instructional time is organizer to enhance learning for all students
• There is ongoing professional development for teachers to support high quality learning for ELL students
• Schools support appropriate use of accomodations
• Schoolwide understanding of purpose and use of a variety of assessments
• Assessments are fair for all students. Guidelines are in place to avoid cultural bais
• Ass assessments are used to improve student learning

Lachat, Mary Ann (2004). Standards-Based Instruction and Assessment for English Language Learners. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press

Effective Learning Environments

Effective learning environments for ELLs have several important practices:

- A comprehensive, school wide vision for developing a high quality education for ELLs

- A school wide approach used to restructure learning environments

- Effective language development strategies implemented

- High quality learning environments involve curricular strategies that engage students in meaningful, in-depth learning

- Innovative instructional strategies are implemented

Lachat, Mary Ann (2004). Standards-Based Instruction and Assessment for English  Language Learners. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press

Assessment of English Language Learners

Colrin Colorado put together a video on assessing English Language Learners. The three top challenges for teaching and assessing ELLs include language, culture and prior academic experiences. In this video, Dr. Lorraine Valdez Pierce discusses the importance of classroom strategies for assessment.

http://www.colorincolorado.org/webcasts/assessment/

Effective Assessment

I recently came across the link below that discusses the importance of effectively assessing ELL students. This link shows wonderful examples that allow for ELLs to show what they are capable of doing. 
http://www.cal.org/resources/digest/tannen01.html

Games as a Formative Assessment

Dr. Broady posted an article that describes different forms of assessments that can be used in the classroom. I personally really enjoyed this article- it is one that is definitely worth sharing with the teachers you work with! This article provides a variety of assessment strategies that still provide measurable feedback. Standardized testing does provide feedback, however it does not cover multiple forms of intelligence. The assessments found are very engaging for all ages of students and are helpful at measuring your students' academic progress.

http://broadyesl.wordpress.com/2012/10/01/games-as-formative-assessments/

Standards Implementation Issues for ELL's

Most studies on school reform have not included ELL’s. Issues include developing academic and English proficiency, addressing the varied needs of ELL’s, or implications of emerging assessments. “The notion of ‘one size fits all’ will not work, and that even the most promising approaches to instruction and assessment cannot be offered uniformly to all populations” (46). There is also concern with the use of standards with students who have not developed full English proficiency. Standards implementation is based on if the teachers have the resources and know how to implement these standards. This does not take into account that some students aren’t ready to perform near proficiency level. Two challenges that need to be taken into account for ELL’s includes the wide diversity in language/literacy/skills, and the wide knowledge gaps in the education field. Schools are deficient to making sure ELLS are performing at high levels. To be completely honest, my school last year functioned this way. There was no accountability of ELL students performing at higher levels. This year, however, we have a new district coordinator and she has made sure to educate teachers and help move students forward. Standards- setting has given little consideration to how diverse students are. Applying standards fairly to diverse students requires attention be taken on to how these standards can be connected to instruction. This will help students with a variety of English proficiency levels to develop higher- level skills.

Lachat, Mary Ann (2004). Standards-Based Instruction and Assessment for English
           Language Learners. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press