Disclaimer

This website was created during non-work hours using donated software, hardware and web hosting. It is intended for discussion, modification and eventual adoption by the Roseville Joint Union High School District (California). Until such process is completed, the opinions expressed on this website are the opinions of the author alone.

Instructional Staff

Staffing

Highly Qualified Teachers

Roseville Joint Union High School District's goal is to provide English Learners with highly qualified teachers who only hold a Professional Credential but are also authorized by credential to work with English Learners as required by California State Law.

Under the federal education act "No Child Left Behind," all teachers in schools receiving Title I funds are mandated to be "Highly Qualified Teachers" HQT is defined in various ways by the federal and state governments. (( find out what the HQT report for the district states))

Teachers in California public schools are required hold a credential with English Learner Authorization prior any EL student enrolling in his/her class. In practical application, this means that all teachers need obtain the authorization.

The authorization is commonly known as "EL Authorization." El authorization has been awarded through a variety of means, mostly coursework and test results. The authorization requirements have changed over the years, resulting in a large number of credentials. Not all credentials authorize the same level of services. The common breakdown is between authorization, SDAIE authorization and ELD authorization.

ELD is the highest level of authorization. It allows the teacher teach and English Language Development class and any SDAIE classes and any Immersion classes for which he/she is otherwise credentialed, such as Math or Social Studies. It is often referred to as a "CLAD" credential - Cross-cultural Language Arts Development credential.

A SDAIE level credential authorizes SDAIE course and Immersion courses for which he/she is otherwise authorized, such as Math or Social Studies. It does not authorize teaching English Language Development.

The teaching credential program for at most universities now includes the topics, so

A list of the various credentials authorizing instruction of English learners is available from the Los Angeles Unified School District:

www.utla.net/system/files/MEM-2049.1.pdf

All RJUHSD teachers have been mandated to obtain the proper authorization by August 1, 2010. A letter was sent the teachers lacking the authorization on March 7, 2008. The district has offered several training classes, and continues to offer training using the district's online server.

There are several means of obtaining the authorization. The district has been and will continue to assist teachers with obtaining the authorization in the following ways:

The English Learner Coordinator for the distinct will:

  1. Disseminate information teachers and administrators regarding the current options for EL authorization
  2. Coordinate with the personnel office for tracking progress towards EL authorization.
  3. Publicize and coordinate enrollment for the RJUHSD on-line CTEL Prep course. The CTEL exam is given twice per year. The district supports the teachers by paying for the course development, the instructor, and the textbook and test fees.

The district maintains a policy of requiring EL authorization prior employment or as a condition of employment.


Training Options for English Learner Authorization

The Consolidated Programs Office and the Personnel Department will work together to ensure that all teachers obtain proper English Learner authorization.

Newly hired certificated teachers without CLAD must apply for an Emergency CLAD certificate and fulfill CLAD requirements as quickly as possible The District offers CLAD exam preparation courses twice per year free of charge district teachers.

The Roseville Joint Union High School District is committed to ensuring that all staff members are knowledgeable about the needs of English Learners.

Participation in outside staff development was greatly reduced during the 2008-2009 school year. During normal budgetary times, the following professional development is available teachers:

  • Learning Targets
  • Beginning Teachers Support Administration (BTSA)
  • Professional Learning Communities (Training provided by The Learning Tree (learningtree.com)
  • Achievement Via Individual Determination

Additional Specialized Training

  • California Teachers of English Learners test preparation course (2006 - ongoing)
  • AB 2913/AB 395 Certificate of Staff Development for English Learner Authorization
  • AB 1292 Certificate of Staff Development for English Learner Authorization
  • PLC Release days for English Language Development teachers (2007 - ongoing)
  • PLC Release day for SDAIE/Immersion teachers (2007 - ongoing
  • Language Aide training (2008 - ongoing)
  • School Site Council compliance training (2006 - ongoing)
  • English Learner Advisory Committee compliance training (2006 - ongoing)
  • California Tomorrow: Leadership in Secondary Education workshop series (2007-2008)
  • Norm Gold Associates: Managing Excellent English Learner Programs workshop series (2008-2009)
  • Updraft for All: English Learners in AVID (2008)
  • English Learners + Special Education workshop at San Joaquin County Office of Education (2007)
  • English Learners + Special Education workshop at Placer County Office of Education (2008)
  • California English Language Development Test: Training of Trainers (2004 - ongoing)
  • California English Language Development Test: Test Administration (2004 - ongoing)
  • California English Language Development Test: Data Analysis (2006 - ongoing)
  • Norm Gold Associates: Writing the Master Plan for English Learners (2010)

Parent Education in Conjunction with Roseville Adult School

  • Parent Institute for Quality Education (PIQE. Piqe.org) 2008, 2009, 2010
  • Yes We Can! (2008 - ongoing)
  • California Department of Education: Title III Accountability Institute (2005 - 2007)
  • CATESOL Annual Conference (2003 - 2008)
  • Achievement Gap Summit (2007)

Title III funding in the department comes with a stipulation for returning from training and disseminating the training to other teachers. The department is working towards implementing training based on the Showers-Joyce model of training and coaching.

Program Expectations

Each English Learner should encounter highly qualified teachers who:

  • Are knowledgeable about the social, cultural and academic needs of English Learners
  • Provide a supportive learning environment that encourages academic success.
  • Provide a classroom environment that promotes interaction between students and teacher as well as students and students.
  • Possess an awareness of development levels of English for the individual capabilities and academic needs
  • Monitor student progress through benchmarks
  • Provide timely and productive feedback the students
  • Use formative and summative assessments
  • Use clear learning targets
  • Use authentic assessments
  • Access the students' background knowledge to connect new learning to prior knowledge
  • Promote transfer of the students' primary language skills to academic performance
  • Utilize appropriate instructional materials
  • Possess an awareness of multicultural diversity
  • Plan appropriate instructional pacing
  • Possess an awareness and appreciation of multicultural diversity both inside and outside the classroom.
  • Use district and taxpayer resources wisely.

Theoretical Frameworks for Program Organization

The department has met and explored a number of options. Individual teachers have been trained in various theoretical frameworks for ELD programs. The ELD teachers have met collaboratively and the content-area teachers have also met and held a similar collaborative discussion.

The ELD teachers have embarked on a process of "AVIDizing" the curriculum and instruction. To this end, some of the teachers will be attending the AVID institute in Sacramento during the summer of 2009.

The SDAIE and Immersion teachers have also started the process of AVIDizing their courses. Some teachers have already had extensive raining in AVID strategies and have implemented strategies in their classrooms. The specific elements of AVID they are adopting for the classrooms include:

The SDAIE and Immersion teachers have also agreed to learn more about the SIOP model (Structured Immersion Observation Protocol) and CALLA (Cognitive Academic Language Learning Approach). CALLA, AVID and SIOP all have similarities and differences. The teachers felt that by using the best of each approach, they could create a hybrid model for optimal use.

Although there is extensive overlap between all four sets of learning strategies, the focus of each one is different. AVID and CALLA focus on teachers and students. Though CALLA focuses more on English Learners, metacognition, academic language and learning strategies. The staff also embraces the strategies highlighted in Robert Marzano's book, "Class room Instruction that Work." The "Marzano strategies" and SIOP are oriented towards instructional practices, and SIOP also focuses on practices that best match the learning needs of English Learners.

The genesis of each approach is slightly different, hence the differences in implementation. CALLA and SIOP were developed specifically for English Language Learners. AVID was developed for college-intending students, and the Marzano strategies are a synthesis of research on effective classroom practices. Overlap between these theoretical frameworks is extensive; for example, all emphasize the use of graphic organizers for accessing prior knowledge and instruction.


Professional Development for Implementation

Well defined plans for improving instruction, and goals of improving state testing scores were highly correlated with improved performance on state tests (Williams 2007). It is therefore imperative that the department carefully delineate our improvement plans.

Professional development will continue take several forms. In order to assure a unified approach to English language development, the SDAIE teachers at Roseville High met to examine frameworks of strategies in order to adopt one that would work for the particular demographic of Roseville High. They determined that SIOP would be an effective model to use to improve instruction in the EL program. Participating in training would be one of the early steps towards implementing SIOP at Roseville High. Staff member Jessica Fork has been trained in SIOP and strongly supports its implementation.

SIOP is a well-constructed set of research-based teaching strategies to use with English Learners. SIOP is a specific approach for lesson planning and delivery that incorporates research-based methodologies for English Learners (Howard 2007). It is based on the research of three CSU Long Beach professors, Deborah J. Short, Jana Echeverria and Mary Ellen Vogt. SIOP has been implemented extensively in the United States and abroad. Research has shown that students who are instructed using the SIOP model score significantly higher and gain more English writing skills than students who are not instructed using SIOP (Howard 2007).

The department will be supporting groups of teachers for training and implementation of the SIOP model in the Immersion and SDAIE classes. The training will be performed (a) by participating in SIOP commercial training, and (b) through PLTs in conjunction with the district PLC/PLT training and implementation. Recommended follow-up will a part of the training and implementation plan. The department will continue to use both AVID and CALLA as frameworks for additional implementation.

Instructional Aides

One of the recommended approaches to English Learners is the use of bilingual instructional aides in the classroom. Primary language support helps develop confidence that allows a student to take learning risks in the new language and new culture (Stipek 2008). Primary language support is used to facilitate comprehension of content (Williams 2007) to allow the student to continue academic content learning while also learning English. The RJUHSD program has embraced this approach and currently has language aides who speak English, Russian and Spanish.

The EL Program recognizes that the most productive use of adults in the classroom is achieved by having well-trained, enthusiastic staff that holds high expectations for itself and for students.

All instructional aides meet the federal "No Child Left Behind" standards for the classroom. In addition, the district provides staff development opportunities through internal training and external sources.

The District holds that the best instruction is attained by staffing classrooms with highly qualified teachers. If one highly qualified teacher in the classroom is good, the District holds that instruction is improved by having two highly qualified teachers in the classroom. Although the minimum requirements for instructional aides does not require a teaching credential, the students and the District are best served by hiring and training aides so their abilities complement and/or exceed the abilities of the classroom teacher. A highly trained language aide supports the teacher in the classroom and provides better instruction for the students. To that end, the District will seek to (a) hire highly qualified individuals, and (b) train all instructional aides with similar training for teacher credentialing.

The district has changed its approach to the language aide labor pool. We will seek to use a mix of permanent staff as well as short-term staff, part-time as well as full-time, to strategically meet both the seasonal demand for skilled language support, the peak needs during the school day, and the extensive range of skills and abilities for the multiple job roles the language aides fulfill.

We are furthermore reevaluating our practices with language aides. We are redefining our work situation in ways that utilize best practices. We seek multitalented individuals who can perform a variety of tasks, and especially in more than one language.

Sources

California Department of Education. English Learner Instrument (Including NCLB). 2011. Accessed at www.cde.ca.gov/ta/cr/documents/el201011c.doc on 14 October 2011

Cobb, C. 2004. Improving Adequate Yearly Progress for English Language Learners. Naperville, IL: Learning Point Associates. www.learningpt.org/pdfs/literacy/aypell.pdf (accessed July 31, 2009).

Howard, E. R., Sugarman, J., Christian, D., Lindholm-Leary, K. J., & Rogers, D. (2007). Guiding principles for dual language education (2nd ed.). Washington, DC: Center for Applied Linguistics. http://www.cal.org/twi/guidingprinciples.htm (accessed October 21, 2009).

Joyce, Bruce and Beverly Showers. Student Achievement through Staff Development. www.ncsl.org.uk/mediastore/image2/randd-engaged-joyce.pdf (accessed 24 July 2009)

Krashen, S. (1997) Why Bilingual Education? ERIC Clearinghouse on Rural Education and Small Schools Charleston WV. www.texastextbooks.org/pdfs/Why_Bilingual_Education.pdf (accessed November 27, 2009)

Thomas, W.P. & Collier, V.P. (2002). A national study of school effectiveness for language minority students' long-term academic achievement. Santa Cruz, CA: Center for Research on Education, Diversity, & Excellence. http://www.crede.ucsc.edu/research/llaa/1.1_final.html

Williams, T., Hakuta, K., Haertel, E., et al. (2007). Similar English Learner Students, Different Results: Why Do Some Schools Do Better? A follow-up analysis, based on a large-scale survey of California elementary schools serving low-income and EL students. Mountain View, CA: EdSource. http://www.edsource.org/iss_research_SimStu_initial.html (Accessed November 24, 2009).