Essential Program Components for Meeting the Learning Needs of Students with Limited or Interrupted Formal Education
Closer Connections Conference / Sioux Falls, SD / Nov. 10, 2015Keynote address by Jill A. Watson, Ph.D.Watson Educational ConsultingAdjunct Graduate Faculty, Hamline University
Agenda1. Overview of SLIFE population
2. Learning challenges of SLIFE in schools
3. Key program components for meeting SLIFE learning needs
What is SLIFE educational background?
Prior to entering U.S. schools:
No or limited prior educationNo or very little literacy in ANY
languageNo or very little English
proficiencyOften, no or little academic or
literacy history in family “Refugee Experience” (CAPM, 2012)
How many SLIFE are there in schools?Minnesota: Exact figures impossible,
prior education data not collected in the past
A careful estimate: 15,000 – 25,000 SLIFE in MN schools
(Watson & Bigelow, 2014)
22 – 36% of all ELs in MN schools are SLIFE
Are SLIFE at risk?Trauma / PTSD: family loss, violence (WIDA,
2015)Acculuration challenges (WIDA, 2015)Limited English / literacy / academicsAge of initial literacy / schooling is major
factor in learning rate (Thomas & Collier, 1997, 2002)Poverty, vulnerable to crime, gangs (Ouk, 2015)High drop-out rate
25% of all HS drop-outs are ELs, 70% of EL drop-outs are SLIFE (Fry, 2005)
Low awareness of SLIFE needs in U.S. K-12 schools
Second Language Acquisition research, teacher preparation, and PD: focus on K-12 language learners with previous schooling and literacy in L1
(first language)
Recent increase in K-12 SLIFE focus Bigelow (2010); Bigelow & Watson (2012); Bigelow, Tarone, Hanson (2009); DeCapua & Marshall (2011), Freeman & Freeman (2002) , Menken (2013); Montero, Newmaster & Ledger, 2014); Watson (2010, 2012); WIDA Focus on SLIFE (2015)
Low awareness of SLIFE
Administrators & teachers (even ESL) are often unaware of the particular profile and needs of SLIFE
This group often not recognized as distinct from ELs with significant / age-level prior schooling
SLIFE recognition: A few exceptions
New York DoE: offical SLIFE guidelines Boston: consent decree to educate SLIFE: Hyde Park HS for SLIFE (Walsh, 1999)
Faribault, MN: specific SLIFE Newcomer Program (Ouk, 2015)
Minnesota: since 2014, official SLIFE definition and data collection requirement in MN law, per LEAPS Act
SLIFE: a unique learner profile
Have come of age in an oral paradigm rather than a paradigm of literacy.
Cognitive / social maturation in an oral paradigm brings with it characteristic orientations to learning and life.
(Akinnaso, 2001; Battiste & Henderson, 2000; Bigelow, 2012; Bigelow & Watson, 2012; Bryce Heath, 1983; DeCapua & Marshall, 2013; Mosha, 2000; Olson & Torrance, 1991; Ong, 1982; Tarone, Bigelow, & Hansen, 2009; Watson, 2010, 2012)
Affordances of OralitySpecific Skills
transfixed listening, oration, memorization
Favored Forms stories, proverbs, fixed expressions, long / epic poetry
Orality vs. Literacy Continuum: A cognitive, cultural, & axiological distinctionLiteracy-based education Orality-based
educationGrounded in sight, phonetic alphabetic literacy. Much learning is done alone: reading, writing. Lettered = educated, intelligent.
Grounded in sound, the oral-aural dimension. All learning is physically proximal, face-to-face, premised on mentoring.
Values definition, precision, abstraction, categorical thinking, formal syllogistic reasoning. Discursively sparse, favors detachment, objectivity, subject / object split.
Values contexual understanding, lived experience, practical relevance. Discourse is additive rather than concisely subordinative. Volubility, formulaïc, repeated expressions. Empathetic and participatory.
Knowledge based on referentiability to written authority and demonstrability via objective methods.
Knowledge based on authority of elders, family and kinship relations, lessons of experience, tradition.
Careful, sequential planning, pre-determined outcomes (objectives, standards), meeting goals.
Heuristic—trial and error, development of practical skill and judgment (phronesis).
Individualistic: individual performance
Collectivistic: the common good
Think about it…
Curriculum theorist James MacDonald once quoted Einstein’s question: “What does a fish know about the water in which he spends his life? (MacDonald, 1988, p. 102). From the literacy perspective, the fish knows nothing about water, not the chemical formula, not the temperature of freezing and boiling, not how to purify water or mix it with other substances, nor any of the scientific minutiae that are the province of hydrologists. From the orality perspective, the fish lives and breathes water, is enveloped by water, is born, finds a mate, gives birth in, and dies in water. A fish knows how to navigate water, sensing and responding to its slightest undulations every minute of its life. No one knows more about water than a fish. The difference is precisely to what extent knowledge is conceived as empathetic and participatory as opposed to something one has or wields from a state of separation. Both kinds may be considered knowledge, but not of the same thing, and not with the same costs and consequences (Watson, 2010, p. 201).
Top 3 learning challenges for SLIFE in U.S. schools
1. Learning based on abstraction & formal categories rather than experience, tradition, or the teaching of elders
Abecedary classification
Luria’s (1976) example: tools and wood
Put these objects into two groups:
What is money good for? The coin story
Top 3 Learning challenges for SLIFE in U.S. schools
2. Learning by definition: Meaning as contained in decontextualized vocabulary or formalities of definition rather than experience, tradition, or the teaching of elders
Dictionaries, textual, or technological authority
Establishing definitional proof
Is X really X?
Your mom says you are a T-rex, but are you really?
Determining definitional sufficiency
Does X count as an example of Y?
Classification tasks
Frayer model
Example of an activity practicing definitional sufficiency from ESL Sheltered Science (WIDA 1 & 2 combined, 75% LFS), MN high school
Top 3 learning challenges for SLIFE in U.S. schools
3. Learning that is based on formal reasoning and logic rather than experience, tradition, or the teaching of elders
Luria’s syllogism:
In the far north, where there is snow, all bears are white. Novaya Zembla is in the far north and there is always snow there.
What color are the bears in Novaya Zembla? (Luria, 1976)
The journey from orality to literacy
We all begin life in orality Only, ever, a one-way journey Not a mere matter of skills acquisition Journey across a vast semiotic abyss:
Leaving one noesis—an entire way of life—for another
Ong: “You have to die [to orality] to continue living [in literacy]” (1982)
A long way to travel from no school experience at all, or, for the lucky few, from a school like this one in Dadaab camp in Kenya:
Or this Karen school in a camp in Thailand:
Or this one in Mexico:
To the palaces of literacy we are accustomed to in the Western academic tradition…
The George Peabody Library, Baltimore, MD
Harper Memorial Library,University of Chicago
We live in a culture so saturated in artifacts of literacy that we find this stash of obsolete books, to be discarded, in a MN school basement…
Hyperliterate Culture (Smith, 2006)
Equitable, culturally responsive education for SLIFESLIFE education is an equity issue
as significant as race, gender, exceptionality, and other areas of equity focus.
Culturally responsive education is necessary to make the transition from orality to literacy and success in school and life in the U.S.
From SLIFE background to MN schools: A journey across a vast abyss (Watson, 2010)
What does it mean for educators in the receiving community to recognize this abyss?
What components should
appropriate instructional programs for SLIFE contain?
Key Program Components for Serving SLIFE
Not a yes / no issue!
Quality and routinization are paramount if the practices are
to benefit SLIFE
Key Component #1: Custom intake, assessment, initial services
English proficiency assessments W-APT (WIDA) Custom assessment for lowest literacy levels (eg. ELLA)
Native language literacy assessment
Content knowledgeContent knowledge assessment
math symbols, maps, charts concepts
Important: ensure that these assessments are not based on knowledge of English.
Prior education: how much, quality
Records (if any): interpret with care
Develop a custom prior education intake questionnaire (eg. Marshall, 2013)
Prior education: how much, quality
Informal family interviews in L1 interpretors required (not optional) don’t assume family literacy ask about: number of years, months per year, hours per day, which subjects, assessments, how many students in class, location (U.S., abroad, public / private / refugee camp)
SLIFE definition in MN law
An English learner with limited formal schooling is defined as a student who:
comes from a home where the language usually spoken is other than English, or usually speaks a language other than English
enters school in the United States after grade 6has at least two years less schooling than the
English learner's peers functions at least two years below expected
grade level in reading and mathematicsmay be preliterate in the English learner's native
language (HF 3062, 2014).
Health concernsPsychological trauma: violence, family
loss or separation, flight / homelessness
Physical injury, malnutrition, illnesses
Exceptionality
Discuss in family interview, check health records
Develop student profile & connect with initial services (continuum)
Counseling: necessary for many SLIFE (WIDA, 2015)
Acculturation PTSD
School nurse (vision, hearing, general)
Special education referral Immediately if indicated, eg. clear MR, TBI Don’t delay up to 2 years– convene team
and move quickly to support students
Key Component #2: Truly connect with ethnic community, elders
Students in school with same or similar culture/language
Cultural liaison adults in school, district
Ethnic community organizations: create partnerships, in-school reps
Home visitsAdministrators, teachers
Summer, before school starts
During the year, as warranted
Schools who do home visits say: “Essential component for serving SLIFE”
Welcoming environment in school for SLIFE & families
Visuals: flags, posters, artwork
Cultural festivals in school Students perform, contribute Admin, teachers , staff attend
Conferences with interpretors, no literacy assumed Transportation for families
Integrate elders & traditionsLiaisons
Behavioral support
Elders in the classroom: experts, oral sources Elders as Fonts of Knowledge approach▪ Will discuss in follow-up session
Traditional practices, history included in content
Key Component #3: Appropriate curriculum, scheduling, support
Adolescent SLIFE need custom instruction & more time:Newcomer program, base on intake
profile: 1-2 year academy: acculturation, basic skills
Separate classes
5 – 6 year graduation plan (per profile)
Scheduling, courses
EL service: direct ELD through Level 4
Level 1 class: custom for SLIFE & non-SLIFE
Master scheduling preference (WIDA, 2015) Schedule early in process to ensure right teachers and courses for their pathway
Appropriately challenging: i + 1, ZPDGuiding principle: Challenge, not overwhelm
Courses in student’s i+ 1 (Krashen, 1988);;Zone of Proximal Development (Vygotsky, 1978); Match to student challenge level (Nebelsick, 2015)
Progressive, targeted, sheltered instruction: EL and content
Avoid premature co-teaching No evidence of effectiveness with SLIFE
(Honigsfeld, 2012)
Scheduling approaches▪ Immediate push-in: PE, Art, FCS,
Industrial / Ag Arts; modified grading, Pass / Fail
▪ Basic Skills focus in ESL classes: Math, Science, Social Studies
▪ Sheltered content for SLIFE Levels 1 & 2 ▪ Clustered scheduling in core content
when SLIFE ready: ESL teacher meaningfully co-teaching, or para support
Support Resource period in the day
Computer lab period: Imagine Learning, Rosetta Stone, Raz-kids reading, Accelerated Reader, etc. Read 180 is not ideal
After-school, summer tutoring
L1 support in and after class L1 literacy classes
Paras in newcomer & clustered classes
Key Component #4: Customized SLIFE instruction: ENL & content
Build from SLIFE affordances:
Orality - ListeningProverbs, stories, poetryElders, traditionsActual experience, practical relevanceCollectivistic culture (DeCapua & Marshall, 2010,
2012) SLIFE need face-to-face instruction, not only
or primarily on-line or technology-enabled
Language support: L1Plan and implement structures
for L1 use
Word / picture notebooks L1 oral turn-and-talk exchange:
negotiate meaning L1 stories translated to English L1 literacy class, content Consider: Imagine Learning, iLit
software
Language support: ENL DevelopmentGuided literacy instruction
Phonemic awareness (WIDA, 2015)
Structured dialog to literacy (Watson, 2014)
Running records (Montero, Newmaster, & Ledger, 2014)
PALS Partner reading (McMaster, Miura, Kao, & Watson, 2011)
Academic language Vocabulary AND structures needed to access content
Thematic / project-based instruction
Recall: SLIFE struggle with abstract, decontextualized definitions & content
Content – language integrationBridge from SLIFE approach to
academic mode (DeCapua & Marshall, 2011)Accomodates group work
(collectivist orientation)
Instructional supports
Realia (actual items)PicturesVideosCharts, concept mapsKey vocabulary lists that remain postedTotal Physical Response, role-playsLanguage Experience Approach
Visuals and movement are not just for elementary school!
Structured interaction: Crucial for SLIFE (oral background)
Routine, Integrated, Structured, Academic (RISA), (Watson, 2014)
Infuse into regular practice in all subjects
Routine formats minimize confusion
Structure it: Don’t just say, “Now talk…”
Watson’s law: “Instruction that uses only reading, writing, and the teacher talking dooms SLIFE to fail.”
Key Component #5: Build capacity of all staff to meet SLIFE needs
General PD on SLIFE for all staff
Custom, on-going, job-embedded PD for staff who work with SLIFE Teachers, counselors, nurse, coaches, administrators
Professional collaborationSLIFE PLC for relevant staff
4 - 6 times per year Invite community members, parents
Google doc or other format to share information
Accountability
Develop performance review procedures for administrators & teachers that evaluate readiness and skill to serve SLIFE appropriately
Include SLIFE skills on observation rubrics
Key Component #6: Plan for post-high school transition
Many SLIFE face the age-out limit: 21 years old in MN
Resist pressures to rush graduation
HS diplomas not based on actual skills are meaningless
Many (diploma’d) SLIFE flounder after HS
Facilitate transition to ABE
ABE teacher visit HS class
Tour ABE facility
As appropriate, tell SLIFE and families upon intake that they may end up completing their diploma in Adult Ed
Post-secondary options
During SLIFE HS experience, through courses and counseling, support students in exploring:
Realistic employment optionsVocational education (Krashen, 2015)Community collegeUniversity
Come!
You’re 18 years old, don’t know English, and didn’t have a chance to attend school or learn to read before?
Come! (cf: Nebelsick, 2015)
Be a SLIFE educational leader
SLIFE education is one of the most under-recognized, but most urgent school equity issues
SLIFE futures depend on your leadership and advocacy!
MinneSLIFE Spring Mini-Conference Saturday, April 23, 2016
4th annual event, put on my MinneSLIFE– Standing committee of MinneTESOL
Held at Hamline Univeristy, St. Paul 1:00 – 5:00 pm (approx.) Refreshments included Keynote + breakout sessions, all on SLIFE issues Teacher clock hours (CEUs) available Registration is appreciated but not required Free -- all are welcome Website: https://sites.google.com/site/minneslife/ Contact me (Jill Watson) for more info
Thank you for your participation!
Jill A. Watson, Ph.D. Watson Educational ConsultingAdjunct Graduate Faculty,Hamline University
Website: www.watsoneducationalconsulting.comEmail: [email protected]: 763.458.1167