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Implementing Project G.L.A.D: A case studyClaudia Rodriguez-Mojica

The problemEL academic underachievementPrimary language instruction is idealNot all ELs have access to L1 instructionMost ELs receive instruction only in English

The solution?Various program, instructional and professional development models have appeared over the past few years to help educators meet the challenge of educating ELLs in English. One such professional development model is the Guided Language Acquisition Design, or Project G.L.A.D.

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Model of professional developmentExample of Sheltered English InstructionOffers practical strategies in language acquisition and literacyGoal is to promote academic achievement, English language acquisition and cross-cultural skillsClaim continued standardized test score gains and over 20 years of personal testimony to its effectiveness no formal evaluation of Project GLAD to date"Sheltered English" is a model of instruction: primary goal is academic achievement in the content area through the use of teaching strategies and techniques that make academic content accessible and understandable to students with limited English proficiency (Saunders & Goldenberg, 2009).

trained teachers in over 300 schools nationwide

2) A secondary goal of sheltered English instruction is the acquisition of English, which itself contributes to making academic content increasingly comprehensible, thereby further contributing to content area achievement.

3) We dont know how effectively Project GLAD is training and preparing teachers to implement the model

3The feedback was wonderful. Both trainers said things that validated what we were doing and things that led us to improve our work. an administratorIn 1991, Project GLAD was declared Exemplary by the California Department of Education as well as a Project of Academic Excellence by the U.S. Department of Educations Office of Bilingual Education and Minority Languages Affairs for ELL test scores that far exceeded the norm (GLAD handbook, 2009). Additionally, Project GLAD has been recognized as a national dissemination model of effective training for teachers in multilingual settings, and as a California School Reform Design Model Program that has trained teachers in over 300 schools nationwide (GLAD handbook, 2009). Although no formal evaluation has been conducted to date, Project GLAD has attracted a great deal of attention, and there are many willing to vouch for its model of professional development.

4Research QuestionsHow does GLAD training impact teacher practices and student learning opportunities? What conditions support the implementation of GLAD strategies and thematic units? Based on each teachers perspective, the proposed research study will investigate how district, community, principal and teachers affect actual GLAD implementation at the classroom level. Fullans factors affecting implementation allow for a clearer picture of the multi-faceted dimensions of actual GLAD implementation.5The G.L.A.D training model: Part I GLAD Strategies & thematic unit planning2 full daysTeachers instructed on the theory and research behind GLADPresenters model GLAD strategies*Planning: (1) Teachers brainstorm major grade level reqs using state & district standards, (2) teachers search for thematic connections across content areas & chunk standards to create themes, (3) appropriate standards are added to themes while merging ELA and ELD standards, (4) backwards planningTeacher created lessons and units, not an off-the-shelf program with teachers guide, student practice book & assessments

In backwards planning Ts will decide the standards they will teach to, then decide how they will assess progress, and finally delineate specific learning experiences

6The G.L.A.D training model: Part IIClassroom demonstrationsScheduled 2 mos. after the 2 day training5 full days: am demonstrations + pm teacher planning timeTraining presenters play the role of classroom teachersDemo thematic unit and strategy implementation

1 presenter plays the role of classroom teacher while the other stays in the back of the class w/ the trainees and comments/coaches by providing a play-by-play of the strategies used and answering questions 7Implementing new structures in education is complexFullans (2007) factors influencing implementation in educationCharacteristics of the innovationNeed: match school need & be a priorityClarity: exactly how the change will translate into practice Complexity: extent and difficulty the change entails Quality/Practicality: careful analysis of innovation prior to adoption and follow-up on implementation

Need: lots of competing needs, plus new curriculum, plus improve math scores, hire additional teachers, conflict resolution model, etc.

Clarity: sometimes there is false-clarity during the training, but then it turns out the proposed change has more to it than they were led to believe

Complexity: new skills, new strats, new materials, change in beliefs, new assessments?

Quality & Practicality: If the innovation was a quick decision because the district/school was out of compliance they might not have done the necessary background work and fully vetted the program.

8Implementing new structures cont.Local rolesDistrict: district track record in how they manage innovationsSchool Board & Community: Is the school board and community working as a team? Principal: involvement in the training & support Teacher: sense of self-efficacy, teacher-teacher relationships, and support

District: Ts might not take seriously new change until central district admin demonstrate that they should

School Board & Community: fire/hire reform minded sups or principals

Principal: should I take this change seriously?

Teacher: 9MethodsParticipants & settingEdith: 4/5 teacher at a public dual immersion schoolMonica: 4/5 teacher at a private non-profit school that promotes bilingualism by teaching Classical Arabic 10Methods cont.Data collected per teacher (7 weeks)1 GLAD training observation (fieldnotes)3-4 semi-structured one hour interviews (transcribed)1 GLAD lesson observation (fieldnotes)1 GLAD planning lesson (fieldnotes)

Most important findingsDifferent levels of GLAD implementationSchool board, Principal and teacher commitment support High level and continuous GLAD implementation It is possible for a teacher to achieve GLAD implementation at a school site with minimal GLAD support, but the teacher must be highly motivated12Monica: High ImplementationWe have to teach by the California state standards those are, thats what we're mandated at our school we have to follow them and we have a year plan that every classroom has it, where you have the, our themes are units, which we base, we go to our GLAD units and they have, we have huge lists of GLAD units, huge, I wouldn't be able to do them, I mean its just a huge list (laughs)13Edith: Piecemeal implementation

I haven't really gone through an entire unit start to finish the way I'm trying to right now with the meteorology unit the actual following like it's Day 1, Day 2, Day 3 this is what I'm doing, I haven't been doing that as much as I would like and I think that unfortunately, I guess they are all strategies, but to do it sort of piecemeal without a sense of, you know, where the unit is going and what the end goals are, it doesn't really make any sense. Most important findingsDifferent levels of GLAD implementationSchool board, Principal and teacher commitment support High level and continuous GLAD implementation It is possible for a teacher to achieve GLAD implementation at a school site with minimal GLAD support, but the teacher must be highly motivated15Support at Monicas schoolSchool-wide GLAD trainingsSchool board members, all teachers, office manager, and trainings available for parentsSchool Principal is a certified key trainerTeacher contract states that they must attend yearly GLAD trainings Teachers collaborate to compile and prepare for GLAD units

Principal delivered 1st GLAD training16Support at Monicas schoolsome districts they just have the training one time so if you're a teacher that has the training and then you know a new teacher does come in, it is that trained teacher that will have to share how to do it and they have only had the training once, so it tends, its, it is kind of like you feel for them because you're like, if you see it again you get more and you get more and more and its always changing because the research changes and GLAD changes with the research

Support at Ediths schoolEdith is the only GLAD trained teacher School has identified ELD as a priority Need and staff has requested GLAD trainingPrincipal has been unable to locate GLAD trainersTheres only so much I can get away with

-Edith was trained at her previous site

-Edith views lack of success at locating a trainer as half-hearted effort, lack of P support18Support at Ediths schoolif you don't have anyone to sit down and plan it with, the process takes, once you have all of the material, you're golden, but you have to sit down and go through the process and unfortunately the process takes a long time. And so if you don't have anyone to sit down and do half the work with, it takes a bit longer and since its not set curriculum, or you're trying to integrate it into a set curriculum it does take even longer, so I think trying to do it on your own is a lot more challenging than if you had someone-complexity, quality/practicality of innovation19Most important findingsDifferent levels of GLAD implementationSchool board, Principal and teacher commitment support High level and continuous GLAD implementation It is possible for a teacher to achieve GLAD implementation at a school site with minimal GLAD support, but the teacher must be highly motivated20The teacher factorEdith is an exception to her schools normal way of implementing the mandated curriculumEdiths self-efficacy

-belief that she is capable of being effective 21 I think that most of the teachers that are at Amistad would fall into that category that they can decide what their needs are, what kind of support they need in order to you know, do it. And if they're way off then tell them or tell me, No Edith, I'm sorry, that does not make any sense at all, but I think that I'm pretty smart, I think I could be a very good teacher, and I say could be (laughs) because I don't think I'm even there yet, there are so many things that I don't do well enough because, I feel like I'm pulled in a thousand different directions and I don't work well without focus. Like this past summer, I was so focused it was great and I did a bunch of work. Did I get to use it this year? Not really. I mean, I didn't get to use it because there wasn't time to continue to develop it and I was sort of forced into a corner with what I had to teachEdiths statements of how she is struggling to implement GLAD (at any level) clearly indicate her belief in GLAD, despite a school environment that adequately supports GLAD implementation and use. She is, in effect, achieving GLAD implementation, however Piecemeal it may be, but her statements lead one to wonder what other teachers fates in implementing GLAD at schools with similar characteristics may be.----- Meeting Notes (1/25/13 11:01) -----clarify that ELD is not strictly and ELD program, but among the teachers they saw it as ELD22Why do these findings matter? Many administrators & teachers are unaware of the level of commitment needed to achieve a High level of implementationPrior to enlisting teachers in an entire school or district to participate in Project GLAD training, it would be prudent to consider the level of continued commitment to the actual implementation of Project GLAD.As demonstrated by Ediths experience, implementing GLAD when colleagues are not GLAD trained is not easy. It is important to note that it appears possible for the GLAD model of professional development to survive in an environment where there are few conditions supporting implementation.

Teachers, however, may be required to put forth a large amount of effort to sustain their GLAD commitment, as it is very difficult to implement in isolation. Implementation will therefore probably be limited to only the most motivated teachers who are most confident in their abilities to use the GLAD strategies on their own.23Extra slides

Fig. 2: Typical Gold Miner Pictorial Input Chart

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Lucra tiveLatin suffixlucrativus (gainful)Cognitive Content Dictionary

26Super scientist awards

Super Scientists Awards are one of GLADs focus and motivation strategies. They are little pieces of paper with a photocopied image and CCD vocabulary word related to the unit of study. 27Fig. 1: CCDWordPredictionFinal MeaningOral Sentence

Lucrative(11 Latin)-A person who is crazy (Azal)Producing a great deal of profit