OCSD’s ESL OCSD’s ESL PROGRAMPROGRAM

OCSD’s ESL OCSD’s ESL PROGRAMPROGRAM

KIDS COME IN ALL LANGUAGES

New ESL Students• When a new ESL student enters a

school district:• The parents complete a “Home

Language Questionnaire” in the office.

• The student is tested by the ESL Teacher using a LAB-R Exam.

Parent Letters & Conferences

• Principals send parent letters home each fall telling parents that their child is enrolled in an ESL program.

• ESL teachers participate in the parent conferences held twice a year and share an ESL Report Card with each ESL parent.

• High school ESL students receive credits and grades on School Tools.

Current ESL Levels1. B=Beginner

2. I =Intermediate

3. A =Advanced

4. P =Proficient (monitored for 2 years)

ESL Department• We have ESL teachers in 4 schools• If a student is eligible for the Oswego

BOCES Migrant Education program, a tutor is provided a few days per week.

• There are written ESL curriculums for grades 1,3,5, and 9-12 posted in Curriculum Mapper.

• We provide an ESL Web Page at www.oswego.org

NYS Assessments• All ESL students must take and pass the

*ELA, Math, Science and Social Studies assessments-with accommodations.

• *NYS now requires ESL students with more than one year in US schools by January 3, 2009 to take both the ELA assessment-with accommodations, and the NYSESLAT.

• All students must take the Regents exams-with accommodations.

State Assessments & Regents Accommodations

For Students• Extended time (1 ½ time)• Use of bilingual glossaries or

electronic translators• Tests translated into Chinese,

Haitian, Creole, Russian, and Spanish (by NYSED)

• Allowing simultaneous use of English and native language versions of the test *(if desired by student).

• Test translated by an interpreter, if it is a rare language.

Foreign Language Credit

• ESL students can earn up to five (5) units of credit for schooling in their home language from age 11:

• 3 units at age 11• 4 units at age 12• 5 units at age 13 or older

Annual NYSESLAT Exam

• Includes testing in Reading, Writing, Speaking, and Listening taken over a 4 day period.

• Exams are ordered on-line.• 2009 Exam dates are:• Speaking: between  4/20 and 5/15• Listening, Reading, and Writing: 

between 5/4 and 5/15

Threefold Challenge of ESL Students

• Grasping knowledge, skills, and attitudes specific to the subject areas

• A better command of the English language

• An ability to interact with others and function within the social environment of the school

BICS• Basic Interpersonal

Communication Skills (BICS)• Can be acquired in fewer than two

years.• If only an oral assessment is done,

the student may appear proficient.

CALP• Cognitive/Academic Language

Proficiency Skills (CALP)• Skills needed to succeed in

areas such as reading, writing, math, science, & social studies

• CALP will often require five-ten years for ESL student to perform at grade level

How Long Can a Student Receive ESL

Services?• Until they score as Proficient on

the NYSESLAT;• An annual extension is requested

from the Commissioner after three (3) years.

• If a student scores as Proficient on the NYSESLAT, he/she exits ESL and performance is monitored for two more years. They also receive testing accommodations

Comprehensible Input • Understandable messages, called comprehensible input, are not communicated by words alone.

• Use multisensory input: visuals, realia, drawings, gestures, role-plays, graphic organizers.

• Model, demonstrate, restate and simplify language; introduce key vocabulary before the lesson.

ESL Community Involvement

• SUNY Oswego practicum students are sponsored ; ESL teachers speak at SUNY Oswego TESOL classes

• ESL teachers speak at annual NYS Migrant Ed. Conferences

• HYLI (NYS Hispanic Youth Leadership Institute)

Discover College Day• October 8, 2007 & October 15, 2008• Visited SUNY Oswego College with

over 30 ESL students from Oswego County.

• Through a special grant received by Oswego BOCES Migrant Educaton Program and SUNY Oswego grants.

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