2 Current NPD Grant Projects

Julia S. Austin, PhD

[email protected]

University of Alabama at Birmingham

NPD Project Directors’ Meeting NABE 2012

2 Current NPD Grant Projects

Shelby STARS

Sheltered Teaching Accommodations for Reaching Success

(LEA partner—Shelby County Schools, AL) 2011: 39 schools, 28,186 Ss (1,538 ELs = 5.5%)

Project HEART

Homewood Educators Accommodating, Reaching, & Teaching

Project Goals

Goal 1:Preparing (in-service) teachers to work effectively with ELs using Sheltered Instruction and other ESL Best Practices

Goal 2: Assisting pre-service teachers to earn teachers certification that will prepare them for teaching ELs

Goal 3:Preparing other SCS academic personnel (administrators, counselors, etc. ) to better serve the educational needs of ELs

Goal 4: Assisting higher education faculty in preparing all teachers (pre-service and in-service) to work effectively with ELs

Three Areas of Success

Promoting Science, Technology, Engineering, and

Math (STEM)

Improving ELs’ achievement

NPD Grants: OELA

(and OBEMLA)

2001-05 Project NTNS: New Teachers for New Students

Distance-delivery ESL certification (KSU’s model) at several school systems across Alabama

2002-07 Project EQUAL

Partnership with Shelby County Schools (SCS)

2007-12 Shelby STARS

Sheltered Teaching Accommodations for Reaching Success

2007-12 Project HEART

Homewood Educators Accommodating, Reaching, & Teaching

STEM

Shelby STARS and Project HEART

LEAs requested support in math and science. STEM was not originally part of grant.

Request was met through grant’s PD component.

Course designed and implemented

(2010)

Strategies for Teaching Math and Science to ELs

Designer/instructor: Cindy Hunt, veteran teacher— science (22 yrs), EL (3 yrs), & state EL coach (1 yr) To date, 41 teachers have taken this course

ELs’ Achievement

Project EQUAL and Shelby STARS

SCS:Decrease in ELs receiving services as of 6th_grade

Reason:Improved achievement PK-5th _{(50 certified-ESL teachers} and 100+ ESL-certified content teachers)

Increase in ELs graduating from High School

Reason: Difficult to define: FLEPs no longer receive EL services

Project HEART

HCS:Increase in ELs’ pass rate in fall English classes

Reason: Summer EL book clubs—novels & projects 76%-94% in grades 9-12 (Spezzini & Becker)

ECS: Increase in ELs exited to monitoring

Reason: Data currently being analyzed

Data-Based Decision Making (DBDM)

What type of data?

Quantitative and Qualitative

Cumulative (in progress) and summative (final) Gathered/analyzed by LEA, NPD project, and/or UAB

Who are the decision makers?

UAB: project directors, SOE administrators

1

_{example of DBDM:}

Project EQUAL

Data: Year 1 evaluation

Mentoring workshops => minimal mentoring ESL licensure courses => spontaneous mentoring Evaluation Plan: Continual Improvement Model

Decision: New focus for teacher mentoring

We requested adjustment; it was approved by OELA. Funding was redirected from workshops to tuition.

Outcome: _{More teachers took courses, and this}

produced more collaborative mentoring.

(Spezzini & Austin, 2010; Spezzini, Austin, Abbott, & Littleton, 2009)

2

_{example of DBDM:}

Project EQUAL & Shelby STARS

Data: EL performance indicators

LEA gathered/analyzed data; they identified more success at schools with site-based ESL teachers.

Decision: Local funds to hire ESL teachers

SCS used own funds to create new ESL positions.

3

_{example of DBDM:}

Project HEART

Data: Year 1 & Year 2 evaluations

Possible reasons: Changes in HCS administration and a very small school system *Unexpected letter from Etowah City BOE seeking

assistance.

*ECS new ESL teacher had been a Fellow in Project EQUAL.

Decision: Redirect funds to ECBOE

Request sent to OELA to add a new LEA partner in Project HEART.

Outcome_{: Outstanding response from ECS (project goal is}

being met)

4

_{example of DBDM:}

Combination of all NPD grants

1st_{source: Project evaluations (annual & final) of ESL seminars (&}

syllabi revisions) for UAB faculty.

2nd_{source: UAB surveys—student exit & LEA administrators}

Additional training is needed for teaching ELs.

(Spezzini & Austin, 2011)

Decision: A retreat for entire Curriculum & Instruction faculty

Reaching All Language Learners Institute (RALLI)

5

_{example of DBDM:}

Combination of all NPD grants

Data: Findings from multiple Action Research projects in teacher preparation courses

Second Language Acquisition, Methods & Materials for Teaching ESL, Special Topics in ESL: K-12, Teaching ESL in a Multicultural Society, Phonology for ESL Teachers, Teaching ESL Through Reading and Writing, Strategies for Teaching Math & Science to ELLs

Decisions: Changes, additions, revisions in classroom activities, school and system-wide support for parental involvement, registration procedures, support materials

Outcomes: _{Teachers are empowered to be agents of}

change, parental involvement increased, ELs transition easier into new schools.

Assessment/Evaluation Activities

LEA

Employee and enrollment numbers; feedback from school principals on

effectiveness of ESL-certified teachers

EL achievement data

State-mandated assessments, graduation rates, # of ELs receiving services & rate of

exiting services

Program (including course evaluations) Pre-/post-surveys of grant fellows

Focus groups

Telephone interviews with ESL coordinators and school administrators Tracking data on progress of fellows in program

Measures of Long-Term Impact of NPD

Projects

Teacher Fellows and Pre-Service Fellows became ESL

certified

and . . .

Gained knowledge and became empowered to mentor

colleagues

Became Teacher Leaders in their schools/systems

Earned National Board Certification in English as a New Language or in their content field

Served as state ESL coaches

Present regularly at national, state, and regional

conferences (often as invited presenters)

Ongoing Long- Term Evaluation

County (AL) Public Schools

Survey of all NTNS graduates currently teaching in BCPS Survey of all graduates from UAB ESL Teacher Certification

Program currently teaching in BCPS

Interviews with Director of Special Services, school principals and assistant principals of NTNS Fellows and UAB-trained ESL teachers

Focus groups of teachers with ESL certification

Staying in Contact

Alumni contacts

ESL Teacher Certification Program office maintains a list of

program alumni (and an email distribution list)

Keeps a current list of all the schools/school systems in Alabama

where alumni are employed Bi-annual alumni reunion

Email announcements several times a year

Frequently updated website (www.uab.edu/esl):

Hall of Fame

Student Testimonials Teacher Resources Opportunities

References

Spezzini, S., & Becker, A. (in press). Summer book clubs for ELLs: Teacher collaboration for promoting academic achievement. In A. Honigsfeld & M. Dove (Eds.), Co-Teaching and other collaborative practices: Rationale, research, reflections, and

recommendations. Information Age Publishing.

Spezzini, S., & Austin, J. (2011). New teachers for new students: A teacher education program for the linguistically diverse. Childhood Education 87(5), 318-322. Spezzini, S., & Austin, J. (2010). Collaborative mentoring among K-12 Teachers:

Professional development on the effective instruction of ELLs. AccELLerate, 2(2), 11-13. http://www.ncela.gwu.edu/files/accellerate/8/Accellerate_2_2.pdf

Spezzini, S., Austin, J. S., Abbott, G., & Littleton, R. (2009). Role reversal within the mentoring dyad: Collaborative mentoring on the effective instruction of English language learners. Mentoring & Tutoring: Partnership in Learning, 17(4), 297-314.