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Lessons scooped from the melting pot

California district increases achievement through English language development

By Nancy Frey
October 2010
Consider the challenges facing one district: 27,000 students in 44 elementary schools in a southern California border district.Most students—72% — are classified as English language learners as measured by the California English Language Development Test (CELDT). Although 65% of the students are Hispanic/Latino and speak Spanish as a first language, 16% are Asian/Pacific Islander and speak Tagalog, Japanese, or Korean as a home language. In 2003, the state’s accountability system, the Academic Proficiency Index (API), scored the district at 689, far short of the goal of 800. Yet by the 2009-10 school year, this school system had reached 833, and 77% of the schools had met all of their accountability targets. All of this had occurred without appreciable change in demographics or staffing. How did the district get these breakthrough results? The short answer is focused content-specific staff development that has been sustained

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Authors

Nancy Frey, Douglas Fisher, and John Nelson

Nancy Frey (nfrey@mail.sdsu.edu) and Douglas Fisher (dfisher@mail.sdsu.edu) are professors of teacher education at San Diego State University and teacher leaders at Health Sciences High & Middle College. John Nelson (john.nelson@cvesd.org) is assistant superintendent for the Chula Vista Elementary School District.

References

Cazden, C.B. (1988). Classroom discourse: The language of teaching and learning. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

City, E.A., Elmore, R., Fiarman, S.E., &Teitel, L. (2009). Instructional rounds in education: A network approach to improving teaching and learning. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press.

Hicks, D. (1995). Discourse, learning, and teaching. Review of Research in Education, 21, 49-95.

Fisher, D. & Frey, N. (2008). Better learning through structured teaching: A framework for the gradual release of responsibility. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Fisher, D., Frey, N., & Rothenberg, C. (2008). Contentarea conversations: How to plan discussion-based lessons for diverse language learners. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Hill, J.D. & Flynn, K.M. (2006). Classroom instruction that works with English language learners. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Pearson, P.D. & Gallagher, G. (1983). The gradual release of responsibility model of instruction. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 8, 112-123.

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