DOCUMENTATION OF EFFECTIVE PRACTICES
FOR ELLS IN THE D&D SCHOOLS
2000-2001
Each IHE is expected to conduct two "Effective Practice Inquiries"
between December, 2000 and May, 20001. Each classroom inquiry must be
based on a minimum of two (preferably more) classroom observations.
Definition
When we speak about effective practices for ELLs in the schools, we are
referring to:
- Classroom practices in one of the following 4 areas, or domains
(see Figure 1 for elaboration);
- Adaptations for ELLs in L2
- Support for/Use of L1
- High expectations for ELLs
- Appropriate assessment
- Program-wide or departmental practices, such
as curriculum articulation and alignment, or collaborative data-driven
decision-making; and/or
- School-wide practices that support the above.
Specifically:
- Role of community and families
- School leadership
- Professional development environment
- Institutional partnerships
Documentation of 1 and 2 above should also include reference to the appropriate
theory and/or research bases, and evidence of their effectiveness.
We must be able to document that the practice results in high student
achievement, through traditional assessments, alternative assessments,
or a combination of both.
Some Things To Keep in Mind
- Describing key contextual factors is important. Major contextual
factors are important and should be recognized, including families and
neighborhood factors, important external relationships, school leadership,
etc.
- The classroom is our central focus. Although
some of our inquiries may focus on school-wide practice, we recognize
the central role of teachers in engaging learners in ways that will
result in greater knowledge, skills, and effort, all of which are
intended to result in improved performance over time.
- Assessment and evidence are essential. Student
learning may be evidenced in a variety of ways — through exhibits,
products, portfolios, standardized and other tests, or a combination
of these. Given the context of this work, generating evidence of the
effect on student learning is an essential part of the documentation
process.
The Process
- By December 31 New IHEs meet with their Education Alliance
staff partner to plan school visits, EP documentation process and the
meeting with the school.
- By January 12 IHEs and Education Alliance
staff person meet with principal, teachers and others at school to explain
the process, determine which teachers, practices will be documented,
and to get their permission to proceed.
For classroom-based inquiries:
- By February 15
- Hold pre-observation interview with each teacher
- Conduct at least one classroom observation of
each teacher
- Conduct post-observation interview with each
teacher to talk about the observations and learnings
- Collect and review student work samples or other
assessments that may indicate the effectiveness of the practice. (Rubrics
may be an appropriate part of this package so that outside readers
can determine the meaningfulness of the results.)
- Debrief with the teacher to reflect on the work
and the results
- By March 1 Based on this information, write an interim report
(See "Deliverables. 2. A-J" below). Share that report with
teacher for feedback, corrections.
- By May 1 Repeat the round of pre-observation
meetings, observations, collection of student data, and de-briefings,
at least once more.
- By May 15 Submit final report (See "Deliverables.
3." below).
Deliverables
- Monthly visit logs, due end of first week of following month.
See attached.
- An interim report, due March 1, to include:
A. The Context: What kind of school? What kind of program? What target
population? What kind of class?
B. The Effective Practice.
B.1 Succinctly describe the effective practice, in one or two sentences.
B.2 Identify the key constituent elements of the practice, if possible.
C. The ELA or other standard it addresses
D. How the practice aligns with the standard(s).
E. A descriptive narrative of the activity you observed.
F. Necessary preconditions, or restrictions, such as teacher competencies,
administrative support, class size, etc.
G. Evidence/data.
a) classroom artifacts that describe the effective practice. These
can include photos, written descriptions, tapes, videos, etc. They
demonstrate or describe the practice.
b) student work that demonstrates that the practice is effective.
This can include:
- pre- and post samples of student work (from at least three students),
with criteria for evaluating, or rubrics;
- student test scores;
- performance assessments.
H. Describe, if applicable: how does this practice align with the
Principles of Learning, CREDE's 5 generic principles, GWU's guiding
principles, ESL standards, or other relevant frameworks for best practice.
I. Reflections, comments of observer. This section is the place for
your own voice as a researcher. Issues raised, lessons learned, etc.
J. The Inquiry/documentation Process. In this section, describe what
has been done so far. E.g.:
- Initial interviews: with teacher, principal, others? When, what was
discussed?
- Class observation. When, what was the focus of the observation? What
instruments, tools were used? What was observed?
- Debriefing interview(s). When, what was discussed? What comments, reflections
did teacher have about the observations?
(If you are working with a program-wide or school-wide practice, you
should conduct an inquiry that parallels the process outlined above
and produce a report with the same elements as above, adjusted as necessary
for your topic.)
- A Final Report, due May 15. This report should revise and
extend the interim report, based on the additional observations and
data collection. The outline and elements of the Final Report
are the same as for the interim one: (See "Deliverables. 2. A
— J" above).
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