Tag Archives: English Language Learners

Good-Bye ELPA21

Standardized testing.

This phrase stirs up a lot of emotions in the world of teaching. If you work in a public school, you probably experienced some sort of instinctual reaction yourself. Did you remember the long, monotonous stretches of time spent monitoring students? Or the pressure from administration for students to perform?

I am not sure how you personally responded, but I am willing to guess the thought of standardized tests failed to put a smile on your face.

When most elementary school teachers think of standardized tests in our state, they think of the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC). However, I am an English Language (EL) Specialist, so standardized testing makes me think of ELPA21.

Night School For Kindergarteners

Equity is a buzzword in education. We hear it used by staff, administrators, and presenters. Under regular circumstances the practical application of equity seems to fall short of the ideal. During a pandemic, ensuring equity for students when teaching digitally becomes an almost insurmountable challenge. 

This school year my district stepped up to tackle this challenge with an innovative approach: an evening school option for elementary students

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The Struggle Between EL & SPED

My family moved to the United States almost twenty-three years ago from Ukraine. My younger brother turned six that summer and attended first grade in Washington. Our family moved before his third-grade year, marking the start of his struggle with school.

My brother in fifth grade, age 10.

My parents don’t recall ever being notified of the placement. They say, I brought it to their attention at the end of his fifth-grade year when I asked them why he qualified for the SPED program. My parents first had me explain what SPED meant. Then, they contacted the school to ask the same question: what about my brother qualified him for SPED?

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Every Dot is a Child

Who could have imagined 2020 as a year of unprecedented change and uncertainty? The closing of schools and statewide quarantine orders requires flexibility on the part of teachers. We’re still working–albeit from home. 

I’ve been participating in staff as well as Specialist and Building Leadership team meetings through Google Hangouts (as a side note, some teachers use this online platform to meet with their classes). In many ways our conversations in these meetings relate to the new challenges we need to overcome in our profession. In other ways, our conversations return to the usual concerns of our field.  

Your students may not be taking the SBA this year, but you will see plenty of other data on their academic performance. The data may come from iReady, DIBELS, MAPS, or another assessment preferred by your district. 

The push in education is toward data informed instructional practices like the work done by John Hattie through Visible Learning. During PLCs, staff meetings, or as part of evaluations, teachers look through data–numbers, graphs, and percentages–to gauge student progress and plan for remediation or instructional changes. Now is the perfect time to analyze data and adjust instruction to accommodate for the needs of our students. 

But please remember: every dot is a child. 

A graph depicting my student’s growth from baseline to summative assessment in vocabulary knowledge.
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Homework is Dead, Long Live Homework

At the beginning of this year I interpreted at a parent-teacher conference for a Ukrainian third grade student. He was a second year English Language (EL) learner.  The teacher praised both his academic and social progress. His mother listened politely and nodded at the appropriate times. At the end of the conference, the teacher asked if she had questions. The mother asked,  “Why is my son getting so little homework?” 


A note written by a Ukrainian parent. Translated it states:
Please give my son more homework in all subject areas.

More than a decade ago, Alfie Kohn wrote, “The Homework Myth: Why Our Kids Get Too Much of a Bad Thing.” Stanford published a study in 2014 showing the pitfalls of homework. Other studies cropped up. All detailing the ineffectiveness and negative impacts of homework. With homework steadily gaining a bad reputation, my district and school decided to encourage teachers to decrease the amount of homework given to our K-5 students. 

Parents noticed. 

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Can We Talk?

My parents in 1999. When we immigrated to the U.S.

I can count the number of times my dad came to one of my school events on one hand. The most memorable was my high school graduation. Until I saw him sitting in the stands, I hadn’t been sure he’d come.

Was it because he didn’t care about my education? He kept a close eye on my grades and always repeated, “You can do anything. You just have to want it.” Was it because his work schedule didn’t allow it? He was self-employed and so had a flexible schedule.

Like many parents of the students in our classrooms, he did not speak English. My dad never felt comfortable in the school environment, because he never became a proficient English speaker. The moment he left Ukraine and stepped foot on U.S. soil he went from being respected and competent to ignorant.

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English Language Learners Need Support

By Guest Blogger Heather

Los huesos son importantes. Tienen cuatro funciones: 1. Estructura 2. Protección 3. Movimiento 4. Producir células sanguineas.

If the above sentences were as clear as mud to you, then you have experienced for a few seconds what English Language Learners (ELLs) experience for extended periods of time during each school day.

Take 10 seconds and reflect on your response to the sentences above before reading on.

Okay, now read the set of possible on the next page and see if any closely match your reaction.  

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