ELL Reform Efforts in San Diego: A Conversation with Nonie Lesaux

By Ines Alicea, ELL Outlook™ Staff Writer

A Harvard Graduate School of Education professor and one of her graduate students recently published an article reviewing the impact of reforms undertaken in the San Diego City Schools on English language learners (ELLs). In their article, titled "Addressing Variability and Vulnerability: Promoting Academic Achievement of English Learners in San Diego," Nonie K. Lesaux and Amy C. Crosson praise many of the reforms undertaken in San Diego, particularly at the elementary school level, but they argue that much work needs to be done in the middle and high schools. Lesaux, assistant professor of human development and psychology, participated in an informative question-and-answer session on this issue, which is transcribed below.

The ELL Outlook:™ What types of reform has San Diego undertaken to assist ELLs in middle and high school? Why do you think the focus has traditionally been at the elementary school level?

Lesaux: We've always thought of reading and reading instruction as something that takes place early on and is limited to the primary grades when we learn how to read. But we haven't really-even with monolingual English speakers-focused on literacy instruction beyond the primary level. The bottleneck lies beyond the fourth grade when language and literacy demands run high in those curricula. The tendency around instructional reform on literacy across the nation has centered on the primary years. Certainly Reading First and No Child Left Behind reinforced that, that literacy is between the years of K-3. San Diego hasn't done a lot at the middle and high school levels, which is consistent with what is happening across the nation. Slowly, we're beginning to shift toward thinking about middle and high school literacy instruction reforms and instructional reforms at those years. San Diego is delving at the next stage of reforms, and a number of reforms target that level. The variability in the middle and high schools is greater as to when ELLs arrived, and their prior schooling experiences. Where San Diego is headed now is certainly going to target middle and high schoolers. The next stage of reform is around developing curriculum, instructional maps, and studying different subgroups of these learners.

The ELL Outlook:™ How can a balanced literacy model be expanded in middle and high schools? Do you think literacy challenges are the only ones facing these learners?

Lesaux: It's fair to feel that a literacy block in the middle/high school years would be warranted for all learners. A literacy block will address literacy as well as language. I have worked with districts that have used Balanced Literacy in high schools and it is certainly feasible. A Canadian district teaches literacy until [students] graduate, and they have had success with it. Literacy instruction is not something that should stop at the middle school level. The nature of the demands of reading change over time, and the kids themselves need to be aware of that, and have strategies to deal with text.

The ELL Outlook:™ Can you explain why a balanced literacy model is well suited to support the needs of ELLs?

Lesaux: The balanced literacy model is well suited for their needs because essentially it's a flexible approach and one that provides teachers with the opportunity to build in a lot of language-rich and literacy-rich activities and to individualize instruction a little bit more. There are a lot of scripted programs out there for literacy, exactly how literacy should be developed, a scripted program where the teacher would follow it strictly and hope it is suitable for the ELL. Balanced literacy puts a lot more emphasis on meaning making in reading and writing as a process. The teachers have flexibility with the way they deliver and the way they integrate literacy into their teaching. They are not following a scripted program. Balanced literacy draws on a number of resources, and it really focuses on language and meaning making in the mix with discrete skills. The program itself is really well suited for ELLs because the teachers are encouraged to work with small groups and to work in one-on-one settings, so daily instruction is targeted at learners with specific needs and the assessment materials help them monitor progress over time. Working at the student's instructional level is important.

The ELL Outlook:™ What challenges do ELLs encounter in a balanced literacy model, especially if a teacher is unaware of second-language development?

Lesaux: The flip side is that there is this expertise that is needed. It is a double-edged sword because this program is well suited to build the literacy skills of these learners really well, provided that it's being done right. A lot of teacher expertise, judgment, and assessment are required to deliver the model effectively. When it's working, it's a great program for English learners. Where it gets tricky is when students have teachers who are new to teaching and who are completely inexperienced with English learners. They are not only trying to get basics of teaching down, but we're also asking them to modify or differentiate their instruction for English learners. That's the flip side of not following a scripted program.

One real caution for ELLs is that, for any child at risk for reading difficulty, we want to make sure they get the skills they need to read words and to work with books. Because balanced literacy doesn't necessarily have a scripted phonics or a scripted phonemic awareness component, one of the critical pieces is that the students get word reading skills, those kinds of skills that we know are critical for actually decoding and reading words. That is not necessarily built into the balanced literacy program, to give them direct and explicit instruction in phonics. That's another teacher judgment. Any child who is part of that curriculum is at risk of not getting enough of those kinds of skills, which are entirely language based and critical for word reading but not necessarily related to oral proficiency. While we want to build oral proficiency, and one of the best ways to build vocabulary is to have them reading well.

The ELL Outlook:™ In one part of the chapter you mention the possibility of using scripted basal reading programs to eliminate the possible variability in phonics and other explicit skills instruction. What positives and negatives would a scripted program have for ELLs?

Lesaux: Too much emphasis on discrete skills at the expense of global language skills and meaning making in text is to their detriment. One of the biggest challenges ELLs face is whether they are picking up the nuances of the language and whether they are catching the real intricacies of the English language. This is where you feel they are so vulnerable to teacher expertise, where a teacher can modify in real time and support their learning to catch the nuances. So in balanced literacy there is so much language and so much talk on books and a lot of novel study and a lot of language in general, which is good because they have to be exposed to language. But we also have to have teachers who understand that there are so many nuances in the English language and realize that sometimes [students are] not catching enough. You can feel how vulnerable these kids are to instruction and how reliant they are on effective instruction.

It comes down to a fine balance. If you can deliver the balanced literacy program properly with explicit skills instruction and word study work, it's optimal. If you swing the pendulum to an absolutely scripted program, you run the risk of denying them a lot of good language modeling and a lot of work around comprehension and vocabulary. It's tricky because you need the word reading skills as well.

The ELL Outlook:™ What has San Diego done for ELLs in the higher grade levels?

Lesaux: At the higher grade levels, what has happened is that they are just not getting any support, even those who are classified as fully proficient English speakers. Literacy and support around comprehension is virtually nonexistent. Reading doesn't stop at fourth or fifth grade. The bigger issue is that we're not supporting kids to be good readers through the high school years, when reading is the mechanism to gain access to all other content, knowledge, and curriculum. The issue is less about ELLs, but the fact that there is no real literacy instruction in the later years. Adolescent literacy is in crisis in general. Our adolescents are not reading well to begin with.

The biggest issue with ELLs in the upper years is that we have a short window to catch them up. If you have a newcomer enter high school in tenth grade, that is a very short period of time to work with them and bring them up to speed for an outcome like graduation or postsecondary education. I don't know that we're well-equipped to think carefully about just how to do that. It's not that anyone should be held accountable for that scenario. The challenge is in providing them with the kind of experience that will create a positive outcome. The added complexity of English language learning is an issue. Not only do we have the same structure for them as monolinguals, but we also have a really short time to get them to English proficiency levels commensurate with the curriculum, postsecondary education, or even reclassification. These issues and challenges are not unique to San Diego, they are nation-wide.

The ELL Outlook:™ What challenges do ELLs encounter in a balanced literacy model, especially if a teacher is unaware of second-language development?

Lesaux: At the higher grade levels, what has happened is that they are just not getting any support, even those who are classified as fully proficient English speakers. Literacy and support around comprehension is virtually nonexistent. Reading doesn't stop at fourth or fifth grade. The bigger issue is that we're not supporting kids to be good readers through the high school years, when reading is the mechanism to gain access to all other content, knowledge, and curriculum. The issue is less about ELLs, but the fact that there is no real literacy instruction in the later years. Adolescent literacy is in crisis in general. Our adolescents are not reading well to begin with.

The biggest issue with ELLs in the upper years is that we have a short window to catch them up. If you have a newcomer enter high school in tenth grade, that is a very short period of time to work with them and bring them up to speed for an outcome like graduation or postsecondary education. I don't know that we're well-equipped to think carefully about just how to do that. It's not that anyone should be held accountable for that scenario. The challenge is in providing them with the kind of experience that will create a positive outcome. The added complexity of English language learning is an issue. Not only do we have the same structure for them as monolinguals, but we also have a really short time to get them to English proficiency levels commensurate with the curriculum, postsecondary education, or even reclassification. These issues and challenges are not unique to San Diego, they are nation-wide.

The ELL Outlook:™ How do you explain the high number of San Diego ELLs who are "stuck" at intermediate levels of English proficiency? How prevalent a challenge do you think this is nationally? What are some ways this challenge could be resolved?

Lesaux:We have many kids who are graduating having never been classified as fully English proficient, yet have been in school since the primary grades, and we know what their educational and life outcomes look like. We know that they're not fit for anything beyond high school. If we were to pick one single issue to tackle nationwide, it would be to think about instructional strategies to move those kids along. I don't think San Diego is alone in that at all.

There are a number of levels to address this. It's a real judgment call on how you want to think about it. You can think about it from the teacher training/certification level, so everybody who is involved with these learners has an understanding of language acquisition and an understanding of the difference between conversational and academic English and an understanding that language/literacy skills pervade the curriculum, so that content teachers don't think, "I'm just teaching science. I'm not teaching reading." You can think about this from the district perspective. You could think about structures where you could have a higher ratio of English speakers to English learners to augment the model around you. You could think of it as English learners need to receive support throughout their schooling no matter what. Even those kids classified as fully English proficient in San Diego, that's the end of the line of support for them. We need to shift our approach to think these kids need support throughout their schooling. Not to just stop abruptly once they are considered fully English proficient. There are a lot of structural issues that play into these issues. A big area to think about is professional development to keep working with teachers, to keep pushing teachers forward in working with these learners, to find the best practices and standardize them and have people learning. There are places and pockets in every district and state where things are going well for these students, and we need to capitalize on that and learn from that. We need to think about interrelatedness of language in all curriculum and content areas. Language proficiency is not just the kind of conversation we have on the playground or in the hallway. It's picking up the real nuances and the academic language that pervade the curriculum.

The ELL Outlook:™ Is there anything else you felt you wanted to add on this issue?

Lesaux: One area that we've really failed these kids is arguing about the language of instruction. Instead, we should be arguing about the quality of instruction and what a successful program looks like and what its components are. For such a long time, we've argued about language of instruction and we haven't argued enough about what constitutes effective instruction. We've never had an agenda committed to promoting effective instruction for these learners. We haven't been focused on what really has impacted these kids over time, and that is the quality of instruction.

A draft of Lesaux and Crosson's study is available at http://www.sdcs.k12.ca.us/events/SDReview/eng_language_learn.pdf. Their study is part of a larger review of the reforms undertaken by San Diego public schools to improve academic achievement citywide, to be published in the spring of 2005 by Harvard University Press. For more information on the reforms undertaken by San Diego, please read the Oct. 6, 2004, Education Week article by Lynn Olson titled "Review Probes Successes, Challenges of San Diego Reforms." That article can be found at http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2004/10/06/06sandiego.h24.html?querystring=San%20Diego%20Reforms

If you have any comments about this article or questions for for the author, please send them to: alex@coursecrafters.com.