Building BRIDGES To Academic Success

For Emergent Bilinguals

Elaine C. Klein, PIeklein@gc.cuny.eduThe RISLUS Forum

The CUNY Graduate Center, May 11, 2012

A Project Of RISLUS and CASE

Funded By The the New York Community Trust and the NYC DOE

A Sub-group of Emergent Bilinguals in NYC Schools

Adolescent newcomers Very limited native language (L1) literacy Limited academic skills 2+ years of educational gaps = SIFE Presently over 15,000 SIFE in NYC high

schools

Mariama

Mariama is 15 years old, from Mali, preparing to enter 9th grade. She arrived in October, 2011, speaking Bambara as her first language, along with basic conversational French.  Upon arrival, she did not speak or understand any English and was unable to read or write in any language, having had no formal school experience at all. Mariama spent much of October and November silent, with her bag on her lap, needing frequent prompting to take out a pencil or open her notebook. She often looked sad and lost.  

Carlos

Carlos, 15 years old, arrived in the US in Sept 2011 from the Dominican Republic, preparing to enter 9th grade. He speaks Spanish and knew no English upon his arrival. When tested, his Spanish writing was slow and labored, with barely legible sentences, and his Spanish reading compre-hension was at the 3rd grade level. He appears to become easily frustrated when faced with any challenges, especially academic ones.

What do we know about students like these in our schools?

EBs = 11% US school population; close to 49.5 mil Wide gap particularly at grade 8 for EBs vs ‘others’

EBs In NYC (NYC DOE Demographic Report 2011):

Graduation Rates: 40.3% EBs v. 75.3% others

Drop-out Rates: 32.6% EBs v. 16.9% others

Note: 1/3 of all dropouts occur in 9th grade (AEE 2010) SIFE in NYC (Advocates for Children 2010):

Performance on all measures is sig below other EBs’

Short & Boyson (2012:4)

“Those with disrupted or weak educational backgrounds and below-grade-level literacy in their own native language—are most at risk of educational failure because they have to learn English and overcome educational gaps in their knowledge base before studying the required content courses for high school graduation.”

Urgent need for dramatic interventions to better serve these students

Klein & Martohardjono (2006) August & Shanahan (2006) DeCapua, Smathers & Tang (2007) Short & Fitzsimmons (2007) Garrison-Fletcher, Barrera-Tobon, Fredericks, Klein,

Martohardjono, O'Neill & Raña (2008) Advocates for Children (AFC) Report (2010) Short & Boyson (2012)

Our Project: The Building of Bridges

Purpose: To prepare students for achievement in “regular” 9th grade classes - and thereby subsequent grades - by providing a rigorous, accelerated transition year prior to 9th grade to “frontload” them with the background knowledge and academic skills they need to succeed.

Theoretical and Empirical Framework, I.

1. Very strong relationships between: Academic Achievement and Academic Literacy (e.g Cloud

et al. 2010) Academic Literacy in L1 and L2 (e.g. Cummins 1981; August &

Shanahan 2006) Reading Comp and Oral Academic Language (e.g. Freeman

& Freeman 2009; Cloud et al. 2010), Vocabulary (e.g. Brisbois 1995), Morphology (e.g. Curinga 2012), Syntax (e.g. Martohardjono et al. 2005; Morvay 2009)

Theoretical and Empirical Framework, II.

2. Centrality of language and literacy in content teaching (Janzen 2008) 3. Homogeneous/Sheltered grouping accessibility of content and language (Short 2000; Tomlinson 2003; Short & Fitzsimmons 2007) 4. More time needed for EBs than others to develop academic literacy (e.g. Cummins 2006; Short & Fitzsimmons 2007; Goldenberg 2008;)

Bridges Objectives Develop, pilot and document an intervention in

English, Math, SS and Science, using a research-based theoretical framework, with:

Curriculum and associated assessments

Professional development program to meet the specific needs of our students and the teachers and others who instruct them. Evaluate and track the academic growth of

Bridges students Generate recommendations for maximizing

program’s impact and scaling it up.

Pillars of Bridges Sheltered classes for one year Curriculum synched across all subjects, with focus on

academic oral language and literacy (morphology, vocab, syntax) in L1 and L2

academic concepts extracted from 2nd – 9th grade material, aligned to Standards

Interdisciplinary teacher-teams for integration of content and language/literacy

Core Instructional elements across all classes (e.g. critical thinking, experiential learning)

Strong evaluation/research component

Research Questions: Pilot Year

1. To what extent are Bridges students, after one year, “academically prepared” for regular 9th grade classes?

2. To what extent are Bridges teachers implementing the curriculum as planned (e.g. integrating the building of language and literacy skills into their classes)?

Ongoing Research Questions

3. Do students in Bridges perform better on standardized performance measures than students not in Bridges, after 1 year? After 2 years? ...

4. Do students in Bridges outperform students not in Bridges on other measures, such as attendance, grades, credit accrual over X years?

5. Is there a difference in Bridges students’ performance depending on student background (e.g., NL, NL literacy, schooling background) or other factors (e.g., implementation at the school level)?

Ongoing Research Questions

6. Do students in Bridges have a lower drop-out rate (each year) than students not in Bridges?

7. Do students in Bridges have a higher graduation rate after X years than students not in Bridges?

8. How feasible is the Bridges intervention to implement and how can the quality be improved in terms of the Bridges curriculum, the professional development, and the school level implementation?

Participants(2011-2012)

Schools: 4 NYC high schools (Bx, Q, M)Students: N=67

entering 9th grade 11 L1s (e.g. Spanish, Bengali, Arabic, Fula) recently arrived in US (< 1.5 years) L1 reading: (≤ 4th grade)

Staff: 19 teachers (Eng, SS, Sci, Math, NLA), 4-5 on a Bridges team in each school

Data CollectionStudent Outcomes:

Background and demographic info Attendance Drop-out rate Language and Literacy Assessments (pre-

and post-tests in L1 & L2) Academic Achievement (grades,

standardized tests) Work samples Case study

Data Collection Program, Curriculum and Teacher Outcomes:

Teacher and team leader e-logs Interviews and reflections PDs and evaluations of PD Lesson Plans

Some Preliminary ResultsStudent Outcomes Attendance: Bridges students appear to have better

attendance than other 9th grade SIFE RQ1: Readiness for 9th grade

Between 50-60% of this year’s Bridges students should be “academically prepared” for 9th grade next year, based on teachers’ assessments of both their literacy skills and content knowledge.

Some Preliminary Results

Teacher Outcomes

RQ2: Fidelity of curriculum implementation

ELA History Math NLA ScienceSubject

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

11.1%

0.0%

60.0%

100.0%

25.0%

44.4% 66.7%

40.0%

0.0%

50.0%

44.4%

33.3%

0.0% 0.0%

25.0%

Teacher E-log Responses:Frequency of teaching English Grammar

by Subject

Most/every daySome daysNot addressed

ELA History Math NLA Science0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

0.0%

66.7%

80.0%

100.0%

0.0%

22.2%

0.0%

20.0%

0.0%

50.0%

77.8%

33.3%

0.0% 0.0%

50.0%

Teacher Elog ResponsesTaught English Writing

by Subject

Most/every daySome daysNot addressed

ELA History Math NLA Science0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

0.0%

33.3% 30.0%

0.0%

75.0%77.8%

66.7%

50.0%

0.0%

25.0%22.2%

0.0%

20.0%

100.0%

0.0%

Teacher E-log ResponsesTaught Native Language Writing

by Subject

Most/every daySome daysNot addressed

Teacher Reflections ”I heard many of my students' voices for the first time, … saw their personalities show where before there was only silence and shyness…[T]here are other benefits involving language and performance, but I truly believe that by creating this environment in which they feel they can succeed has been the greatest benefit to our Bridges students.” (English teacher)

Teacher Reflections“Bridges students…previously in regular classes …are showing increased engagement, a more positive attitude towards school, … spending more of their time in class working on activities that are accessible to them and appropriate for their level.”

(Math teacher)

Teacher Reflections

“[LZ] … struggled a lot in her regular class and showed signs of shutting down because of her frustration. Teachers said …they never saw her smile the way she smiles in the Bridges class. This is because we presented her with material that she could work with.” (Science teacher)

Teacher Reflections

“...[S]tudents in the Bridges class will ... come into 9th grade with the requisite knowledge and skills to give them a much better opportunity to be proficient or even high performing in all outcomes.  This will also set them up for much more success in later grades…In years past it would be very common for SIFE students to lose interest in school because they were not able to meet basic expectations... Having all of these students in one class makes it a safer space to make mistakes and learn together...”

(Math teacher)

Teacher Reflections

“At the beginning of the school year, it was very difficult to get [Bridges students] to understand what the classroom setting is, specifically pertaining to behavior, creating school habits etc.  I feel that they have made tremendous progress in that aspect.”

(Math teacher)

Teacher Reflections

“In past years the lowest SIFE group has been really overwhelmed and made little to no progress unless pulled out into small groups. Everyone in this [Bridges] class has made huge gains...”

(Science teacher)

Teacher Reflections

“We ... discussed [at team meeting] the remarkable improvement in some students, notably BH who had 52 absences in prior year, but now comes to school every day.”

(Team Leader)

Mariama today“Mariama smiles a lot now. She is very eager to learn English, fearless in her efforts in both speaking and writing.  She can also now read and write much of what she can say in English. She has recently become the "teacher" in her reading group, comprised of the four students in class with no formal school experience.   She helps others track print and helps explain text meaning. She takes pride in this role, in her growth, her identity as a student, and her excellent attendance.”

Carlos today“Carlos is learning very quickly, his oral English vocabulary expanding daily. He is able to learn new words easily and apply them in discussions. Carlos is eager to raise his hand and take risks in English, while comfortably using Spanish in class as well. Recently in Social Studies , he read and understood a short paragraph in English about traditions. Explaining the paragraph to others in his group, he knew the meanings of nearly all of the words. While he loves learning new ideas and skills and demonstrating what he knows, Carlos still becomes frustrated when something is beyond his reach. Therefore, his teachers are all in agreement that he most likely would have “shut down” in a “regular” 9th grade class, while he is absolutely thriving in Bridges. We expect that he will be successful academically if he continues at his present rate.” •  

Where Bridges is Headed in Year Two ...

Finalize the Bridges curriculum and PD plan Conduct field implementation with new cohortTrack progress of pilot year cohort in “reg” 9th grade Plan for:

Extended school activities program Family and community outreach program

Prepare and support Bridges start-ups in West New York State (Grant from NYSED through CUNY/NYSIEB)

Thanks to all involved in the Bridges effort!

• Bridges students!• Suzanna McNamara, Bridges Curriculum/ Instructional Leader• Aika Swai, Bridges PD Coordinator• Bridges teachers and team leaders• Joaquin Vega, Principal, Bronx International HS• Principals and administrators at participating schools• Barbara Schroder, Project Director• Purnima Thakur, Bridges Intern• Eva Szymanski, Lorena Hernandez, Bridges RAs• Leigh Garrison-Fletcher• Ricardo Otheguy• Bert Flugman