Scaffolded Dialogic Reading Professional Development for Transitional Kindergarten Teachers of Dual Language Learners

This article presents the results of a study examining a 6-month project funded by the U.S. Department of Education that focused on enhancing teacher learning and instructional practices in transitional kindergarten (TK) in a large urban California school district. The project integrated and adapted the Doing What Works (2012) dialogic reading practices1 into ongoing professional development for 28 TK teachers working in classrooms with high percentages of 4- and 5-year-old dual language learners (DLLs). We employed a quasi-experimental design that used a comparison group to examine how teaching practices changed both with and without the project’s coaching support. Data from classroom observations, teacher surveys, and coaching reflections indicate that implementation of scaffolded dialogic reading practices improved TK teachers’ knowledge and oral language instructional strategies for teaching DLLs

San Juan Unified School District Newcomer Support: Promising Practices

This report was developed through a partnership between the Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE) Newcomer Research-Practice-Policy Partnership and the Center for Equity for English Learners (CEEL) at Loyola Marymount University (LMU). It presents a case study that identifies promising practices for newcomer education implemented in San Juan Unified School District (SJUSD), one of 12 local educational agencies (LEAs) funded under the California Newcomer Education and Well-Being (CalNEW) project between 2018 and 2021. The case study was conducted during a 2022 summer program for recently arrived immigrant students. Using interviews with 32 school and community leaders and educators, a review of 65 program documents, and observations of 15 classrooms using a tool focused on effective instructional practices for newcomer education, four overarching themes that illustrate promising practices are identified a) building on community cultural wealth, b) leveraging multiple and differentiated resources, c) developing educator capabilities to teach and support newcomer students, and d) designing newcomer program and placement practices. Findings also reveal three overarching challenge areas faced in program implementation including a) grappling with conflicted ideologies, b) ongoing curricular needs and instructional supports for newcomer students, and c) building a comprehensive ELD program design. Based upon the findings for promising practices and challenges, the authors propose three implications for building effective systems to support newcomer students a) sustain newcomer program commitments, b) uphold assets-based narratives about immigrant /refugee students and communities, and c) strengthen local, state, and national newcomer education policy coherence.https://digitalcommons.lmu.edu/ceelreports/1009/thumbnail.jp

No. 13, January 2024: Bilingual Teacher Residencies in California: Findings and Recommendations for Policy and Practice

This research brief presents a study that explores one type of teacher residency program, bilingual teacher residencies (BTRs). The Center for Equity for English Learners at Loyola Marymount University (LMU CEEL) partnered with the Californians Dedication to Education Foundation (CDEF) to investigate BTRs participating in CDEF’s California Teacher Residency Lab (The Lab). To expand the knowledge base around bilingual teacher residencies and provide policy and practice recommendations, researchers conducted interviews with a sample of BTR grantee program leaders to capture and analyze their perspectives regarding BTRs based on their implementation phase and context. Four key findings emerged: (1) Bilingual Teacher Residencies are building on community cultural and linguistic wealth; (2) Bilingual Teacher Residencies focus on critical consciousness and culturally responsive and sustaining teaching; (3) Strong district-university partnerships facilitated collaborative program design and problem solving; and (4) Candidates in BTRs face greater financial barriers to becoming teachers than other teacher residency candidates. Based upon the findings, the authors propose three recommendations for policy and practice to ensure California’s BTRs can serve as a vehicle for addressing bilingual teacher shortages at the state and local levels: (1) Ensure systemic coherence and information sharing across agencies and efforts; (2) Build on the efforts of the California Teacher Residency Lab (The Lab) as well as the newly formed State Regional Technical Assistance Center (SRTAC) to provide differentiated, high-quality technical assistance/supports; and (3) Ensure sustainability of BTRs into the future through funding and knowledge building.https://digitalcommons.lmu.edu/ceel_education_policybriefs/1014/thumbnail.jp

The Observation Protocol for Academic Literacies (OPAL); A Tool for Supporting Teachers of English Language Learners

Schools and school systems are experiencing an instructional support gap that results in limited opportunities for educators to analyze, reflect on and improve research-based practices for ELLs so that outcomes for culturally and linguistically diverse students can change. To address this need, an inter-disciplinary research team from the Center for Equity for English Learners, comprised of educational leaders, teachers, researchers, and content experts developed a classroom observational instrument—the Observation Protocol for Academic Literacies (OPAL). The OPAL is intended for teachers, educational leaders, coaches, and others to conduct focused classroom observations for three potential purposes: research/evaluation, professional development, and coaching. In this article the authors introduce the OPAL’s research base, describe how to use the OPAL tool, and provide examples of the applied use of the OPAL to support professional learning and evaluate a three-year school reform effort.https://digitalcommons.lmu.edu/ceel_journalarticles/1000/thumbnail.jp

An Exploratory Study of Bilingual Teacher Residencies in California.

This research brief presents a study that explores the underexamined area of bilingual teacher residencies (BTRs) in California. The authors build upon research on teacher residencies to better understand the perspectives of program leaders- those who implement BTRs in Local Education Agencies (LEAs) and Institutions of Higher Education (IHEs). The study describes the program leaders’ insights into the implementation of BTRs at various stages of development and implementation based on the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing’s (CTC) funding phases from 2018 to 2023. Four findings are highlighted: 1) Forging New Relationships to Build on Community Cultural and Linguistic Wealth, 2) Designing Bilingual Teacher Residency District-University Partnerships and Programs, 3) The Burden of Support: Augmented Financial Barriers for Bilingual Teacher Residents and, 4) Bilingual Teacher Pedagogies: Critical Consciousness and Culturally Responsive Teaching. Based upon the findings, the research brief proposes three key recommendations for policy and practice to address the ongoing and projected California’s bilingual teacher shortages at the state and local levels: 1) Create Coherent and Articulated Cross-State Agency Efforts, 2) Differentiate Bilingual Networks of Support, and 3) Strengthen Bilingual Teacher Residency Communities of Practice.https://digitalcommons.lmu.edu/ceel_journalarticles/1013/thumbnail.jp

The Observation Protocol for Academic Literacies: Conceptual Framework and Validation Report

The Observation Protocol for Academic Literacies (OPAL) conceptual framework and validation report describes the development of the OPAL instrument and the results of the validation study that confirms OPAL as a research-based tool to measure classroom practices for ELs. The OPAL development began in 2006 as a research-based behavioral observation tool that measures teacher practices and classroom interactions from a sociocultural language acquisition perspective. It utilizes a six-point Likert- scale (1-Low – 6-High) to rate instruction across four domains and 18 indicators: 1) Rigorous and Relevant Curriculum, 2) Connections, 3) Comprehensibility, and 4) Interactions. The instrument allows for anecdotal notes to be taken during the observations. This report is organized into two sections: 1) the conceptual framework–including the underlying sociocultural perspectives and effective teaching practices for ELs with the description of the four domains; and 2) the technical report describing the validation study–including phases of development, content validity, construct validity, and data analysis and results. Key highlights from this report position the OPAL as a valid and reliable measure of instructional practices that can support teachers of ELs in refining the content and language development of ELs given that the OPAL: standardizes the description of research-based practices for ELs has content validity for measuring the optimal classroom conditions that bolster EL’s academic achievement has construct validity for each of the four domains as measured by confirmatory factor analysis is proven to be a reliable tool as measured by the Cronbach’s Alpha The final chapter of the report provides recommendations for the OPAL for professional development and for examining teaching and learning for school reform and for conducting research that leads to improvement of EL outcomes. Further research to establish the predictive validity of the OPAL is also implied.https://digitalcommons.lmu.edu/ceelreports/1002/thumbnail.jp

No. 12, October 2023. The Impact of the Bilingual Teacher Professional Development Program: Expanding Opportunities to Grow the Profession

This research brief presents a study on the Bilingual Teacher Professional Development Program (BTPDP), a legislature-approved initiative to help California schools meet the growing demand for bilingual teachers in alignment with increasing state policies promoting multilingualism. The BTPDP funded eight grantees to support their preparation and professional development of bilingual educators. The study examines the BTPDP implementation from 2017-2021 to document trends in program impact and develop policy and program recommendations that address bilingual teacher shortages. Key findings revealed successes in increasing the bilingual teacher workforce as well as challenges that must be addressed to ensure the state’s vision can be realized. Given these findings, the authors propose three recommendations to help state and local policy actors develop a coherent and sustainable bilingual teacher education system: (1) Ensure adequate investments in California’s multilingual workforce; (2) Expand multilingual/dual language teacher credential/authorization programs and testing options; and (3) Intentionally develop multilingual/dual language programs, and provide the encouragement and support needed to promote successful multilingual/dual language teachers and leaders.https://digitalcommons.lmu.edu/ceel_education_policybriefs/1013/thumbnail.jp

No. 14, March 2024: Advancing Coherence: Aligning Educator Preparation with California’s English Learner Roadmap Policy

The purpose of this brief is to support English Learner success by encouraging stronger alignment between educator preparation efforts in IHEs and TK-12 policies and practices The current study explores the implementation and alignment of core concepts of the California English Learner Roadmap (ELR) in institutions of higher education (IHEs) – where the majority of California’s future educators are being prepared to serve our students. Researchers conducted a rigorous inquiry process to analyze the degree to which educator program expectations for teaching, school counseling, and administration/leadership are aligned to the ELR. Findings reveal that that there is currently insufficient alignment between the ELR and IHE educator preparation programs. Based upon these findings, the researchers put forth actionable state-level policy and practice recommendations to guide IHEs to better align to the ELR in their program design, implementation, and evaluation– including the use of the California English Learner Roadmap Toolkit for Institutes of Higher Education.https://digitalcommons.lmu.edu/ceel_education_policybriefs/1015/thumbnail.jp

Preventing Long-Term English Learners: Results from a Project-Based Differentiated ELD Intervention Program

In this article the authors describe efforts taken by a small southern California school district to develop and implement an innovative, research-based English Language Development program to address a growing concern over long-term English Learners (LTELs) in their district. With support from the Weingart Foundation this afterschool program served 3rd and 7th grade LTELs between 2008–2011 to accelerate language and literacy acquisition and prevent prolonged EL status. Program evaluation results indicated that the intervention was associated with improved English language proficiency as measured by the California English Language Development Test. Results also showed a heightened awareness of effective practices for LTELs among the district’s teachers and high levels of satisfaction among the participants’ parents. This intervention program has implications for classroom-based intervention including project-based learning for LTELs, for targeted professional development, and for further research for the prevention of LTEL status.https://digitalcommons.lmu.edu/ceel_journalarticles/1002/thumbnail.jp

No.7, March 2019: Bilingual Teacher Residency Programs in California: Considerations for Development and Expansion

Public interest, research and policies about dual language education and the multiple benefits of bilingualism and biliteracy have led to shortages of bilingual education teachers in the state and nation. School districts and educator preparation programs are actively looking for pathways of bilingual teacher preparation to meet local demands for more dual language programs. Modeled after medical residencies, teacher residencies are deeply rooted in clinical training, typically placing residents in classrooms with experienced teachers in high-needs schools where they are supported in their development. Teacher residencies allow for the recruitment of teachers, offer strong clinical preparation, connect new teachers to mentors and provide financial incentives to retain teachers in the school/district of residency. Little is known however, about bilingual teacher residencies in the state. Following a review of various data sources, researchers find that, to date, there are few bilingual teacher residencies offered and that there is a need to expand and study bilingual teacher residencies as one of the most viable pathways to respond to this shortage.https://digitalcommons.lmu.edu/ceel_education_policybriefs/1006/thumbnail.jp