ESL Programs in Rural High Schools: Challenges and Opportunities

Rural and small-town communities in the United States have been rapidly diversifying over the last few decades and rural schools have faced challenges in supporting changing populations. This article builds on a limited body of education research that has focused on diversity in rural areas, driven largely in the U.S. by Latinx immigrant populations. This research draws on several data sources from multi-week visits in a mixture of new and established immigrant destinations to profile the challenges educational leaders faced developing ESL programs in five rural high schools and explores challenges such as how schools struggle to recruit and retain administrators and teachers, how they often have limited knowledge and resources to support curriculum development, and how program size limits schools’ ability to place students appropriately. The article concludes with suggestions for education programs, rural administrators, and state policy makers to better support English learners in rural schools

Open Source Drug Discovery: Highly Potent Antimalarial Compounds Derived from the Tres Cantos Arylpyrroles

The development of new antimalarial compounds remains a pivotal part of the strategy for malaria elimination. Recent large-scale phenotypic screens have provided a wealth of potential starting points for hit-to-lead campaigns. One such public set is explored, employing an open source research mechanism in which all data and ideas were shared in real time, anyone was able to participate, and patents were not sought. One chemical subseries was found to exhibit oral activity but contained a labile ester that could not be replaced without loss of activity, and the original hit exhibited remarkable sensitivity to minor structural change. A second subseries displayed high potency, including activity within gametocyte and liver stage assays, but at the cost of low solubility. As an open source research project, unexplored avenues are clearly identified and may be explored further by the community; new findings may be cumulatively added to the present work

Transiciones: pathways of Latinas and Latinos writing in high school and college

Includes bibliographical references and index.Transiciones is a thorough ethnography of seven Latino students in transition between high school and community college or university. Data gathered over two years of interviews with the students, their high school English teachers, and their writing teachers and administrators at postsecondary institutions reveal a rich picture of the conflicted experience of these students as they attempted to balance the demands of schooling with a variety of personal responsibilities. Todd Ruecker explores the disconnect between students' writing experiences in high school and higher education and examines.1. Introduction -- 2. College Decisions and Institutional Disparities -- 3. Struggling Transitions -- 4. Difficult but Successful Transitions -- 5. Smooth Transitions -- 6. An Unpredictable Transition -- 7. Contextualizing Transitions to College -- 8. The Role of Composition Researchers, Teachers, and Administrators -- Epilogue and Final Thoughts -- Appendix A: Student Surveys and Interview Protocols -- Appendix B: Teacher and Administrator Interview Protocol

Writing across institutions: Studying the curricular and extracurricular journeys of Latina/o students transitioning from high school to college

This dissertation is based on a year and a half multi-institutional study of seven Mexican American students transitioning from high school to a community college or a university. It explores the differences between high school, community college, and university literacy environments, focusing on the following: the impact of standardized testing at the high school level, the role of rhetoric and composition disciplinary expertise in shaping first-year composition (FYC) curricula, writing in the disciplines, and the digital divide between institutions. Seven case studies examine students\u27 literacy experiences across institutions as well as both challenges and sources of support in and beyond the classroom. Drawing on Bourdieu\u27s analytical tools of habitus, capital, and field as well as Yosso\u27s (2005) theory of community cultural wealth, the discussion explores how students formed robust networks of capital to facilitate successful transitions to college and argues that institutions need to undergo dramatic transformations to effectively serve increasingly diverse student populations. The findings have implications not only for writing teachers and scholars, but also teachers in other disciplines, institutional leaders, and state/national policy makers

Standardized Testing Pressures and the Temptation of the Five-Paragraph Essay

The pressures of high-stakes assessment have increased in recent years and are everywhere, whether one is teaching in a secondary school in China or in an intensive English program at a U.S. university. These pressures often wash back into the classroom, restricting the way writing is taught. We recently wrote in a collection focused on the politics of second language writing assessment, Too often assessment policies are imposed on teacher and their classrooms by those removed from these contexts, leading to policies that negatively impact the teaching and learning process, often demoralizing teachers and students int he process (Ruecker & Crusan, 2018, p. 1)

Linking Assignments to Assessments: A Guide for Teachers

Linking Assignments to Assessments is designed for teachers in training in TESOL programs, future preK–12 teachers, and practicing instructors who need to integrate assessment into classrooms. Educators seeking fair and accessible assessment practices for English learners will find helpful information on language acquisition and differentiated instruction. The book shares foundational information on the importance of assessment literacy and on how language acquisition, student backgrounds, and language standards need to be considered. Linking Assignments to Assessments offers step-by-step instructions on creating effective assessments for listening and reading, speaking and writing, grammar and vocabulary. Teachers are provided context for understanding standardized assessments and strategies to advocate for and prepare English learners in high-stakes assessment contexts. Each chapter includes activities, discussion questions, and strategies for developing an assessment philosophy to help educators link their theory and practice.https://corescholar.libraries.wright.edu/books/1249/thumbnail.jp

The Politics of English Second Language Writing Assessment in Global Contexts

Reflecting the internationalization of the field of second language writing, this book focuses on political aspects and pedagogical issues of writing instruction and testing in a global context. High-stakes assessment impacts the lives of second language (L2) writers and their teachers around the world, be it the College English Test in China, Common Core aligned assessments in the U.S., English proficiency tests in Poland, or the material conditions (such as access to technology, training, and other resources) affecting a classroom. With contributions from authors working in 10 different countries in a variety of institutional contexts, the chapters examine the uses and abuses of various writing-related assessments, and the policies that determine their form and use. Representing a diverse range of contexts, methods, and disciplines, the authors jointly call for more equitable testing systems that consider the socioeconomic, psychometric, affective, institutional, and needs of all students who strive to gain access to education and employment opportunities related to English language proficiency

Teacher Perceptions of the Impact of the Common Core Assessments on Linguistically Diverse High School Students

Any discussion of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) is incomplete without an understanding of the assessments that go along with them, since test makers were an integral part of the panels designing the standards. The Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) is one of the two consortia (along with Smarter Balanced) developing tests for multiple states that align with the CCSS. This article shows how teachers perceive the impact of the CCSS and high-stakes assessment, particularly the PARCC, on a linguistically diverse school in the Southwestern U.S. The authors begin by reviewing work focused on how the creators of the CCSS and the associated assessments have overlooked ELL student populations. They then present findings from a multi-year study involving teacher interviews and classroom observations, focusing particularly on the following: psychological effects on students, the challenges of developing a literacy test for a homogeneous population, accessibility and accommodations, and computer-based administration

Politics and Practice in Second Language Writing Assessment: International Perspectives

Though writing remains an essential means of expressing people’s minds, writing assessment has turned into a politically charged form of social action impacting both individuals and society. Five ESL writing teachers from China, Thailand, and the United States address this concern, discussing the culture of accountability from international perspectives

Politics and Practice in Second Language Writing Assessment: International Perspectives

Though writing remains an essential means of expressing people’s minds, writing assessment has turned into a politically charged form of social action impacting both individuals and society. Five ESL writing teachers from China, Thailand, and the United States address this concern, discussing the culture of accountability from international perspectives