Improving Instruction for English Learners: A Professional Development Study Using SIOP

Year 2020, Volume: 9 Issue: 3, 383 - 405, 30.12.2020

Susan Piazza , Cody Wıllıams Maria Protacıo Virginia Davıd Sonia Tıgchelaar Hsiao-chin Kuo

Abstract

This quasi-experimental study examined an eighteen-month professional development project focused on improving instructional practices for English learners (ELs). The study is grounded in sociocultural and interactive learning theories related to teaching ELs. Professional development activities included seven graduate level courses, practical field experiences in schools, instructional coaching from peers and a qualified ESL coach, video demonstrations and observations, and participation in a one-day ESL conference. The research team conducted pre and post classroom observations for 23 in-service teachers over an 18-month period and corroborated findings with participant reflections about instructional practices using the Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP). Results reveal that participants made statistically significant increases in six of the seven areas of instruction, while the control group showed no significant increases. The discussion of findings identifies strong areas of improvement, moderate areas of improvement, and discusses the one area that showed no significant improvement. Implications for teacher education and professional learning with teachers of ELs are shared along with considerations for future research.

Keywords

SIOP, Classroom Observations, Professional Development, English Learners, Instructional Coaching

Supporting Institution

U.S. Department of Education National Professional Development Program 84.365Z

Project Number

Reference Grant Award Number: #T365Z170217

Thanks

Thank you to the USDE's Office of English Language Acquisition for supporting our research with teachers to improve services for English learners. We also thank our research assistants who contributed to data collection activities in this project: Bright Egwim, Amira Eldemedesh, Deniz Toker, Katherine Suender, Jennifer Lennon, and Babara Agens.

References

• Comber, B. (2013). Schools as meeting places: Critical and inclusive literacies in changing local environments. Language Arts, 90(5), 361-71.
• Darling-Hammond, L. (2008). Teacher learning that supports student learning. Teaching for intelligence, 2(1), 91-100.
• Darling-Hammond, L., Hyler, M.E., & Gardner, M. (2017). Effective teacher professional development. Palo Alto, CA: Learning Policy Institute. https://learningpolicyinstitute.org/sites/default/files/product-files/Effective_Teacher_ Professional_ Development_REPORT.pdf
• Deneen, C. C., Fulmer, G. W., Brown, G. T., Tan, K., Leong, W. S., & Tay, H. Y. (2019). Value, practice and proficiency: Teachers’ complex relationship with assessment for learning. Teacher and Teacher Education, 80, 39-47. https://doi-org.libproxy.library.wmich.edu/10.1016/j.tate.2018.12.022
• Desimone, L. (2008). Determining the effectiveness of professional development: Substantive and methodological findings and challenges with implications for evaluations. In R. K. Blank & N. de las Alas (Eds.), Council of Chief State School Officers Conference. Washington, DC.
• Garet, M. S., Porter, A. C., Desimone, L., Birman, B. F., & Yoon, K. S. (2001). What makes professional development effective? Results from a national sample of teachers. American Educational Research Journal, 38(4), 915-945.
• Echevarria, J., Vogt, M. Short, D. J. (2017). Making content comprehensible for English learners: The SIOP model. Boston, MA: Pearson. Echevarria, J., Richards-Tutor, C., Canges, R., & Francis, D. (2011). Using the SIOP model to promote the acquisition of language and science concepts with English learners. Bilingual Research Journal, 34(3), 334-351.
• Echevarria, J., & Vogt, M. (2010). Using the SIOP model to improve literacy for English learners. New England reading association journal, 46(1), 8-15.
• Echevarria, J., Vogt, M. & Short, D. J. (2017). Making content comprehensible for English learners: The SIOP model. Boston, MA: Pearson. Education Commission of the States. (2014). What ELL training is required, if any, of general classroom teachers - 50 state comparison. Retrieved from http://ecs.force.com/mbdata/mbquestNB2?rep=ELL1415.
• Facella, M. A., Rampino, K. M., & Shea, E. K. (2005). Effective teaching strategies for English language learners. Bilingual Research Journal, 29(1), 209-221. https://doi.org/10.1080/15235882.2005.10162832
• Fisher, D., Frey, N., & Nelson, J. (2012). Literacy Achievement Through Sustained Professional Development. The Reading Teacher 65(8) 551-563. https://doi.org/10.002/trtr.01082
• Garet, M. S., Porter, A. C., Desimone, L., Birman, B. F., & Yoon, K. S. (2001). What makes professional development effective? Results from a national sample of teachers. American educational research journal, 38(4), 915-945.
• García, O., & Kleifgen, J. A. (2018). Educating emergent bilinguals: Policies, programs, and practices for English learners. Teachers College Press.
• Guarino, A. J., Echevarria, J., Short, D., Schick, J. E., Forbes, S., & Rueda, R. (2001). The sheltered instruction observation protocol. Journal of Research in Education, 11(1), 138-140.
• Heller, J.I., Daehler, K.R., Wong, N., Shinohara, M., & Miratrix, L.W. (2012). Differential effects of three professional development models on teacher knowledge and student achievement in elementary science. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 49(3), 333–362. https://doi.org/10.1002/tea.21004
• Ivey, G., & Broaddus, K. (2007). A formative experiment investigating literacy engagement among adolescent Latina/o students just beginning to read, write, and speak English. Reading Research Quarterly, 42(4), 512-545. https://doi.org/10.1598/RRQ.42.4.4
• Kareva, V., & Echevarria, J. (2013). Using the SIOP model for effective content teaching with second and foreign language learners. Journal of Education and Training Studies, 1(2), 239-248. https://doi.org/10.11114/jets.v1i2.173
• Koo, T. K., & Li, M. Y. (2016). A guideline of selecting and reporting intraclass correlation coefficients for reliability research. Journal of chiropractic medicine, 15(2), 155-163. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcm.2016.02.012
• Lantolf, J. P. (2013). A dialectical approach to L2 research. The Routledge handbook of second language acquisition, 57.
• Mackey, A., Abbuhl R., & Gass, S. &. (2012). Interactionist Approach. In Gass, S. & Mackey, A. (Eds.). The Routledge Handbook of Second Language Acquisition (pp. 7- 23). New York: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781444347340.ch1
• McFarland, J., Hussar, B., Zhang, J., Wang, X., Wang, K., Hein, S., ... & Barmer, A. (2019). The Condition of Education 2019. NCES 2019-144. National Center for Education Statistics.
• Medina, C. (2010). “Reading across communities” in biliteracy practices: Examining translocal discourses and cultural flows in literature discussions. Reading Research Quarterly, 45(1), 40–60. https://doi.org/10.1598/RRQ.45.1.3
• Moser, K., Zhu, D., Nguyen, H., & Williams, E. (2018). Teaching English language learners: A mainstream response to rural teacher preparation. International Journal of Teacher Education and Professional Development (IJTEPD), 1(1), 58-75. https://doi.org/10.4018/IJTEPD.2018010105
• Nusche, D. (2009). What works in migrant education?: A review of evidence and policy options.
• Sáenz, L. M., Fuchs, L. S., & Fuchs, D. (2005). Peer-assisted learning strategies for English language learners with learning disabilities. Exceptional Children, 71(3), 231-247.
• Saunders, W., Goldenberg, C., & Marcelletti, D. (2013). English language development: Guidelines for instruction. American Educator, 37(1), 13-25, 38.
• Short, D. J., Echevarría, J., & Richards-Tutor, C. (2011). Research on academic literacy development in sheltered instruction classrooms. Language Teaching Research, 15(3), 363-380.
• Short, D. J., Fidelman, C. G., & Louguit, M. (2012). Developing academic language in English language learners through sheltered instruction. TESOL Quarterly, 46(2), 334-361. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesq.20
• Stetsenko, A. (2017). Putting the radical notion of equality in the service of disrupting inequality in education: Research findings and conceptual advances on the infinity of human potential. Review of Research in Education, 41, 112–135. https://doi.org/10.3102/0091732X16687524
• Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
• Wei, R. C., Darling-Hammond, L., Andree, A., Richardson, N., & Orphanos, S. (2009). Professional learning in the learning profession: A status report on teacher development in the United States and abroad. Dallas: National Staff Development Council.