Tailored Instruction for English Language Learners

Abstract

Within the academic setting come regulations for educators to meet academic standards for their state, in conjunction with these standards, are specific proficiency standards for ELL students. The ultimate question is are the academic standards in place aligned with the ELL proficiency standards and expectations that are assessed for all students at the end of the school year. I believe the ultimate goal in educating ELL's is to prepare them for mainstream education with their English speaking peers to have the same standards. Due to the fact that ELL's are on differentiated learning plans their assessments are dictated by their individual growth until they reach this point in their English proficiency.

Academic Standards

Every state has academic standards that are required topics of instruction and provide educators with a clear guide for what students need to master by the end of a specific grade level. The standards help teachers prepare their lessons, as they engage with students for differentiated learning, and ensure mastery of these skills. State standards can be used as a resource for educators to implement differentiated instruction towards various levels of ELL's since the plan of action is already prepared. The end result of any student's academic year is laid out within the standards, and the information provided in state standards is the objective of teaching for the year.

Let's take a look at the Arizona learner standards for kindergarten age students and reading standards. Here are some of the expectations.

PO 6. Blend spoken phonemes to form a single syllable word (e.g., /m/ -- /a/ -- /n/ -- makes man).

PO 7. Identify the initial and final sounds (not the letter) of a spoken word.

PO 8. Segment one-syllable words into its phonemes, using manipulatives to mark each phoneme (e.g., dog makes /d/ -- /o/ -- /g/ while the student moves a block or tile for each phoneme). (Arizona Department of Education, 2003).

These specific standards would help a kindergarten teacher working with an ELL student how to determine the best way to approach teaching the student how to blend phonemes, or identify sounds. The standards provide a basis for what to teach and the teacher can differentiate learning based on what a student specifically needs. This works for any specific subject area when addressing differentiated learning or for ELL students.

Learner's Progress

With the establishment of the No Child Left Behind Act, many schools started enforcing standardized testing as part of their assessment criteria. This helps educators know what information students are retaining as well as how they can interpret this information for tests. This is essential to show the progress of students throughout the academic year for their own personal assessment as well as for the standards required through the NCLB Act. (Saunderman, 2008). This testing can be used to track learner's progress and ensure that the standards are being taught to the learner's level. Observations and assessments are great resources for educators to collect and review to ensure that students are meeting as many of the standards provided by their state. Ultimately, with the testing required at state levels, the expectations of the teachers are to address areas where students are struggling, and to help these students achieve better scores in these subjects in the future. The progress of the learner based on these observations and assessments are then utilized within the classroom to drive the standards-based instruction. Teachers are able to understand what information needs to be addressed and focused specifically on during teaching time.

Tailored Instruction

The varieties of standards provided to educators are extremely diverse; however, maximize the potential of students as well as educators. The standards do exemplify high expectations of students and on teachers, specifically as it relates to how to ensure students master the objectives. The standards help train an educator to stay focused on the end goal and to help motivate students for success. A teacher can provide differentiated learning plans for students and prepare lessons that will allow them an ideal learning structure, ease of learning centered on their level, as well as assignments that provide scaffolding for comprehensive learning. All students learn differently and the task of educators to meet as many standards as possible is a challenging task. The most beneficial way to accomplish providing students with a well-rounded education is to have high goals and to focus on differentiated instruction. Motivation shouldn't be needed to tailor instruction for students' needs. Our focus as educators should be on ensuring each student's success within an academic school year. Differentiated instruction certainly allows educators to address each student's needs throughout the course of the school year.

Conclusion

While the alignment of an ELL's academic learning plan might not match exactly the state's standards for the school year towards the beginning of the school year; hopefully, with differentiated instruction and a disciplined teacher, the standards and proficiency standards will line up more closely towards the end of the school year. ELL's have the added difficulty of trying to master a whole new language. With caring and diligent educators, all students will show heightened progress in an academic year.

References

Sunderman, G. (2008). Massive Responsibilities and Limited Resources:
The State Response to NCLB. Retrieved September 24, 2010, from http://www.law.berkeley.edu/centers/ewi-old/research/k12equity/Sunderman.htm

Arizona Department of Education. (2003). Reading Standards Articulated by Grade Level Kindergarten. Retrieved September 24, 2010 from http://www.ade.state.az.us/standards/language-arts/bygradelevel/RdgGrK.pdf