September/October 2002 | NW REPORT

Teaching Math

to English Language Learners

By Michael Heavener

How do you help students who are non-native English speakers to learn English as well as other core subjects, like mathematics? Two of the Laboratory's programs are helping Washington educators address this issue through a series of institutes on teaching mathematics to English language learners (ELL).

The institutes are based on Bridges to Excellence: Achievement in Mathematics (BEAM), a professional development program focusing on math equity developed by the EQUALS program at the University of California at Berkeley, Lawrence Hall of Science.

The first institute, cosponsored by the Laboratory's Northwest Eisenhower Regional Consortium for Mathematics and Science and Washington's Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI), took place last March and May in two sessions, in Wenatchee and Yakima. A training-of-trainers, this institute involved 33 educators, including ELL and mathematics teachers, district and educational service district specialists, Math Helping Corps members, migrant education specialists, and university professors.

Facilitator Grace Dávila Coates, director of Family Math at the EQUALS program, taught participants instructional strategies for teaching mathematics for understanding and English- language development, involving such things as problem solving, math stations, and cooperative group work.

The second institute, presented in June and July in Wenatchee and Port Ludlow, were cosponsored by the Laboratory's Comprehensive Center and OSPI. Twenty of the "graduates" from the first institute put their learning into action by training 170 teachers in the strategies they had learned.

The goals of these institutes are to:

Demonstrate models of teaching that help ELL students deepen their mathematics understanding
Increase ELL students' achievement in mathematics
Create a cadre of mathematics teacher-leaders who will advocate on behalf of ELL students and their families

"We at OSPI are excited about working collaboratively with NWREL to provide teachers with opportunities to explore ways to improve instruction for ELL students in mathematics," says Bob McIntosh, OSPI mathematics supervisor. "We look forward to continued collaborations with the Lab to provide more teachers with the tools and strategies that Grace Dávila Coates has shared with us."

The Northwest Eisenhower Regional Consortium is administered by the Laboratory's Mathematics and Science Education Center. For more information about the institutes and other services visit the Web site, www.nwrel.org/msec/.