Location

Ontario High School
1115 W. Idaho Avenue
Ontario, OR 97914

Contacts

Shirley Vendrell, Principal
Phone: 541-889-5309
E-mail: svendrel@ontario.k12.or.us

Comprehensive Plan for ELL Students Includes ESL Classes, Core Content Classes in Spanish, and Sheltered English Instruction

Ontario High School is located on the Idaho/Oregon border, an hour northwest of Boise. With a population base of about 11,000, Ontario is the largest city in agriculturally-based Malheur County. The high school has a growing number of students in the English language learners program, currently 25 percent of the school’s student body. Almost all ELL students are native Spanish speakers. Although some students have been in the school district for many years, most are recent newcomers to the United States.

Principal Shirley Vendrell, a native of Ontario and former Ontario teacher strives to provide the necessary resources for improving the academic achievement and the graduation rate of her ELL students. Because she foresees increasing numbers of participants in the district’s free and reduced-price lunch program, and of new ELL students, she is even more committed to improving programming.

To obtain resources, Ontario High School applied for and received a three-year Title III grant in 2001. The grant—written by Vendrell, sheltered English teacher Verla Holton, and language arts teacher Lola Booth—provides a variety of resources within a comprehensive plan to boost the performance of all students. The resources include a free, ongoing Spanish language course for all teachers; a full-time ESL teacher, which frees up more funding for the sheltered English teacher; core content classes taught in Spanish; a bilingual secretary; training for all faculty members in instructional strategies to assist ELL students; and an inservice training program on cultural awareness (provided by the Equity Center at NWREL and Robert Bahruth at Boise State University).

English as a Second Language (ESL) Classes: If a newly enrolling student speaks a native language other than English, he or she is evaluated for English language proficiency using the Woodcock/Muñoz Language Survey. The WMLS surveys a student’s likely ability to succeed in grade-level academic tasks in English. It addresses primarily oral Cognitive-Academic Language Proficiency (CALP); letter-word identification (decoding and sight words); and writing conventions (spelling, grammar, and usage) in the language(s) assessed. The results of this test determine placement in the appropriate classes.

Core Content Classes in Spanish and ESL Classes: Beginning-level students who speak very little or no English are placed in ESL classes and core classes taught in Spanish. This allows students to become proficient in content areas while they are achieving English-language proficiency during ESL classes. Before Ontario High had Spanish-instructed core classes, reflects Holton, "many newcomers were lost in core content classes, and just marked time," comprehending very little. "Students who excel in these classes also have their confidence boosted and learn to have high expectations for themselves."

Sheltered English Instruction : Intermediate-level students who have achieved a certain degree of fluency make the transition from ESL classes to sheltered English classes. Sheltered English is an instructional approach used to make academic instruction in English understandable. Students are "sheltered" in that they are in classes with only ELL students. Strategies include modifying vocabulary and pacing, using repetition and rephrasing, using visuals, body language, cooperative learning, and interactive learning. Holton develops activities around Louis Sachar’s novel Holes for the students to understand the meaning of the text, as well as learn vocabulary. She uses as much Hispanic literature as possible, and has students working in groups on projects, such as one on Cesar Chavez, so that the text will be more meaningful for them. Holton also uses graphic organizers to help ELL and all students with content, and uses real-life examples for teaching, such as items in a newspaper for food budgeting.

Content Classes in English With Sheltered Instructional Strategies: All content teachers, as part of the grant, have received training on strategies for their ELL students. Some teachers have had years of experience using these strategies, such as language arts teacher Lola Booth and foreign language teacher Carol Martin, who is also certified to teach ESL classes.

Both teachers strongly believe that ELL students should not be shortchanged on activities that engage and motivate them and that develop their higher order thinking skills. "These kids may have difficulties in learning English," says Booth, "but they are certainly capable of learning what other children learn. If ELL students are held to the same level of standards as all students, and if teachers have high expectations for them, then they will have high expectations of themselves."

That being said, Holton, Booth, and Martin offer some tips for other mainstream classroom teachers, based on their experience and training:

• Have the students engage in conversation, and speak in English as much as possible. Provide authentic opportunities to do so, through cooperative learning and group discussion. Says Martin, "People write the way they talk. If students are silent all class period, they won’t be able to write as well."
• To make sure that students are comprehending, you must "repeat, repeat, repeat," rephrase, talk slower, and check for understanding one-on-one.
• Spend as much time as possible teaching vocabulary. Many students who don’t learn vocabulary early in their schooling fall behind as they move into higher grades.
• Daily reader boards are helpful for introducing vocabulary and phrases that should become automatic. On the reader boards, write the day of the week, the date in the month, the weather, school activities, the lesson objectives, etc. Have students engage in dialogues with each other at the beginning of class. Have them practice greetings: "Hello, how are you today? What are you doing this weekend?" to practice conversational skills. It is not enough to repeat words out of context; put them in real dialogues.
• Establish a routine for the class, so that students know what to expect. In group work, make sure there is a format for students to follow so they don’t get lost.
• Have active learning projects in which students talk with each other and move around. Dramatic readings, reading poetry, and choral reading are good examples.
• Learn how to be reflective in your teaching. Ask yourself, "Is this working? How do I know it is working?" Keep a journal to record reflections, says Booth. Martin suggests three questions to answer in a daily journal: what do I think I will do today, what did I actually do, and what kept me from doing what I didn’t.
• Have firmly in mind what you want to do, and what expectations you have for your students. Curriculum mapping is an excellent way to do this. (For an online curriculum mapping assist, see http://currmap.ncrel.org/login.htm)
• Use portfolios to assess performance.
• All students can and should be given the same assignments, but they can be modified. For example, some book assignments may be too challenging for ELL students, but they can read an alternative book and still achieve the goals of the writing assignment or teaching objective.

Initial data show that the comprehensive approach to ELL services is working: ELL students improved an average of seven RIT points in both reading and math from before the grant to the first year of the grant. With these committed teachers and administrators, and continued funding from grants that provide the services Ontario students need, ELL students are sure to succeed.