November 4, 2009
Title III Evaluation Report
Orange County Public Schools
I. Project Summary
Orange County Public Schools (OCPS) received funding under Title III of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act to enhance the education of English Language Learners (ELL) also known as limited English proficient (LEP)* students during the 2007-2008 school year. The purpose of Title III is to ensure that LEP students develop English proficiency and meet the same academic achievement standards that other children are expected to meet.
Needs Assessment
In order to determine the types of research-based supplementary services and materials that are needed to provide quality education to English Language Learners (ELL) and former ELL, the OCPS Multilingual Student Education Services (MSES) Department utilized different research and planning activities. This process included a Teacher Training Needs Assessment, an Instructional Materials Needs Assessment, an analysis of the Peer Coaching Classroom Walkthroughs and an analysis of Support Services Survey gathered for all Title III Instructional Coaches and Student Advocates/Parent Liaisons. Input from the parents/community was gathered using a Parent Training Needs Assessment and a review of a written journal containing feedback from parents who attended the Family Leadership Institute. Only services, instructional programs and materials that have been proven to impact positively the linguistic, social/cultural and academic needs of ELL and former ELL are sponsored with Title III funds to meet compliance requirements.
An analysis was also completed on the levels of English language proficiency from the district/school level reports such as the CELLA, Aprenda, DIBELS, IDEL, and Edusoft assessments. For academic achievement we reviewed the statewide assessments of FCAT and CELLA, and the disaggregated AYP reports. The research and planning activities conducted were used to identify the linguistic and academic needs of ELL and former ELL at each school, to identify the linguistic and academic needs of ELL and former ELL at each school and to identify the specialized training needs for instructional staff, parents, and administrators.
Need 1: Based on test results, ELLs are still not attaining minimum proficiency at sufficient levels in reading, mathematics and science. Challenges still exist in the areas of literacy levels for students arriving in our schools. In addition to the previous needs, the graduation rate for ELL and former ELL students needs to continue increasing steadily.
Evidence: According to the district’s 2006-2007 Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) Report, 35% of ELL are scoring at or above grade level in reading, and 40% of ELL are scoring at or above grade level in mathematics and 38% in science. These percentages are below the acceptable AYP percentages (44% and 50% respectively). Based on AYP data, the graduation rate was 46% for ELL. Source: Florida Department of Education AYP Report. This will be updated when the 2007-2008 data becomes available from the FLDOE. The Student Advocates/Parent Liaisons will continue to provide support services to 32 middle schools and 17 high schools in the district. When feasible, we will continue to purchase additional supplementary materials in the student’s native language in order to provide ELL with comprehensible instruction in reading, math, and science that will transfer to academic success in English.
Need 2: Teachers have requested and demonstrated a need for (1) more specialized training in best practices to meet the educational needs of the ELL, (2) how culture impacts the academic performance of ELL, and (3) differentiating instruction by second language proficiency levels.
Evidence: Teacher training analysis shows that all ESOL teachers are in the process of becoming certified or are already certified in ESOL. These teachers are receiving training to improve reading strategies, subject area strategies, and research-based practices in the field of educating ELL and former ELL. Also, administrators and counselors are receiving special training designed to meet the unique needs of ELL. However, more application training is needed to ensure a highly-qualified teacher in every classroom and administrators that can provide needed support to teachers in second language acquisition effective practices. Therefore, teachers and administrators need additional training to assist ELL to stay in school and improve their language proficiency and academic skills. The Title III Instructional Coaches will provide support services to 127 schools to address the area of needs communicated by teachers and administrators.
Need 3: Parents need training/information opportunities that address how they can guide their children in good study habits that will result in achieving linguistic and academic success, on family literacy, and understanding the school system. They also need awareness of community services and on how they can become leaders in their communities. Parent awareness and involvement are strongly tied to student success in school. Based on these parent needs the Multilingual Student Education Services Department established the following priorities for FY 2008-2009:
1. Continue to implement parent literacy and community involvement activities to enhance the education of eligible ELL and former ELL through the Family Leadership Institute.
2. Continue to establish partnerships with community organizations to promote linguistic, academic achievement, cross-cultural communication and an understanding of students who are English Language Learners.
3. Increase parent awareness of available services in our schools and communities through: parent workshops and newsletters sent home in the native language when feasible, the Connect ED phone system that reaches all the parents of the students in a particular school and the Trans Act Talk System that allows simultaneous translations in various languages to take place at meetings and workshops.
Proposed Activities
The Multilingual Student Education Services Department at the School District of Orange County has identified the following activities to be carried out for all English Language Learners (ELL) and former ELL under the 2008-2009 Title III grant:
1. Enhance literacy development in the primary home language, when feasible and in English for English Language Learners (ELL)/former ELL. (Language Arts Strands and Standards, Strand A: Reading: k-2, 3-5, 6-8, and 9-12.) The bilingual teachers participating in Title III trainings (NCLB Subpart 3, Sec. 3231) will demonstrate successful use of research-based literacy practices for ELL through fidelity of implementation of language enhancement and/or reading and content area programs and research-based Spanish supplementary materials proven to be effective with the ELL population. The Title III Teacher Trainers and Title III Curriculum & Support Teachers, Instructional Coaches and Student Advocates/Parent Liaisons will assist in implementing these activities.
2. Increase ELL academic performance and mastery of Sunshine State Standards through participation in supplementary services focusing on research-based instructional programs, non-mandatory ESOL Summer Camps for ELL, tutoring services as needed and appropriate for ELL. The Title III Curriculum & Support Teachers, Instructional Coaches and Student Advocates/Parent Liaisons will assist in implementing these activities.
Ten new Instructional Coaches will be hired to provide daily support to 10 elementary schools with bilingual education programs. These Instructional Coaches will be responsible for training, mentoring and coaching teachers to achieve the goals and objectives of Title III for ELL. They will be responsible for tutoring students, as applicable, based on students’ unique linguistic and academic needs as demonstrated by assessment data. (DIBELS, IDEL, APRENDA, FCAT, EDUSOFT) These services and programs will provide supplementary language enhancement instruction to increase language proficiency to aid ELL in meeting grade level performance indicators of academic content and preparing them for demonstration of the mastery of Florida academic standards. Title III Instructional Staff will focus on schools that are not making AYP for ELL. Collaboration and partnerships will continue to be developed with administrators and school leadership teams to achieve Title III goals and objectives.
3. Increase teachers’ and administrators’ knowledge and expertise on research-based proven practices for ELL. The Title III Teacher Trainers will continue to provide supplementary training sessions for the Title III Instructional Coaches and teachers assigned to teach ELL to supplement their subject matter knowledge, second language acquisition knowledge, pedagogy, and teaching skills. All training programs are supplementary in nature and do nod supplant required ESOL training paid by FEFP or local funds.
4. Implement supplementary innovative language enhancement research-based practices proven to be effective for ELLs. The Title III Administrator will continue to implement a monitoring process and periodic school visits to ensure that supplementary instructional services funded under Title III are implemented accurately and with fidelity as required by federal mandates.
5. The Title III Student Advocates/Parent Liaisons will continue to provide supplementary training sessions to parents based on a Parent Training Topic Survey that parents completed in May 2008 and as requested by school staff and administrators in the annual Customer Satisfaction Survey for Student Advocates. One additional Student Advocate/Parent Liaison will be hired to increase services to secondary students and their parents. The training sessions are above and beyond those required by the district, META Consent Decree and described in Orange County’s District ELL Plan. At least 2 additional training sessions will take place at each of their assigned schools per school year. Topics such as :Guiding your child with good study habits, How to help your children achieve linguistic and academic success, family literacy and other topics as requested by parents or identified based on the academic support at home needed by ELL. Consultants for Summer Institute, family literacy training and other parent and teacher training sessions will assist with these activities.
6. Provide supplementary instructional materials and textbooks for Haitian-Creole and Spanish speaking students and other languages, as feasible. Supplementary bilingual instructional materials will be available in the classroom as well as the library to allow ELL to build literacy in their own language as well as English. The provision of these materials will enhance the English learning experience by increasing the number of supplementary English resources available to the student, as well as foster faster development of the English language to impact academic achievement.
7. The Title III Instructional Coaches will continue to provide supplementary instruction to ELL and collaborate with teachers assigned to teach ELL to supplement the instructional program, as requested by school staff and administrators in the annual Customer Satisfaction Survey for Instructional Coaches. Title III Instructional Coaches will continue to conduct classroom walk-through observations with a peer coaching approach, as requested by school staff, to ensure the attainment of goals and objectives in this application. The What is Expected in the Curriculum Self-Check Tool will continue to used to assist teachers of ELL and former ELL focus on the effectiveness of the learning process implemented in the classroom and to differentiate instruction by second language proficiency levels. These Instructional Coach positions are above and beyond district coaches hired by different departments. All functions are supplementary in nature and do not supplant local, state or other federal mandates. These positions work directly with the teachers in their assigned schools and also work in partnership with the school literacy coaches and leadership team.
All Title III district positions funded under this grant are supplementary in nature and go above and beyond what OCPS has already implemented to meet the Consent Decree requirements. These positions are needed in order to achieve the goals and objectives described herein. OCPS hires 3 Directors, 2 secretaries, 1 system support clerk, 6 program assistants and 7 district resource teachers to manage the implementation and monitoring the Consent Decree requirements for the education of ELL. These positions are paid with district basic funding. The district also hires 71 highly qualified teachers who are responsible for teaching the ESOL classes mandated by the Consent Decree.
District Goals
One of the goals of Orange County Public Schools (OCPS) is to offer quality educational programs to LEP students. For this reason only research-based programs with the following instructional approaches are offered:
• Instruction in the basic subject areas using the students’ native language
• Instruction in basic subject areas using ESOL strategies
• Instruction in basic subject areas using both ESOL strategies and the native language of the students.
These instructional approaches were provided through different types of program models implemented in the district:
√ One-Way Developmental Bilingual Education
√ Two-Way Developmental Bilingual Education
√ Sheltered Instruction
√ Mainstream instruction with ESOL, and
√ Language Arts/ESOL.
Methods, approaches and program delivery models are research-based in nature and were implemented according to specifications for the model and within the framework of the League of United Latin American Citizens et al. v. State Board of Education, et al. Florida META Consent Decree approved in federal district court in August 14, 1990. All schools in OCPS are required to deliver instruction in English using ESOL strategies to ensure that LEP students receive comprehensible instruction. Based on data available at this time, the evaluator found that the proposed objectives were met.
Summary of Test Results
CELLA Test Results
Results from the Fall 2007 and Spring 2008 revealed that listening/speaking is the strongest area for LEP students, followed by reading and then writing, relative to state-defined criteria. A comparison between Fall 2007 and Spring 2008 results shows that students are making significant gains in English language proficiency. An addendum to this report will be provided to the school district in October 2008 with the comparison of 2008 CELLA scores.
APRENDA Test Results
Results indicate that on average, LEP students demonstrated at least a 3% substantial gain in literacy development in the native language when compared to the 2007-2008 APRENDA test score data (based on the 2005-06 APRENDA baseline data). Therefore, the objective was met. Due to the fact that a high percentage of LEP students performed below average in specific schools, it is recommended that special attention be provided to students in these schools to ensure that their academic achievement is improved.
FCAT Test Results
LEP students are not receiving waivers for the reading or language arts tests under section 1111(b)(3)(C) and therefore are fully participating in the FCAT assessment.
• LEP students who took the FCAT in reading, writing, and math have demonstrated on average, positive gains in all sections of the tests and outperformed LEP students statewide.