ERIC EJ1046132: Newcomer High School Students as an Asset: The Internationals Approach

2013·0.26 MB·English

by  ERIC

Newcomer High School Students as
an Asset: The Internationals Approach
Claire Sylvan
In a practitioner-led high school model serving new immigrant students, all teachers
simultaneously support both language and content, and students are taught in groups
of heterogeneous English proficiency levels.
The last several decades have States (Aud et al. 2012). In addition,
made clear that large numbers the U.S. government has expanded the
of immigrants still see America localities that serve as refugee resettle-
as a land of opportunity – and this ment sites (Patrick 2004). All of this
influx of students has had a strong population growth taken together
impact on the K–12 educational means that more schools and school
system. Most of the million-pupil districts serve students with a variety of
increase in the public school popula- home languages and who are new
tion in the decade between 2001 and learners of English.
2011 is due to the increase in English
Newly arrived immigrant students at
language learners, both those born in
the high school level, also known as
this country, whose home languages
late-entry students, present a particular
are not English, and school-age
challenge – in addition to learning
students who immigrate to the United
English, they need to learn more
Claire Sylvan is founding executive director and president of Internationals Network for Public
Schools in New York City.
VUE Summer 2013 19
complex content than younger working with secondary newcomer stu-
students. But high schools serving dents is based on a model that builds
late-entry English language learners on the very diverse strengths that
also have a tremendous opportunity to students from all over the world bring
build on the incredible resources that to their schools and provides them
these students bring. Immigrant with a rich academic curriculum that
students come with global experiences prepares them for post-secondary
and knowledge – a knowledge of life in success in college, careers, and demo-
faraway countries, varied perspectives cratic society.
on school and the world, and a variety
This article will present some of the
of languages. These students are often
unique features of the Internationals
very resilient. They’ve travelled across
approach. One especially important
borders by plane, boat, car, truck, bus,
feature of the approach is that practi-
and foot, with or without one or both
tioners have led its development and
parents. They may not have been the
continue to share and learn together
ones who actually decided to come to
across multiple schools, contexts, and
the United States, and so they may be
geographies.
filled with more than the normal
teenage rebellion about parental
choices that they had no part in, All Teachers Supporting Both Content
having left behind friends, family, and and Language Learning
all that is familiar. Yet, they are also
In 1974, the U.S. Supreme Court in
often eager to benefit from opportuni-
Lau v. Nichols found that the San
ties that were not available to them in
Francisco Unified School District had
their homelands – opportunities to live
violated the rights of students by not
in peace, to study, to meet people from
providing them support in learning the
other cultures, and to become full
English language, because the district
participants in a democratic society.
had placed these students in academic
classes without providing them
THE INTERNATIONALS sufficient linguistic supports to access
APPROACH and learn the academic content. Since
that time, a variety of state and federal
In 1985, a group of educators in
regulations have been developed to
Queens, New York, faced with the
ensure that districts meet their obliga-
challenge of educating newly arrived
tion to provide linguistic support to
secondary students, set out to create a
students who are speakers of other
new approach to educating immigrants
languages and not yet proficient in
in a new small school, International
English. Yet, despite a variety of
High School at LaGuardia Community
regulations governing the education
College. Knowing that in the United of these students,i they are often
States, immigration often carries a unsuccessful in school.
stigma, the school chose to name itself
“International” to confer prestige on Virtually all programs provide linguis-
the students they serve. Since then, tic support through English as a second
another sixteen small schools and one language classes. In most programs,
small learning community have re- academic content is also taught in
created and built upon this approach. English (using a variety of approaches)
and in some programs, academic
The practitioners formed a nonprofit,
content is taught in students’ home
Internationals Network for Public
language(s). Much of the debate in
Schools, to leverage their work and
the United States has focused on the
share it with others. This approach to
language used by the teacher, with
20 Annenberg Institute for School Reform
some states mandating “English-only” else ride it. You need to get up, ride,
instruction in the aftermath of anti- fall off, and get back on. Language
bilingual campaigns in the late 1990s. learning is no different. You have to
But in the Internationals approach, use a language to develop proficiency
rather than separating linguistic and in a language.
academic development into different
In a class where the teacher talks and
class periods with specialists in either
calls on individual students, even in a
language development or an academic
relatively small high school class of
discipline teaching the respective class,
twenty students, each one would have
Internationals has all teachers support
only a few minutes to practice lan-
both the linguistic and the academic
guage. Understanding that the more
development of students2 and supports
teachers talk, the less students talk, the
students’ use of home languages as well
Internationals approach prioritizes
as English to do this.
“
It is crucial that all teachers take
responsibility for newly arrived high
school students’ growth in both areas.
To be college and career ready, immi-
grant high school students need to
“
All Internationals teachers support both the
master academic content and develop
proficiency in English. They have a
linguistic and the academic development of
very short window of time to learn all
this: four years – or at best five or six,
students and students’ use of home languages
if they and their families can afford for
them to stay in school and they don’t
as well as English to do this.
get discouraged. It doesn’t make sense
for these students to lose their precious,
limited time learning English in courses
that don’t accumulate the academic
credits towards graduation that
they need.
small-group projects that foster
Researchers and theoreticians also are
language development alongside of
more and more indicating that the
content. Student activity guides direct
most appropriate place to learn
the activity of students on collaborative
language is in context – and in school,
projects, and the teacher moves among
the context is the learning of academic
groups to facilitate their work and
content. Students need to be actively
guide the process. Students actively
doing this work, not watching others
speak with their peers, collaborating
or waiting to do it while learning
to complete a cognitively complex
English. For students learning English
problem. They make linguistic choices.
in a short period of time, it is especially
They move between using their own
important that they have the opportu-
language to understand concepts or
nity to actively use language
explain to a peer who doesn’t under-
throughout the day. No one learns to
stand in English to using English to
ride a bicycle by watching someone
communicate with other students who
may not share their language or to
prepare for oral presentations of their
1 Implementation of these regulations has
work in English.
been uneven.
2 See the Understanding Language project
at http://ell.stanford.edu for a good
explanation of the theoretical basis for
this approach.
Claire Sylvan VUE Summer 2013 21
Grouping Students across Different • Internationals personnel often ask
Levels of Language Proficiency skeptics, “What size class would you
need to form a truly homogenous
In order to have students working on
group?” In fact, the minute you level
complex cognitive tasks, with activity
students on one characteristic, they
guides prepared in English (in general),
will be different on another. No two
the student groups must be heteroge-
people share all characteristics.
neous with students at different levels
of English proficiency, so that they can • The decisions about grouping
support each other’s learning. But in students by language proficiency are
fact, this learning is enhanced even usually based on an English language
more when students are diverse on proficiency examination. Even if
even more characteristics, such as students scored the same on the test,
academic proficiency, home language, inevitably they did not get all the
or previous schooling. In virtually all same answers right and all the same
our schools, students in grades 9 and answers wrong. So the students will
10 are mixed in classes and work on differ on what they do or don’t
projects together in a two-year pro- know about the English language.
gram, where they remain with the
• Even when they get the same
same team of teachers.
answers right or wrong, the way that
“ they think about the answers may
well differ.
In other words, the only way to have a
truly homogeneous class is to have a
class of one!
Internationals’ experience is that students
“ Rather than attempt the impossible
learn better in heterogeneous groups, a task of “leveling students” to create
homogenous groups, the Internationals
fact confirmed by literature on how diverse
approach leverages diversity and
heterogeneity. Across Internationals
groups often perform better and reach more
schools, students come from 119
countries and speak 90 languages. In
optimal decisions than homogeneous groups.
any one school there may be up to 60
countries and 40 languages. Some
students come in on grade level or
above, from a strong school system,
although they may not speak one word
of English. Some of our students have
Why have we decided not to stratify never previously attended school.
students based on their linguistic Others have been out of school for
proficiency? In virtually every program several years due to war or other
serving English learners, for at least situations. Still others come from
some part of the day, they are divided countries where the school day is short
into groups based on their language (four hours or less) and sometimes
proficiency. This grouping is done there is no teacher. And students will
because educators believe that they can combine on these and other character-
best tailor instruction to students who istics in innumerable ways.
share the “same level” as their needs
Internationals’ experience is that
will be the same. The Internationals
students learn better in heterogeneous
approach looks at this differently:
groups, a fact confirmed by literature
22 Annenberg Institute for School Reform
on how diverse groups often perform fact that the class groupings are the
better and reach more optimal deci- same allows the practitioners to discuss
sions than homogeneous groups how best to form small groups and
(Phillips, Kim-Jun & Shim 2010; Page pairs for class projects, to see students’
2007; Boaler 2008; Kellogg Insight strengths in one area in order to
2010). leverage them to support their growth
in areas they are struggling.
The Internationals approach capitalizes
on the heterogeneity of our students in To sum up, since heterogeneity is
multiple ways: inevitable, valuable, and positive,
rather than attempt to eliminate it
• making English the lingua franca in
falsely, the Internationals approach is
most of our classrooms and encour-
to leverage it instructionally and
aging communication in multiple
structurally, both for teachers and for
languages to aid in constructing
students. And for English language
meaning;
learners, this approach is unique, since
• promoting student interaction where virtually all other programs level
students use both English and native students by proficiency level.
language to grasp the content of
their projects, to construct new
An Approach Developed and
understandings, and to help each
Maintained by Practitioners
other complete the project tasks;
As described on page 20, the Interna-
• promoting language and content
tionals approach was developed
learning motivated by students’
and continues to evolve based on the
authentic desires to communicate
collaboration of practitioners. In each
ideas and solve problems and
International High School, teachers
communicate with their peers.
work in committees to take responsibil-
We also leverage diversity by creating ity for hiring, supporting, and
heterogeneous groups of teachers who eventually providing feedback to their
take responsibility for the same group peers. They collaboratively plan and
of students. At a minimum, a math, lead professional development and serve
history, science, and English (or ESL) on curriculum committees overseeing
teacher share responsibility for a the courses of study, vertical alignment
cluster of about 80 to 100 students. within academic disciplines, etc. The
The heterogeneous cluster of students Internationals network supports
is divided into three to four strands continued cross-school learning.
(classes). Each strand sees the same
Across the network of schools, staff
four teachers for their classes, and the
from Internationals Network of Public
teachers see the same 100 students in
Schools facilitate committees of faculty
the same groupings. The practitioners’
to support the opening of new schools,
main affiliation (unusual for high
plan joint professional development
schools) is not their academic discipline
across schools, plan inter-visitations
but the interdisciplinary team. This
across schools, and help to populate an
team shares responsibility – overall
online knowledge management system
responsibility for this shared cluster of
where over 500 curriculum units and
students and their success, academi-
additional resources are shared across
cally, linguistically, and affectively –
the network. Educators from
for a collaborative project. Like the
Internationals Network facilitate
students, the teachers’ diversity enables
inter-visitations, leadership retreats,
them to look at students from different
and a process to provide feedback
perspectives – students that do well in
to sister schools.
math may struggle in history, and the
Claire Sylvan VUE Summer 2013 23
In one example of interschool sharing, LEVERAGING THE DIVERSITY
a consistent structure in most of our OF NEWLY ARRIVED STUDENTS
schools now is the team leader meet-
AND THEIR FAMILIES
ing, where the principal meets with
team leaders to support their growth Now in three states and eighteen
and facilitate cross-team learning. Yet schools, with additional supports
that structure was developed by the provided to other schools in even more
fourth school to open. Practitioners states, the Internationals approach
own and develop Internationals holds great promise to provide immi-
practices, even as they have agreed to grant and ELL students with real
hold firm to certain key design prin- educational opportunity. These
ciples, which they themselves distilled students and their families bring global
over the course of two summers, based perspectives and great optimism to the
on more than twenty years of school- communities in which they live.
based practices. The network of Leveraging their diverse experiences
schools remains strong as newer and and developing teacher capacity to
older schools continue to learn from integrate language and content in
each other and develop their practices. complex, rigorous projects, the
Internationals approach guides schools
and communities to welcome these
students and open the door to the
American dream for these newly
arrived youth.
For more information on the Interna-
tionals Network for Public Schools, see
http://internationalsnps.org.
REFERENCES
Aud, S., W. Hussar, F. Johnson, G. Kena, E. Page, S. E. 2007. The Difference: How the
Roth, E. Manning, X. Wang, and J. Zhang. Power of Diversity Creates Better Groups,
2012. The Condition of Education 2012. Firms, Schools, and Societies. Princeton,
NCES 2012-045. Washington, DC: U.S. NJ: Princeton University Press.
Department of Education, National Center
Patrick, E. 2004. “The U.S. Refugee
for Education Statistics.
Resettlement Program,” Migration
Boaler, J. 2008. “Promoting ‘Relational Information Source. Washington,
Equity’ and High Mathematics Achieve- DC: Migration Policy Institute, www.
ment through an Innovative Mixed Ability migrationinformation.org/feature/display.
Approach,” British Educational Research cfm?ID=229.
Journal 34, no. 2:167–194.
Phillips, K. W., S. Y. Kim-Jun, and S.-H.
Kellogg Insight. 2010. “Better Decisions Shim. 2010. “The Value of Diversity in
through Diversity: Heterogeneity Can Boost Organizations: A Social Psychological
Group Performance.” Report based on the Perspective.” In Social Psychology and
research of Katherine W. Phillips, Katie A. Organizations, edited by R. van Dick and
Liljenquist, and Margaret A. Neale, K. Murnighan, pp. 253_272. New York:
Kellogg School of Management, Northwest- Routledge Press.
ern University, http://insight.kellogg.
northwestern.edu/article/better_decisions_
through_diversity.
24 Annenberg Institute for School Reform