In Search of Best Practices for Teaching Gifted English Learners

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In Search of Best Practices for Teaching Gifted
English Learners

• Margie K. Kitano
• San Diego State University

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March 3, 2007

• Marcela Sanchez THE WASHINGTON POST
• Teaching Latino children to learn
• According to U.S. government figures, English
  is the second language for approximately 5.5
  million students in the United States, nearly
  one-tenth of the total U.S. student body. By
  2025, one of every four students in this
  countrys public school system is expected to
  initially be limited in English proficiency.

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LEP Representation in Gifted Programs U.S.
(National OCR projected data)
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LEP Representation in Gifted Programs
States and San Diego USD
OCR 2004 and District data
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1974 - 1997

• Public Interest Chacón-Moscone
  Bilingual-Bicultural Education Act establishes
  transitional bilingual programs.
  
• Bilingual education teachers seek information on
  best practices for gifted English learners.
  
• SDUSD transitions from Wechsler to Raven

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Bilingual Program Models

• English immersion
• Early exit bilingual
• Late exit bilingual
• Two-way bilingual (dual language)

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1993 Survey of 20 CA Districts

• Available literature provides little guidance on
  effective strategies for identification and
  services.
  
• Districts are responding to the need for
  bilingual gifted and talented programs with
  little guidance.
  
• Experimentation is producing a wide variety of
  approaches accompanied by lack of confidence
  about efficacy.
  
• (Espinosa, 1993)

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Diversity of Gifted ELs

• Primary language
• Proficiency in primary language and English
• Nativity and level of acculturation
• Educational background
• Economic level
• Cultural values and expectations
• Immigration experiences and status
• Talent area(s)

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Recommendations from Lit Review (1995)

• Comprehensive, articulated, K-12 programs
  offering
  
• Firm foundation in L1 prior to transitioning to
  English
  
• Continued development of conceptual
  knowledge/skills in L1
  
• Transitioning to English instruction with
  challenging content
  
• Bilingual materials appropriate for gifted
• Course and program options (honors, AP) in L1 and
  English
  
• Challenging curriculum incorporating student
  knowledge and experience
  
• Family and community involvement in planning,
  evaluation
  
• Counseling to support affective needs including
  issues related to tradition breaking, peer
  acceptance, discrimination, careers
  
• Mentors and role models

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Elements of Instruction

• Instructional strategies appropriate for gifted
  irrespective of language of instruction higher
  level and creative thinking, thematic
  instruction, rigor
• Using student strengths problem solving,
  creativity, primary language ability
  
• High expectations through content-rich,
  multicultural curriculum
  
• Student-centered approaches promoting active
  involvement
  
• Oral and written language development throughout
  the curriculum
  
• Valuing languages, cultures, experiences

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Promising Model

• Dual language instruction, designed to promote
  bilingual literacy, represents an appropriate
  option for gifted English monolinguals and
  English learners.
• Uses student strengths and expertise
• Values primary languages
• Encourages peer support across groups
• Requires complex cognitive skills
• Permits acceleration, inquiry

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Example Bilingual Classroom
Bilingual Socratic seminar using Diego Riveras
La Piñata as text
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1998 - 2007

• Public Interest Proposition 227 passes June 3,
  1998.
  
• Bilingual education gives way to English
  immersion.
  
• Teachers of the gifted seek information on best
  practices for gifted English learners.

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Codifying Practical Knowledge (2002)

• Criteria
• Certified by district in gifted education
• Currently teaching ELs identified as gifted
• Working with students representing variety of
  primary languages
  
• Themselves representing a variety of cultural and
  language backgrounds
  

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Strategies

• Assess and incorporate interests and background
  knowledge
  
• Show rather than tell, use examples and
  non-examples, graphic organizers, field trips,
  videos and films
  
• Hold individual conferences on specific
  strategies
  
• Use reciprocal teaching
• Model reading and thinking strategies
• Use direct instruction for basic skills and
  developing automaticity
  
• Schema journals
• Use strategies promoting higher level and
  creative thinking
  
• Evaluate appropriateness of tiered instruction
• Missing
• Frequent diagnostic/prescriptive assessment
• Balancing demands for high level conceptual
  thinking and high level English language use
  

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Examples English Immersion

• Social Construction of History
• Our Visit to the Chinese Historical Museum
• Four perspectives on the Columbus expedition
• Meeting of Montezuma and Cortez
• Balancing English language demands and
  creativity/perspective taking
  
• Creating a poem that gives the perspective of an
  inanimate object
  

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Moving to Social Issues and Coping

• How did Shirleys classmates perceive her?
• Evaluate the coping strategies Shirley used.
• Do people today have the same problems that
  Shirley and Jackie Robinson faced?
  

Text Bette Bao Lords In the Year of the Boar an
d Jackie Robinson
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SDUSD Gifted EL Literacy Scores
From Program Studies Department Office of School
Site Support San Diego City Schools (May 2005)
GATE program evaluation report p.59
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Gifted EL Math Scores
From Program Studies Department Office of School
Site Support San Diego City Schools (May 2005)
GATE program evaluation report p.61
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Design Elements

• Culturally and linguistically diverse students
  from economically disadvantaged backgrounds
  require services beyond those typically provided,
  such as tutoring and mentoring (VanTassel-Baska,
  Patton, Prillaman, 1989).
• What strategies should tutors use for this
  population?
  
• Focus group of experts in English language
  development, sheltered instruction, reading,
  gifted.
  

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OPEN GATE Program

• Basic District Program for Highly Gifted
• 99.9ile on Raven or 99.6 with two factors
• Free/reduced lunch program
• Self-contained seminar
• Class size of 20 maximum
• OPEN GATE Services
• Grades 3 through 5, continuous with same teacher
• Individual or small group tutoring in reading
  with effort to match by ethnicity and language
  
• Parent/Family programs
• Social services and advocacy

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Students (2003/04)

• 58 students in grades 3, 4, and 5
• 34 boys, 23 girls
• 59 Latino, 16 Vietnamese, 12 mixed ethnicity,
  2 White, 12 other
  
• African American, Chinese, Hmong, Laotian
• 74 had home language other than English

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Student Characteristics
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Approach

• Plan the lesson to include higher level questions
  and activities.
  
• Plan the lesson to accommodate level of English
  fluency.
  
• Model the strategy.
• Provide guided practice
• Encourage independent practice
• Look for students application of the strategy
  while reading.
  

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Reflecting

• Did the strategy increase or deepen the students
  understanding of the text?
  
• Was the student able to apply the strategy while
  reading?
  
• Were the students responses meaningful?
• Were they honest and authentic?
• Did the student seem to understand what he/she
  read?
  

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Figuring Out Words(decoding and building
vocabulary)

• Recognizing difficult words (decoding)
• Difficult word
  Tell the student the word.
  
• Substitutes word Does
  that make sense?
  
• 
  Try that word again.
  
• Cannot read word Skip the
  word and come back.
  
• 
  Check the picture.
  
• Sounds out incorrectly Say each
  sound and blend.
  
• 
  Try the letters other sound.
  
• Many syllables Look
  for chunks, small words
  

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Comprehension Strategies

• Harvey, S., Goudvis, A. (2000). Strategies
  that work. Portland, Maine Stenhouse
  Publishers.
  
• Making connections
• Questioning
• Visualizing and imagining
• Inferring
• Determining importance
• Synthesizing

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Making Connections

• Relating unfamiliar text to prior knowledge
• What do we already know about . . .?
• Do you know anyone who is in a situation like the
  main character?
  
• Is something like this situation happening in the
  world today?
  
• What (similarities, differences, patterns) do you
  see across the three stories?
  
• How does this connection help you understand the
  story?

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Questioning

• Encouraging students to ask questions before,
  during, and after reading.
  
• I wonder . . .
• What do you wonder?
• What seems confusing?
• What do you want to know in order to better
  understand?
  
• What remains puzzling?
• Encourage raising unanswered, existential
  questions addressing deeper themes and ethics.
  

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Visualizing Imagining

• Using all senses and details from the text to
  create an image.
  
• What image comes to mind when you read this
  passage?
  
• What does the passage make you see? Hear? Smell?
  Taste?
  
• How does the image help you understand what is
  happening?
  
• What clues from the text help you understand
  relative size? Shape? Smell? Sound?
  

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Inferring

• Going beyond the information in the text based on
  clues.
  
• What do you think the story is about?
• What do you think will happen next?
• How do you think character X might feel?
• What events influenced her to . . . ?
• What is the theme or message?
• What in our society makes it possible for that to
  happen?
  

• What clues or evidence support your ideas?

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Determining Importance

• Determining the key concepts
• What are the main ideas and concepts?
• What features of the text indicate important
  concepts?
  
• Try to find the answer to this question as you
  read.
  
• Write a short newspaper article on this topic (or
  story). What would you put in the first
  paragraph? In the next paragraphs?
  
• After reading these two points of view, what is
  your opinion?
  
• How would you teach this topic to your little
  brother? What would he need to know?
  
• How would you teach this topic at a conference of
  experts? What would they want to know?

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Synthesizing

• Reassembling the parts to form something new and
  meaningful.
  
• Retell to capture storys essence and provide a
  personal response.
  
• Nonfiction find information on a question from
  several different sources and combine the
  information in a summary.
  
• What are the bigger ideas? Create a bumper
  sticker.
  
• Create a new ending consistent with the story
  elements, such as characterization.
  
• Retell from a different characters perspective.
• How would the story be different if . . . ?
  (e.g., character were different gender)
  
• Draw a picture of how the scene would look from
  different characters perspective.
  
• Note the authors craft and reproduce.

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Did Students Make Gains in Reading Achievement?
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How Many Hours of Tutoring Did Student Receive?
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Is There a Relationship between Reading Gains
andComprehension Strategies?

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CAT/6 NCE Scores by Language Status and Grade
Level
What Factors Play the Most Important Role in
Reading Achievement?
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Literacy CST Comparison
From Program Studies Department Office of School
Site Support San Diego City Schools (May 2005)
GATE program evaluation report p.26
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Literacy CAT6 Comparison
Quintile
From Program Studies Department Office of School
Site Support San Diego City Schools (May 2005)
GATE program evaluation report p.26
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Comparisons with District and State
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Conclusions

• Amount of tutoring does not appear to be related
  to gains in reading achievement.
  
• Tutoring in basic decoding and higher level
  reading comprehension strategies supported gains
  in reading achievement.
  
• Gifted English learners benefit from tutoring in
  decoding and the full range of lower and higher
  level reading comprehension strategies.
  
• Tutoring time spent on non-reading activities is
  not productive in improving reading fluency.
  
• Gifted students who continue English learner
  status into fifth grade may need interventions
  other than tutoring to improve reading
  achievement and may benefit from earlier
  identification, evaluation, and assessment.
• Criterion- or curriculum-based measures may be
  more sensitive to changes in skill development.
  

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2007 and the Future

• Public Interest 21st Century Skills, including
  dual language for English speakers
  
• Field of the gifted education takes stronger
  interest in gifted ELs and cross-disciplinary
  collaboration.
  

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Research Questions

• What theoretical and research paradigms focus on
  the strengths of culturally and linguistically
  diverse students? (Harry et al., 2005 Trueba,
  2002)
• Does bilingualism/biculturalism support
  achievement and social/emotional development?
  (Rumbaut, 2000 Strand Peacock, 2002)
  
• What are the effects of dual language programs on
  achievement and self concept? (Gomez, et al.,
  2005 López, M. G., Tashakkori, 2006).
  
• What supports maintenance of bilingualism?
  (Hasson, 2006).
  

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Research Questions

• What program models are effective for gifted
  English learners?
  
• How can we take advantage of bilingual students
  cognitive and linguistic strengths? (Kettler, et
  al., 2006 Valdes, 2002)
  
• What progress are we making in identifying and
  serving gifted English learners? (Masten et al.,
  1999 Peterson Margolin, 1997 Shaunessy,
  2007)