Assistance for students at ELL (part 3)

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4.2 Improving Teacher Efficacy for Meeting ELL Student Needs through Structured Training

Bandura's (1993) social cognitive theory as applied to the context of teacher efficacy may provide a foundation for improving teachers' ability to teach ELL students (Bandura, 1993; Brownell & Pajares, 1996, 1999; Pajares, 1992). Using the construct of efficacy as a base, it is logical to suggest that a structured program designed to enhance teachers' knowledge and skills related to providing instruction appropriate to ELL students might result in an increase in participating teachers' efficacy. In turn, this increase in teacher efficacy should lead to improved student performance. Just as general education teachers report an increase in efficacy as a result of learning strategies to help their students with disabilities access their class material, teachers who teach ELL students may be similarly influenced by training and related supports. It is critical that we provide teachers with the requisite knowledge, skill, and practice to teach students in need of language development instruction if these students are to gain access to instruction conducted in English (Echevarria et al., 2000).
Developing and fostering teachers' belief that they have the ability to address the needs of ELL students may depend on providing general education teachers with knowledge of the appropriate instructional strategies and academic language development accommodations that can help improve ELL access to grade level content in the classroom. Providing teachers with supports and training may assist them in addressing the needs of this special needs student group. Such training opportunities can help teachers expand their expertise and find new ways to reach all the students in their class, regardless of language or cultural differences (Coltrane, 2002).

For ELL students, gaining proficiency in academic English requires effective instruction designed to include the language skills students need to engage in content learning. Although ELL students may gain fluency in spoken social English, many of them perform poorly in both oral and written tasks requiring academic English proficiency (Dutro, 2005). Academic language is language used in formal contexts for academic subjects; it includes technical and academic terms (Cumrnins, 1999). ELL students need explicit and systematic instruction in academic language, such as English vocabulary, word usage, grammatical features, and syntactical structures, to access grade-level academic content and increase achievement outcomes (Echevarria et aL., 2004).

To help ELL students develop academic language, teachers must consider ELL students' language development needs when planning and implementing instruction. Teachers who understand the linguistic needs of their diverse ELL student population provide rich, meaningful lessons that promote language growth concurrently with content learning (Echevarria & Short, 2005). Of course, if teachers have not been exposed to training in this area, they may need support as they learn how to teach effectively, providing appropriate accommodations for ELL students: students who have diverse backgrounds, educational profiles, and primary languages. One approach to teaching ELL students suggests that teachers explicitly highlight academic language as an objective in every lesson. Such emphasis enhances student awareness of academic English and promotes student achievement (Bielenberg & Wong-Fillmore, 2005). Likewise, teachers knowledgeable about effective English as a second language (ESL) instruction encourage students to interact with their peers, discuss ideas, and to work on projects that help them understand content while at the same time providing practice in using academic language (Echevarria & Short, 2005). In contrast, teachers not making adaptations in response to students' limited English proficiency frequently expect students to complete paper and pencil tasks independently and to read textbooks without such supports as pre-taught vocabulary or visual aids (Echevarria et al., 2000).

To bridge the gap between teacher's current level of knowledge and comfort working with students with linguistic deficits, many districts turn to targeted professional development. One of the most widely accepted models of teacher professional development designed to enhance teachers' ability to work successfully with ELL students is the SIOP model.

The SIOP Model as Strategy for Improvements in ELL Teaching

The Center for Research on Education, Diversity, & Excellence (CREDE), a national research center funded by the U.S. Department of Education, sponsored Echevarria and Short's (2005) development of an explicit model of high quality sheltered instruction. The Sheltered Immersion Observation Protocol (SIOP) (n.d.) model was the result of this effort. Sheltered Instruction is an instructional technique where content, although delivered in English, is adjusted to the proficiency level of the student so that content subject matter is comprehensible. The SIOP model emphasizes content objectives, with English as a vehicle for reaching them (Northwest Regional Education Laboratory, 2005). According to its developers, this model both increases student achievement and can be used to train teachers in sheltered instruction techniques.

The SIOP model was developed for teachers, administrators, and teacher trainers as a resource for increasing effectiveness of instruction for ELL students. It provides a research-based operationalized professional development model of sheltered instruction that can be used either as an observation tool for SIOP model implementation or a lesson planning checklist (Echevarria et al., 2004). The SIOP model is comprised of 30 instructional strategies, grouped into eight components: (a) preparation, (b) building background, (c) comprehensible input, (d) strategies, (e) interaction, (f) practice/application, (g) lesson delivery, and (h) review/assessment (Echevarria et al., 2004).

Promoted as a method of standardizing sheltered instruction and of integrating language development skills into instruction, the SIOP model is also designed for planning and implementation of high quality sheltered instruction. SIOP-trained teachers implement core curriculum and modify instruction to make the content understandable by teaching academic vocabulary, connecting new learning to background knowledge, and providing for multiple opportunities to practice language skills. The purpose of implementing SIOP in a general education classroom is to provide a bridge to academic content for ELL students as they are taught in mainstream classrooms.

The theoretical underpinning of the SIOP model is that language acquisition is enhanced through meaningful use and interaction (Echevarria & Short, 1999). The SIOP instruction framework emphasizes language objectives in each content lesson, the development of background knowledge, and academic literary practice. This academic literacy practice is described as language use activities in speaking, writing, and interacting. According to the developers of the SIOP model, language skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing develop interdependently; therefore, effective lessons that increase opportunities for ELL students to access content must include multiple opportunities for students to engage in these academic language-learning behaviors (Echevarria et al., 2000).

Three studies involving the SIOP model have been conducted within the last seven years. One study reported on the validity and reliability of the observation instrument aspect of the model (Guarino, Echevarria, Short, Schick, Forbes, & Rueda, 2001). SIOP was found to be a reliable measure of sheltered instruction from which valid interpretations of the effectiveness of that instruction could be made. Two earlier related studies were conducted in 1999 and 1998. Both investigated SIOP's effect on student writing achievement. High and low teacher/implementers of the SIOP instructional model were observed. The teachers' degree of SIOP implementation was compared to middle school student narrative and expository writing achievement outcomes. Results of the two studies indicated that ELL students whose teachers implemented the SIOP model to a high degree made greater gains in writing achievement than did ELL students whose teachers did not implement the SIOP model as extensively (Echevarria et al., 2004). The two studies do not discuss what factors may have contributed to teachers' high verses low degree of SIOP model implementation. Although the studies connected a high degree of model implementation to student achievement outcomes, further research might explore the factors that may contribute to teachers' ability to implement instructional strategies to the degree necessary to affect achievement outcomes, such as teacher self-efficacy.

Despite the research that appears to have been incorporated into designing the SIOP model, research connecting it to student achievement outcomes is limited. This paucity of research is somewhat surprising because the model is widely accepted, implemented, and promoted through packaged professional development videos, manuals, and trainings. One area of research to explore relates to the successful SIOP training and model implementation efforts in a school or school district. Another is teacher receptivity and philosophical acceptance regarding a school or school district's SIOP implementation efforts. In addition, studies addressing the development of teacher efficacy for teaching ELL students as a result of use of the SIOP model are warranted. Prior to the study reported in this manuscript, no studies exist that investigate the effectiveness of a SIOP model implementation effort within a school or school district.

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