For information or assistance regarding the ESOL program at middle schools, contact Greg Clark District ESOL Lead and IEL Coordinator (cell: 678-761-6579).
Listed below is an overview of the local school responsibilities for ESOL. The items listed in blue are ongoing as long as there are new ESOL students enrolling at the school. The item in purple is an Office of Civil Rights requirement. Schools should contact their District ESOL Lead should they need assistance in meeting this requirement.
August
Review Student Intake info from IWC
Review ESOL student transcript info from IWC and inform IWC of concerns
Send Waiver letters home to parents who wish to refuse ESOL
Submit copies of paperwork to IWC
Review/create schedule for ESOL students
Review all ESOL student info on reports and queries to ensure accuracy
Complete County Ten Day Count
Ensure ESOL representation on all meetings that involve the academic interests of ALL identified ESOL and ESOL-M students at the school (RTI, IEP, et al)
September
Hold Test Participation Committee Meetings
(HS) Send out Monitor forms to all classroom teachers, collect and review. Place forms in ESOL Folder.
Complete TPC Accommodations forms for all ESOL and ESOL-M students and the Testing Deferment form for those who qualify
Complete Teacher Notification of Accommodations Form and send to all classroom teachers and complete Parent Notifiction of Accommodations Form and send to parents (make sure to send in English and home language)
Continue to hold TPC meetings, complete TPC forms and submit accommodations spreadsheets via Blackboard for all new enrollees
Review all ESOL Reports and update info
Complete and submit ESOL FTE count
Submit all accommodations spreadsheets via Blackboard
Ensure ESOL representation on all meetings that involve the academic interests of ALL identified ESOL and ESOL-M students at the school (RTI, IEP, et al)
October
Assist classroom teachers in underrstanding implementation of accommodations
Review all ESOL Reports and update info
(MS) Send out Monitor forms to all classroom teachers, collect and review. Place forms in ESOL Folder.
(HS) Plan test administration of EOCTs with local test administrator to ensure accommodations
Ensure ESOL representation on all meetings that involve the academic interests of ALL identified ESOL and ESOL-M students at the school (RTI, IEP, et al)
November
Review all ESOL student info on reports and queries to ensure accuracy
Send out Monitor forms to all classroom teachers and collect
Prepare spreadsheet of ESOL students for ACCESS testing plan
Assign preliminary Tier level of ACCESS to all ESOL students and submit online ACCESS order form to Beth Kartheiser
Ensure ESOL representation on all meetings that involve the academic interests of ALL identified ESOL and ESOL-M students at the school (RTI, IEP, et al)
December
Review all ESOL student info on reports and queries to ensure accuracy
Review and update all ESOL info
(MS) Send out Monitor forms to all classroom teachers, collect and review. Place forms in ESOL Folder.
(HS) Send out Monitor forms to all classroom teachers, collect and review. Place forms in ESOL Folder.
Create ACCESS Testing plan
Ensure ESOL representation on all meetings that involve the academic interests of ALL identified ESOL and ESOL-M students at the school (RTI, IEP, et al)
January
Complete County Ten Day Count
Send AMAO letters to parents of ESOL students
Send Letter of Notification of ACCESS Testing to parents of ESOL students
Review ACCESS Testing plan
Finalize ACCESS Tier assignments and ACCESS Testing plan
Begin ACCESS testing
Ensure ESOL representation on all meetings that involve the academic interests of ALL identified ESOL and ESOL-M students at the school (RTI, IEP, et al)
February
Continue ACCESS testing
(HS) Send out Monitor forms to all classroom teachers, collect and review. Place forms in ESOL Folder.
Ensure ESOL representation on all meetings that involve the academic interests of ALL identified ESOL and ESOL-M students at the school (RTI, IEP, et al)
March
Review student info on all ACCESS tests
Complete and turn in ACCESS tests
(MS) Send out Monitor forms to all classroom teachers, collect and review. Place forms in ESOL Folder.
(HS) Send out Monitor forms to all classroom teachers, collect and review. Place forms in ESOL Folder.
Review TPC Accommodations forms with all classroom teachers and local testing coordinator
Assist in Testing plan for CRCT/GHSGT/EOCT with local test administrator
Submit list of student names for Deferment to local testing administrator
Ensure ESOL representation on all meetings that involve the academic interests of ALL identified ESOL and ESOL-M students at the school (RTI, IEP, et al)
April
Assist in CRCT/EOCT administration and ESOL accommodations
Ensure ESOL representation on all meetings that involve the academic interests of ALL identified ESOL and ESOL-M students at the school (RTI, IEP, et al)
May
Review ACCESS test scores
(MS) Send out Monitor forms to all classroom teachers, collect and review. Place forms in ESOL Folder.
(HS) Send out Monitor forms to all classroom teachers, collect and review. Place forms in ESOL Folder.
Complete ESOL Exit forms for students who qualify for exit and review with District ESOL staff
District ESOL will review and approve all ESOL program exits.
Send home ACCESS Reports and Parent Letters with information regarding exit and/or continuation of services
Complete and email ESOL Student Information Spreadsheet to feeder schools
Ensure ESOL representation on all meetings that involve the academic interests of ALL identified ESOL and ESOL-M students at the school (RTI, IEP, Retention Committee, et al)
Middle school ESOL schedules are determined by the local school. Given the different school sizes, needs and ESOL student populations across the district, schedules will vary from school to school. However, there are some general guidelines that should be used to develop a schedule that best meets the needs of the ESOL students and the overall school plan.
Remember…by law, all identified ESOL students must receive some type of English language support services. ESOL FTE segments, however, may only be earned for ELLs who are receiving ESOL services through one of the State-approved Delivery Models of Instruction. ELLs who are monitored and ELLs whose parents have completed an Annual Parental Waiver of ESOL Services may not be scheduled in an ESOL class.(ESOL-monitored students are those who have officially exited from the ESOL Program and according to NCLB must be monitored for two years.)
General Considerations for Scheduling
Consider grouping students by English proficiency and literacy levels, not just by grade level.
Cluster ESOL students in classes/teams in order to allow more efficient scheduling of ESOL services. This will allow a school to provide inclusionary support.
ESOL students with the lowest level of English proficiency need and should receive the maximum ESOL instructional time possible. For middle school, that is TWO segments.
All ESOL students should receive content area instruction for math, science, ELA, social studies with a teacher highly qualified in that content area. The courses ESOL Grade 6, ESOL Grade 7 and ESOL Grade 8 do NOT substitute for any content area course. (ELLs served through the IEL Program have different scheduling requirements.)
Using data, choose the instructional model that best meets the needs of the students and fits the schedule of the ESOL teacher/s. Keep in mind that both the sheltered and the push-in teaching models offer advantages. Using a combination of the two models for the same group of students may also be beneficial for students who are struggling with language and content. Push-in allows the ESOL teacher to collaborate within the classroom setting; sheltered allows the ESOL teacher to provide more focused, specialized instruction in a specific content area or in an ESOL language support climate. For beginners, sheltered instruction is recommended. Push-in is most effective with students of higher proficiency levels as they are better able to comprehend academic language and more easily participate in classroom discourse.
When possible, ESOL teachers should attend grade-level and content team planning meetings. If there is only one ESOL teacher at a school, the teacher should rotate meeting with different teams throughout the year.
Remember: there is no one single approach to scheduling ESOL classes. Consult school staff - including administrators, classroom teachers, other specialists - and your ESOL colleagues at the Central Office for assistance. Always work to provide a schedule that will best meet the language acquisition and overall academic needs of the ESOL students.
As ESOL teachers design their schedules, they should use language and achievement data to make instructional placement decisions. Teachers should analyze the following:
Number of students at specific English language proficiency levels (W-APT or ACCESS scores)
Number of ESOL students at specific grade levels
Literacy levels and achievement data
Additional program services needs of student (remedial, special ed, gifted)
The student profile template is a document ESOL teachers can use to provide more information about the ELs to general education teachers. It includes a section for the student's background history, strenghts, weaknesses, and the target language skills based on the WIDA® Can Do Descriptors. Feel free to edit the file to your needs
(USE FIREFOX to download the files,MS Explorer may not recognize the file format)
Please click the link below and complete the online survey about MS ESOL Lead Teacher duties and responsibilities. Your time and consideration given to completing the survey in an accurate and timely manner is appreciated.
NASA's Smart Skies provides interactive tool for students to work on math problems
NASA has released an interactive online tool that enables students to visualize and manipulate three linked representations of a distance-rate-time problem. (Great strategies for ELLs!) The tool format features two airplanes—each flying at a constant speed—on merging jet routes, corresponding distance-vs.-time graphs, and the corresponding linear equations. The students can manipulate an airplane's speed and starting position on its route, rotate or shift the associated line on the graph, and change the parameters of the associated equation. As students change one representation, the others are updated.
The free classroom materials include the tool, student workbooks, assessments, teacher guides, and alignments to Math Georgia Performance Standards for grades 5-8 and Math 1. This new tool provides distance-rate-time investigations that engage students in the challenges faced by air traffic controllers.
See below for information regarding a free webinar on LEXILES:
Lexile Online @ Webex
Web Session: The Lexile Framework for Reading - An
Overview for Educators
Get a glimpse of the Lexile Framework! This online,
facilitator-led demonstration will provide you with a high-level
overview of how Lexile measures can be used to match students with
targeted text to support reading growth.
History and development of The Lexile Framework for Reading
Understanding Lexile measures as measures of text demand and
reading ability
Applying Lexile measures to instructional materials and student
reading ability
Using Lexile measures to match readers to text and forecast
comprehension
Using Lexile measures to monitor student educational attainment
in relation to performance standards and growth over time
Click here to download the CCSD course numbers for middle school ESOL support course numbers. These number have been uploaded into SchoolMax for FY2011:
In the article "English Language Learners with Interrupted
Schooling: Do Self-Efficacy Beliefs in Native Language Proficiency and
Acculturation Matter?," Rebecca K. Fox, Ph.D., Anastasia Kitsantas, Ph.D. & George Flowers discuss the role that self-efficacy and acculturation play in the success of adolescents with interrupted schooling. They also provide the following five guidelines for schools with adolescents with interrupted schooling (AIS):
Understand the backgrounds of AIS and acknowledge the resources they bring to the school and the classroom.
Provide opportunities for ELLs to access academic content in their L1 to support L2 acquisition.
Encourage literacy activities in the home.
Encourage students to join school clubs, sports, and organizations.
Provide opportunities for both parents and students to understand new school systems.
Check this site frequently for updates.