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Characteristics of Universal Access

Overview

•  Acquiring in-depth knowledge of English learnersʼ home cultures and cultural experiences

•  Communicating effectively with families across languages and cultures

•  Planning for engaging families and communities in student learning

•  Examining how a teacherʼs own cultural beliefs, values, attitudes, and assumptions impact student learning

Terminology to Know

•  Universal design •  Universal access •  Considerate text •  Scaffolding •  L-1, L-2 •  Community mapping

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State Immigrant Growth 1990-2005

Source: William H. Frey

200% or more growth Btn 100% and 199% growth Traditional immigrant gateway All other states

Immigrant Concentrations in States

15% or more 10-14% 5-9% Less than 5%

1990 2005

Source: William H. Frey

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Issues and Challenges

•  Narrowing of the curriculum •  Scapegoating of immigrants •  Fewer teacher preparation programs for bilingual

teachers

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Universal Design

•  IDEA: an architectural concept promoting barrier free design of buildings, software, and websites

•  Aims for beauty and access by incorporating the access elements right into the initial blueprint

•  Strives to be a broad-spectrum solution that helps everyone, not just people with disabilities

•  Barrier-free design and assistive technology increase accessibility for people with disabilities, but can also result in separate and stigmatizing solutions

Source: Access Denied 2008

Principles of Universal Design

•  Flexibility in use •  Simple and intuitive •  Perceptible information •  Tolerance for error •  Low physical effort •  Size and space for approach and use

How is Universal Design Achieved?

Architects who design buildings and other structures to include access begin by examining the needs of the people who will potentially use them.

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Universal Access

•  A similar instructional concept of planning for and delivering instruction that all students can participate in and benefit from is called universal access

•  Universal access begins by examining the need and fitting the instructional materials and lesson delivery to the needs of students, rather than trying to fit the students to one traditional type of materials or way of instruction

Applying Universal Access to Instruction of English Learners

•  Pre-planning instruction through lesson plans that serve as a well designed blueprint*

•  Building shared background •  Previewing vocabulary and pre-teach it •  Using L-1 resources to support comprehension •  Matching visuals and illustrations to the text •  Using graphic organizers to access higher levels of

thinking without sole reliance on words •  Engaging parents

* Most important to Universal Access

Examples of Inclusion

•  Cooperative learning activities designed to uncover potential student “expertise” to be shared by all

•  Instructional materials that employ “considerate text”

•  Encouragement of studentsʼ use of primary languages

•  Modeling of other languages by teachers/students

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Examples of Exclusion

There is tremendous energy and creativity being applied toward finding ways to exclude some immigrant children from education. E.g., through:

•  Constitutional amendment •  Ballot initiatives •  Asking for social security numbers •  Housing zone enforcement

Parent Engagement

•  Research indicates parent/school collaborations are very powerful

•  What can schools do? •  What can parents do?

EL and Special Education

•  English learners are disproportionately represented in special education

•  Must ensure that “disability” is not just a language or cultural difference

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A Speech Therapistʼs Description of “Pragmatic Problems”

“It is not unusual for children to have pragmatic problems in only a few situations. However, if problems in social language use occur often and seem inappropriate considering the child's age, a pragmatic disorder may exist. Pragmatic disorders often coexist with other language problems such as vocabulary development or grammar. Pragmatic problems can lower social acceptance. Peers may avoid having conversations with an individual with a pragmatic disorder.”

Source: American Speech-Language-Hearing Association

Four Principles for Assessing Students with Linguistic and Cultural Differences

1. Convene a full, multidisciplinary assessment team: parents, educators, and assessors should be part of any assessment team. Other integral members of the team include interpreters, bilingual educators, and a person who is familiar with the student's culture and language. 

Source: J. Burnette

Four Principles for Assessing Students with Linguistic and Cultural Differences

2. Use pre-referral strategies and interventions: if a student is having difficulties, information should be gathered to determine whether these difficulties stem from language or cultural differences, from a lack of opportunity to learn, or from a disability. 

Source: J. Burnette

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Four Principles for Assessing Students with Linguistic and Cultural Differences

3. Determine the language to be used in testing/assessment of language dominance and proficiency; should be completed before further testing is conducted for students whose home language is not English. 

Source: J. Burnette

Four Principles for Assessing Students with Linguistic and Cultural Differences

4. Conduct a tailored, appropriate assessment of the child and environment. Ideally, nonbiased, appropriate instruments should be combined with other sources of information (observations, interviews) from a variety of environments (school, home, community) to produce a multidimensional assessment. 

Source: J. Burnette

How Do We Know Whether Parents Value Education?

Jot down several examples of how you know that a family values education. (Example: they come to back-to-school night.)

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How Do We Know Whether Parents Value Education?

Some typical answers:

•  Parents help children with homework •  Parents come to a parent conference •  Parents get their children to school on time •  Parents take their children to the library •  Parents speak only English to their child

Evidence that a Parent Values Education?

Supposition: parents help children with homework

•  Challenges •  Parents may have little formal education •  Parents may not speak English •  Children may have to work after school

•  Strategies •  Provide bilingual dictionaries, cognate resources •  Record the daily class session, L-1 summaries •  Have a school translation policy and resources •  Provide in-school homework alternatives

Evidence that a Parent Values Education?

Supposition: parents come to parent conferences

•  Challenges –  Language and jargon may be a barrier –  Parents may be unfamiliar with the purpose of parent conferences to

discuss academic issues –  Yime of conference or place may be problematic

•  Strategies –  Provide a translator other than the child –  Consider creating a school compact disc that introduces parents to US

notions of school involvement –  Some parents may risk their jobs by taking time off and may not have

transportation if the school is far from their work site; consider alternate times/locations

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Evidence that a Parent Values Education?

Supposition: parents get their children to school on time

•  Challenges •  Parents may not realize the cultural and academic

consequences of tardiness •  Parents may be relying on other children to care for siblings

while they work •  Neighborhoods may not be safe and transportation may be

difficult •  Strategies

•  Explain to parents the expectation of being on time and how tardiness impacts students, as well as the legal issues involved if students miss school regularly

•  Consider a watch program for students who learn to tell time

Evidence that a Parent Values Education?

Supposition: parents take their children to the library

•  Challenges •  Students may not have books in the home •  Library hours have been reduced and transportation may

be difficult •  Parents may not know about this community resource

•  Strategies •  Organize a book give-away •  Consider a parent and child field trip to the library after

school •  Consider opening the school library on Saturday and

after school for kids and parents to use

Evidence that a Parent Values Education?

Supposition: parents speak only English to their child

•  Challenges –  Yhis expectation is not helpful, and immigrant parents often hold

teachers in high regard, so they will do what they are told in order to help their child

–  Parents may not speak English very well, so they are not good L-2 language models

–  Parents may not know the words in English for discipline and affection and for other key parent duties

•  Strategies –  Encourage parents to speak to their child and read aloud to their

child in L-1

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Learning About the Community

What are some of the strategies that can be used to acquire in-depth knowledge of English learnersʼ home cultures and cultural experiences?

•  Observations and interviews •  Community resources •  Home visits •  Multicultural literature •  Informal conversations •  Written and oral histories

Community Mapping

•  Supports and facilitates an integrated approach to: –  environmental conservation –  open-space and historic preservation –  neighborhood revitalization –  urban planning –  community asset inventories –  economic development

•  Expands awareness of: –  local needs –  local issues –  special places as determined by the community's own members

Source: Center for Community Mapping

Topic Review

•  Census data shows, among other trends, that there has been a demographic shift in the states with the largest percentage of growth of the immigrant population to the states in the Southeast United States

•  Universal design concepts can inform universal access for English learners

•  Parent engagement is a mutual learning process •  Community mapping is a way to identify those

resources that influence the students and school community or that could potentially add value

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COURSE REVIEW