Preparing Alternative Education Teachers for the Common Core State Standards

CERADecember 5, 2013

Anaheim, CA

Introduction

• This session will provide research evidence on best practices for professional development for teachers in such alternative educational settings as county juvenile court schools

• Participants will gain insight into the instructional challenges presented in court schools to meet the academic needs of non-traditional student populations

• With implementation of the Common Core State Standards required in 2014-15, this research study provides specific strategies, guidance and recommendations to effectively prepare court school teachers toward implementation of the new standards and assessment system

Purpose of Training

• To prepare county court school teachers and administrators on the best instructional practices for English learners

Data Collection

• 5 day training Institute in 10 locations• 3 site visits to each court school• 2 interviews of school principals• Several webcasts • A culminating survey

Percent of English Learners in California Public and Juvenile Court Schools, 2007 - 2011

2007 2008 2009 2010 20110

5

10

15

20

25

30

25 24.7 24.2 23.7

17

22.6 23.223.8

17.5 17

CaliforniaCourt Schools

Percent of California Court School Students at Each Proficiency Level on CELDT: 2009 to 2011

2011 2010 20090%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

14 10 12

1512 12

32

32 31

3034 32

10 12 13

AdvancedEarly AdvancedIntermediateEarly IntermediateBeginning

Research Context

•The purpose of juvenile court schools is to provide mandated and compulsory public

education to juvenile offenders who are under the authority of the county juvenile justice system• Incarcerated youth are generally in juvenile

halls, camps or ranches • Juvenile court schools are operated

through the county offices of education

Research Context

• No other factor contributes more challenges to the implementation of effective instructional strategies for EL students in these settings than the necessary nexus of creating a safe and secure facility while providing academic instruction to the more than 9,000 students in the 82 county court schools

Ed Code EC 48646. (a)

• The Legislature encourages each county superintendent of schools or governing board of a school district,… and the county chief probation officer to enter into a… mutual agreement to support a collaborative process for meeting the needs of wards of the court who are receiving their education in juvenile court schools. …

• The purpose of this …mutual agreement is to develop a collaborative model that will foster an educational and residential environment that nurtures the whole child and consistently supports services that will meet the educational needs of the pupils.

Create a rigorous academic instructional setting

One teacher made it clear to students that once they entered his classroom, they were “his guys”. While probation officers may have jurisdiction over the students, escorted the students to class, and even remained present in the classroom,throughout our institute training he commonly referred to “his guys”. This firmly distinguished to his students his instructional responsibilities and expectations, and the students’ role and responsibilities within the classroom.

Create a rigorous academic instructional setting

Another teacher launched a CAHSEE tree in her classroom and posted student names as leaves whenever they passed the reading or mathematics sections of this high stakes test. It was not uncommon for students to observe names of friends or relatives on the tree and gain inspiration to pass the test.

The dual role of court school teachers has significant implications for EL students

• Use of instructional practices that promote oral English language skills (August and Shanahan, 2006),

• Use of instructional manipulatives to support conceptual understandings and develop English language vocabulary (Short and Fitzsimmons, 2007),

• Build and activate background knowledge (Bernhardt, 2005), and the

• Homogeneous grouping of students by English language proficiency levels (California Department of Education, 2010).

Implement effective English Learner strategies requires creative modifications

• Traditional forms of instruction in court schools have been heavily didactic and

prescriptive

• In some cases, students were required to wear handcuffs in class.

• Many have probation officers in class

Implement effective English Learner strategies requires creative modifications

In one large urban court school, the linguistic grouping of students was prohibited by probation staff for safety concerns. Limited availability of security staff prevented the escort of students to English Language Development (ELD) classes and classroom supervision during instruction. However, with probation’s cooperation, the school eventually designed a master schedule with designated ELD courses.

Implement effective English Learner strategies requires creative modifications

• Effective strategies for English learners and designed for traditional classrooms must often be modified in a court school classroom.

• Four Corner Talk is an activity that promotes oral language and activates background knowledge by having small groups of students discuss and write what they know about a topic.

• Each small group walks to all corners of the classroom to write on poster paper their knowledge or experience with different aspects of a topic. One teacher modified the activity such that students remained seated at their table, and rotated the poster papers to each small group. The essence of the activity was not lost. Students practiced oral language skills and demonstrated their knowledge or experience with the topic.

Implement effective English Learner strategies requires creative modifications

• There is more student interaction and grouping. We are just getting started!

• More focus on student grouping, more student interaction, more teacher interaction during staff collaboration meetings and outside of staff collaboration meetings.

• More group work and pairing of students in a cooperative manner. • I am more mindful in my interactions with students. I use more

SDAIE, graphic organizers and vocabulary to help support my students. I use the technique of release and wait time to help my students achieve fluency. This lowers the affective filter.

Implement effective English Learner strategies requires creative modifications

• The teachers are allowing the students to work in Pair-Share more. They are allowing talking between students which wasn't allowed before.

• I expect more student interaction will increase along with ELD improvement. Teachers are increasing their intentionality when planning lessons to integrate strategies to reach English learner students.

• We do more classroom interaction and have more positive interaction. One teacher has open discussions with students. One teacher is currently using narrative inquiry and invitation to talk to create classroom discussion. We strive to have more students talk!

Collaborative efforts throughout the state to support instructional practices

• Many court schools have begun to establish Professional Learning Communities (PLCs).

• Many court schools have small numbers of teachers, teachers who teach several content areas, or have limited availability of indicators of student work

• PLCs often do not resemble or reflect what is found in comprehensive high schools

Collaborative efforts throughout the state to support instructional practices

• Therefore, collaborations between court schools have been discussed as a vehicle to promote PLCs on a regional basis or through the use of technology (video conferencing, webcasts, Skype, Facetime).

• The genuine interest to build on the PLC concept was supported by school administrators.

Collaborative efforts throughout the state to support instructional practices

A total of 20 of the 65 respondents who answered this item were able to list a County Court school with which they had communicated to share ideas and best practices. Below are comments about the specific communications, networks, and collaborations established between court schools.

Collaborative efforts throughout the state to support instructional practices

• Since the first Institute, we have had 4 interchanges already via telephone. We have been trying to plan a "facility field trip" for our staffs so that we/they can personally view how other facilities meet the needs of their incarcerated students.

• We have shared ideas, structures, implementation and practices about how to best deliver instruction in our facilities.

• Staffs that work for years in these facilities predominantly work in isolation. I am quite thankful to finally meet another Juvenile Hall administrator, personally. He has helped me grow.

• Our county is in the process of adopting English language and English learner curricula and have been networking with other court and county schools across the state to adopt the most effective and appropriate English language curriculum for our population. First round of piloting will be this summer.

Recommendations

• The absence of a longitudinal student data system prevents practitioners and researchers from determining the performance levels of incarcerated youth

• State data systems contribute to misleading information about court school students by aggregating diverse educational programs

with one school identifier. • One large county includes community school, special

education and court school students under one state designated school code

For EL students, the consequence is significant

• The academic achievement level of EL students is often concealed by the absence of standardized test scores that are regularly available for all students in California public schools

• The unavailability of academic assessments and English language proficiency test scores has serious implications for meeting their instructional needs and ever achieving reclassification as fluent English proficient students

Recommendations

• If institutional factors or organizational structures are to change, a hybrid of strict discipline and rigorous instruction may be necessary

Recommendations

• Identify model court schools that have sustained effective relationships between the probation staff and school teachers and administrators

• Establish agreements or directives at the state level between correction and education officials

Future Research

Examine the role of current policies, teacher background variables, and school culture in determining the effective implementation of teacher professional development