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Transcript What are the Proficiency Level Descriptors?

Welcome to the tutorial about the Proficiency Level Descriptors for the California English Language Development Standards, called PLDs for short. I’m Rachel Lagunoff, a senior program associate at WestEd. I helped develop these standards, and in this tutorial I will provide an introduction to the Proficiency Level Descriptors. We will go through the PLD charts and see how they are organized as well as how they correspond to the charts for the grade-level standards. Now turn to pages eight and nine of your printout of the Overview of the California English Language Development Standards and Proficiency Level Descriptors. The PLDs are designed to show language development as a continuum of continuously improving English language skills. The continuum starts with the native — or primary language — that all English learners bring with them to school. They can use their previous experiences with language, and possibly literacy in their primary language, to help them learn English. Students continue to build their knowledge and skills in English language and literacy through three general levels: Emerging, Expanding and Bridging. We know second language acquisition may not occur in a purely linear fashion but rather spirals as students gain greater proficiency in different language skill areas in various contexts. However, we do expect students to make steady progress through the levels as long as they have appropriate opportunities to learn. The continuum also shows the final, but not ending, stage — lifelong language learning — as even proficient speakers of a language continue to build more depth and complexity of skills as they experience new texts and new contexts of language use. Another important element of the PLDs, also shown on pages eight at nine, is the notion that students at all levels can engage in and express high-level thinking as long as they receive the right kinds of linguistic support. While the extent of support needed varies within each proficiency level, in general, students at the Emerging level need more substantial support for complex tasks, while those at the Expanding and Bridging levels need moderate to light support. Students who are proficient in English may need occasional linguistic support, for example when reading highly complex technical texts on a new topic. Now turn to pages ten and eleven of your printout of the Overview of the California English Language Development Standards and Proficiency Level Descriptors. These rows of the PLDs provide more detailed descriptors for each level, following the same organization as the grade-level standards. First are descriptors for the three modes of communication in Part I of the standards: Collaborative (in purple), Interpretive (in blue), and Productive (in green). The PLDs provide a general guide to the extent of English language proficiency English learners have at a given stage of English language development in the knowledge, skills, and abilities described in more detail in the grade-level

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standards. Now turn to pages twelve and thirteen of your printout of the Overview of the California English Language Development Standards and Proficiency Level Descriptors. The PLDs describe increasing proficiency in two dimensions of Knowledge of Language: Metalinguistic Awareness and Accuracy of Production. These correspond to both Parts I and II of the grade-level standards: Part I, Interacting in Meaningful Ways; and Part II, Learning About How English Works. Metalinguistic awareness involves the ability to be aware of the language one is using to make choices about what types of language to use when, and to monitor and adjust one’s own production. Accuracy involves being comprehensible in speaking and writing in English. Note that accuracy may vary within a level, for example during a task that is highly complex or introduces new content. Take a look at how these skills change across the levels. Note that these skills are not specifically detailed in the grade-level standards, though they provide a guide to how students can apply the grade-level skills to their learning and production of English. To summarize, there are four main purposes of the Proficiency Level Descriptors for the California ELD Standards: The first is to describe what English learners generally know and can do as they progress through stages of English language development, specifically the extent to which English learners can understand and use spoken and written English, independently or with support. The second purpose is to emphasize that language development progresses along a spiraling continuum of proficiency across three general levels of second language development: Emerging, Expanding, and Bridging. Thirdly, the PLDs are intended to serve as a guide to providing appropriate instruction for English learners. The PLDs can help teachers to gauge where their students are, and to provide instruction that accelerates their learning of English so that they can get where they need to be in all content areas. Finally, tying together the first three purposes, the PLDs are used to inform assessment — to place students appropriately so they get the services they need, and to measure their progress in English language development. Thank you for participating in this tutorial and enjoy reading the Overview of the Proficiency Level Descriptors.