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| PROMISE INITIATIVE PRINCIPLES
PRINCIPLE #1: ENRICHED AND AFFIRMING LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS
Create a safe, affirming and enriched environment for participatory and inclusive learning.
DESCRIPTION:
English Learners are often isolated and face language and cultural barriers to full participation in schools. Newcomers do not yet understand the social norms and culture of the school. Yet, we know that when students feel they do not belong, when they feel unsafe, and when proactive efforts are not made in a school to include them and build an inclusive environment, learning is made more difficult. The relationships between students, the messages students absorb from the adults on campus, and the school atmosphere of accepted and acceptable social attitudes and behaviors create a “hidden curriculum” that powerfully informs a student whether or not they “belong”. Creating a safe, affirming, enriched environment involves intentional strategies for supporting students and staff to understand and respect differences, actively imparting the value of diversity, creating a faculty body that reflects the community of the students, an emphasis on cooperative learning and instructional strategies that have students working together with peers and across ages, creation of mechanisms and activities that bring students together across differences, care that English Learners are not marginalized on campus or in activities, and enforced policies that ensure a safe campus for all where their languages, cultures, identities, and lived experiences are seen as assets.
Enriched and Affirming Learning Environments promote:
- COMMUNITY, so that students feel they belong and are able to establish positive relationships with other students, teachers, and other adults. In short, they feel connected to the classroom and the school.
- SELF DETERMINATION, so that students’ identities are affirmed, rather than eradicated, students are encouraged to be self-aware, to reflect, to be responsive to those around them, and to take responsibility for their own learning, including speaking out when what is happening in classrooms is not meeting their needs.
- TRUST AND RESPECT, so that students can develop empathy for others and a certain generosity of spirit where every students can experience dignity; where there is no room for selfishness, humiliation, or mean-spiritedness.
- DEMOCRACY, so that students can be involved in decision-making and problem-solving both, where they are intrinsically motivated and not dependent on external punishments or rewards; where they see themselves and are seen as competent and able to make change; where their curiosities are taken seriously and so they learn to take pleasure in learning and achieving; where they learn to advocate on their own behalf and on behalf of others.
PRINCIPLE #2: EMPOWERING PEDAGOGY
Use culturally and linguistically responsive pedagogy that maximizes learning, actively accesses and develops student voice, and provides opportunities for leadership.
DESCRIPTION:
All students learn through making connections between what they already know and the new experiences, perspectives and information they encounter. Making connections to students’ lives is a major component of effective instruction – and it requires culturally and linguistically responsive pedagogy. Pedagogy that encourages and supports students to bring their experiences, their culture, their heritage and language into the classroom maximizes learning by allowing students to build upon the full foundation of their prior knowledge. Teachers need skills for how to build upon the familiar, scaffold the unfamiliar through explicit activities, and elicit and respond to what students have to say. Where students and teachers are not from the same cultural background, it becomes particularly important that a school find ways to elicit and listen to student and parent voice as a source of information and the foundation for building a relationship between school and home – to literally give them a voice. That means providing complex, hands-on learning experiences in low threat/high challenge contexts, as well as opportunities for active processing, deep and critical thinking, and reflection.
In particular, marginalized students need teaching that helps them link new knowledge with prior knowledge and that provides them with opportunities to bring their lives into the classroom and to examine issues of social justice which have daily impact on their families and communities.
Empowering Pedagogy has five key components: 1) Interactive Structures that provide open ended tasks, scaffold tasks to support academic language output, use writing and drawing as preparation for speaking articulately, encourage written language, and plan consciously and consistently for both content and language growth; 2) Student to Student Interaction such that students are required to verbalize their subject matter thinking, ELs who need rehearsals get that opportunity, ELs can hear new or needed subject matter vocabulary/language structure used by more able classmates, subject matter language models and alternatives to the encoding options chosen by the students are made available; 3) Participatory Mechanisms to ensure that everyone participates, interdependence is structured in, and everyone’s participation is essential to the satisfactory completion of the task; 4) Organizational Structures that support maximum focus on the work to be done such as structured group work, learning centers, and classroom routines; and, 5) Language Supportive Contexts in subject matter classrooms such as language friendly questions and expanded language focus (i.e. persuasion, argumentation, register.
Through the use of structures like these, we can help mediate students’ understanding of not only the content concepts, but also academic language use and conventions. Student need to be to provided with structures that help them think about their subject matter learning and use learning strategies such as social, cognitive, linguistic and metacognitive learning strategies in order to help them develop autonomy as learners.
PRINCIPLE #3: CHALLENGING AND RELEVANT CURRICULUM
Engage English Learners in well-articulated and age-appropriate curriculum that purposely builds bilingualism, biliteracy, and multiculturalism. This curriculum is cognitively complex, coherent, relevant, and challenging.
DESCRIPTION:
Too often, English Learners have been instructed in programs designed as compensatory and that in reality have become a low academic, basic-skills curriculum. Bounced from program to program each year, often receiving services through pull-outs, many English Learners experience a fragmented and inconsistent schooling. For academic success, they need a coherent and well-articulated program with consistency in approach across the school-day and from year to year in both their primary language and in English. All students need access to the full core curriculum that is challenging and high level, with the support needed to master grade-level standards and beyond. They also need to acquire the knowledge and skills to live in and take responsibility for our complex 21st century global world. Bilingualism, cross-cultural competencies, knowledge about other cultures is now essential – economically, politically, and socially. The added bonus is that the mastery of two or more languages has cognitive advantages – increasing mental flexibility, problem-solving skills, divergent thinking capacity and strengthening mastery of literacy.
PRINCIPLE #4: HIGH QUALITY INSTRUCTIONAL RESOURCES
Provide and utilize high quality standards-aligned instructional resources that provide equitable access to core curriculum and academic language in the classroom, school, and community.
DESCRIPTION:
In partnership with a well-trained teacher, high quality appropriate standards-aligned instructional resources are a key component for access to the core curriculum. But merely providing the same texts and materials for English Learners as for English fluent students does not provide equal access. For English Learners, the text must not only be standards aligned, texts in English need to be designed with the graphics, linguistic accessibility, and formats to enable students to engage with text in a language they have not yet mastered. In addition, primary language resource materials, academic texts, and other instructional resources are needed for students studying academic content and developing literacy to advanced levels in that language. Mastering technology as a tool for learning, expression, and communication has become a core competency for the 21st century for all students. Generally, middle-income students and native English speakers have access to a wider range of technology and print resources outside of school. English Language Learners depend, therefore, upon the school as the source of access. The quality and scope of available materials in both English and the primary language is critical.
PRINCIPLE #5: VALID AND COMPREHENSIVE ASSESSMENT
Build and implement valid and comprehensive assessment systems designed to promote reflective practice and data-driven planning in order to improve academic, linguistic, and sociocultural outcomes for English Learners
DESCRIPTION:
The capacity of teachers, students, and parents to know how students are progressing is core to good instruction. Yet subject-matter tests in English for English Learners are unreliable and invalid. If students can’t understand the questions, and cannot express what they know because they are not sufficiently fluent in English, the test scores cannot tell us what students know and can do. It is essential that schools have valid and reliable assessments to support instruction and facilitate accountability. Data is most powerful when it is used on a regular basis to promote reflection about practice, to inform decision making, and to prompt dialogue about student work and academic programs. This requires that administrators and teachers use multimodal assessment measures and understand how valid and reliable they are for English Learners. In addition, they need timely access to clean, disaggregated data, and support with training and back-up to analyze and make sense of the data. The most effective schools make data-based inquiry a regular part of professional development, professional dialogue, and planning – and administrators commit the time and resources to make that possible. What we measure drives what we focus on in instruction. Schools that are committed to high level competencies that go beyond basic mastery need to find ways to measure socio-cultural outcomes for English Learners and others – they need, for example, ways to assess biliteracy and cross-cultural competencies. They need to use multiple measures and approaches such as teacher observations and judgments and analysis of actual student work and performance. Collected data must be triangulated so that judgments of student achievement and progress are not dependent on any single indicator.
Valid and Comprehensive Assessment should be on-going, formal & informal, dynamic and interactive, designed to improve learning, multidimensional and multiperspective, based on both observation and analysis, and designed to assess the triple curriculum—academic content, language, and culture. Portfolios are highly effective assessment tools as they showcase students’ best work and chronicle growth and improvement over time,
Student information systems should allow teachers and administrators to recognize classroom, school, and district patterns of achievement and should be sufficiently sophisticated to allow for disaggregation of student and teacher data across a broad array of student, teacher, and school demographic, background, and programmatic variables. When districts and schools are able to accurately and consistently assess the real data picture, they are able to comprehensibly determine the needed changes in instructional programs.
PRINCIPLE #6: HIGH QUALITY PROFESSIONAL PREPARATION AND SUPPORT
Provide coherent, comprehensive, and ongoing professional preparation and support programs based on well-defined standards of practice. These programs are designed to create professional learning communities of administrators, teachers, and other staff to implement the PROMISE vision of excellent teaching for English Learners.
DESCRIPTION:
Changing classroom practice is difficult. One-shot workshops may be chock full of good strategies, but almost never actually impact what teachers do in their classrooms. National and state professional development standards articulate the importance of high quality professional learning as part of the daily work of educators and call upon schools to provide the resources to support adult learning and collaborative. School and district leaders have the role of guiding continuous instructional improvement through data-driven priority setting, drawing upon research, and fostering learning and change. High quality professional development has to focus on the content (the set of skills, understanding, strategies) that teachers need to powerfully teach English Learners, and needs to be designed in ways that maximally support teachers in actually improving their practice. Professional development that maximally supports changes in practice includes workshops, readings and presentations to deepen content knowledge as well as opportunities for application, classroom coaching, ongoing participation in learning communities, classroom demonstrations, reflection and self-assessment, and hands on planning. Professional development should focus on developing advocacy-oriented teachers and other staff who are responsive to language, culture, and equity issues and who possess: a) deep content knowledge; b) powerful critical pedagogy, technological fluency, solid language & literacy development expertise, and strong foundation in child/adolescent cognitive development; c) assessment expertise, including data analysis and interpretation skills; d) competency in the specific languages and cultures of the target students; e) the knowledge and skills to involve and create two-way partnerships and communication with families and other stakeholders appropriately and f) facilitation, negotiation, and collaboration skills.
Additionally, professional development programs must advocate for recruitment, development, and retention of qualified minority teachers, mentors, counselors, and administrators. Professional development programs must include everyone who has some responsibility for working with students: from tutors, volunteers, and parents, to teachers, counselors, and other support staff, to principals and other administrators. A sense of accountability must be built among all adults involved in educating English learners.
PRINCIPLE 7: POWERFUL FAMILY AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
Implement strong family and community engagement programs that build leadership capacity and value and draw upon community funds of knowledge to inform, support, and enhance teaching and learning for English Learners.
DESCRIPTION:
Active parent engagement is a hallmark of schools in which students achieve --- parents knowledgeable and with the resources and information to support their children’s learning at home; parents and community members active in the classroom, and helping teachers bridge and connect to community resources for learning; parents monitoring their children’s schooling and advocating effectively to create the conditions students need to learn and master the curriculum. English Learner parents, however, face both language and cultural barriers to such involvement. Many are unaware of the expectations and ways of doing things in U.S. schools. Many do not have a strong educational background in their own lives. Schools that do not intentionally and seriously create inclusive, welcoming, and supportive conditions for English Learner families, often create additional barriers to their involvement. Powerful family and community engagement strategies include: a) leadership development for parents and active recruitment into leadership groups at the school; b) parent education to support students graduating from high school college-ready; c) professional development for teachers and administrators in cross-cultural skills and competencies for building two-way communication with English Learner families; d) resources allocated to enable teaching/learning projects in the community; and e) orientations for newcomer parents, and others.
PRINCIPLE #8: ADVOCACY ORIENTED ADMINISTRATIVE AND LEADERSHIP SYSTEMS
Provide advocacy oriented administration and leadership that institute system-wide mechanisms to focus all stakeholders on the diverse needs and assets of English Learners. These administrative and leadership systems structure, organize, coordinate, and integrate programs and services to respond systemically to English Learner needs.
DESCRIPTION:
In many districts and schools, English Learners are considered the responsibility of the ESL teachers, or the bilingual program. To create districts and schools that embrace and support English Learners well, the entire school community has to feel and enact ownership of the English Learner students and proactively work towards eliminating the achievement gap. Rather than being served in pull-out programs or in 30 minute “add-ons” after a mainstream academic block designed for English fluent students, in effective schools, English Learners’ needs are met throughout the curriculum and school day. This requires strong advocacy-oriented leadership from district superintendents to site-based principals that makes it clear that English Learners are important and that all aspects of the school must be made accessible and inclusive to them. The administration works with counseling staff to ensure that placement is appropriate and that course sections in secondary schools are created to address the English fluency levels of students. They work on developing articulation and consistency across the grades and across the curriculum so English Learners are not bounced from one program approach to another.
Advocacy-oriented leadership at the district and site levels ensures that the school structure works for English Learners as well as other students – shaping the day, calendar, and schedule to meet the needs of the community. This is an era in which programs for English Learners that involve use of the primary language are at the center of political controversy. Advocacy-oriented leaders make certain they have the data to know whether and in which ways their program is effective for English Learners, and be prepared to defend that program. School and district administrative systems need to effectively address issues of data, communication, accountability, and equity as well as integrate programs and services for students so resources can be leveraged most powerfully.
Advocacy-oriented leadership realizes that to achieve the vision of student success requires the ongoing expansion of our community of supporters. A common unity must be developed among colleagues, friends, and allies. This involves providing a leadership that models, inspires, and facilitates relationship building, trust, and mutual support—qualities required for long-term social change. Finally, advocacy-oriented leadership requires celebrating successes and struggles. It is important to engage in public ceremonies that acknowledge who the students are, what they contribute, and what they have the potential to become. Through the celebratory process, new visions and possibilities are created that move schools from a deficit, behavioristic way of thinking, doing and being, to a more asset-based and humanistic approach, which is what students and families need, want and deserve. |
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