How to make your school ‘ESL Friendly’ and watch your test scores grow

I once had an administrator say to me: “I have so much on my plate. Every group needs attention. Why should I focus my energy on the ESL population?”

Because she was my boss, my response needed to be polite.

I did not want to appear patronizing and remind her of specific laws, which protected ESL students under federal legislation. This protection was not new, but rather had its roots in legislation implemented decades ago, guaranteeing ESL students access to public schools, providing English as a Second Language programs, as well as requiring schools and districts to provide modified content, and differentiated instruction.

I also did not want to get into a political or moral debate over the merits of providing an education to students whose legal status in the country may or may not be in question.

Rather, I chose to focus my answer on the one area that all administrators tended to pay particular attention to — test scores.

Statistically, ESL students tended to average between 27–44 percentage points behind their peers on annual proficiency standards in Reading and Math.

I also explained that these same ESL students were very much part of the national conversation we were having about the ongoing achievement gap. It was an equity issue. I wrapped up my answer by pointing out that any type of investment on our behalf in the ESL population would pay huge dividends in terms of our testing data.

That got her attention.

At the beginning of each school year, I would sit with guidance counselors as we created class lists for the upcoming year and consider where to place the ESL students. Because our ESL teachers were able to provide some collaborative teaching efforts, we tried to cluster the ESL students into those classes. Obviously, we also kept in mind which teachers were more ‘friendly’ towards the ESL students. From this, I would often refer to these teachers as ‘ESL friendly’, and thus the expression was born.

The idea behind making a school entirely “ESL friendly” became a mission of mine.

Growing that concept to a school-wide model would prove to be a little more challenging. Not all teachers, support staff and even administrators were ‘friendly’ to the ESL students. By this, I do not imply that they were antagonistic towards the students, but rather they made little to no effort to modify their instruction to meet the needs of the students.

The idea behind making a school entirely “ESL friendly” became a mission of mine. Fellow staff members would come to me in quiet embarrassment stating they had no training on how to teach the ESL students, and wanted to do something but had no idea where to begin.

From this genesis, I narrowed down five major building blocks that would make a school ‘ESL friendly’:

1. Whole school participation. This appears to be obvious, but let me expand on this a little. Every classroom in an ESL friendly school should make use of the most effective ESL techniques for instruction, such as culturally aware teachers, a highly visual environment, regional speech patterns and idioms kept to a minimum, etc.
2. Faculty throughout the school should make use of differentiated instruction techniques and modified assignments. The clear target would be the ESL students in this model, but the reality is that many more non-ESL students would benefit from such efforts.
3. Throughout the school, there would need to be a focus on academic vocabulary and comprehensible input. This would allow the ESL students to access grade-level content on par with their peers.
4. Parent and community involvement. The ESL population has historically had lower rates of active participation in schools due in part to limited English skills, as well as a lack of familiarity with mainstream culture and the public schools system in the U.S.
5. Ongoing, school-wide, effective professional development that is focused on ESL students.

One of the biggest challenges in initiating and maintaining the ‘ESL friendly’ environment comes from training. Time is a critical component for teachers and administrators, and it appears that it is always in short supply. The traditional model of providing professional development through the use of a facilitator, a group of teachers, and an eight hour time block, has been proven time and again at being both ineffective and a horrible waste of money.

With the new Every Student Succeeds Act putting ESL students and professional development front and center, 21st century professional development has become critical to creating and maintaining ‘ESL Friendly’ schools. What I mean by 21st century professional development is — active, effective, measurable, customizable, value-driven and ongoing.

VIF International Education (VIFlearn.com) is an education-focused company that delivers 21st century professional development. Teachers are guided through four modules per year, all with topical information that create a seamless transition towards an ESL friendly school. The professional development stream is offered over many years, thus the professional growth for teachers and administrators continues with new modules introduced every school year. The online learning platform allows for self-paced learning and is customizable depending on the interests, expertise and proficiency of each teacher. Examples of ‘ESL Friendly’ modules are — Literacy Strategies for ELLs, Sheltered Instruction, Differentiation, Balanced Literacy, Academic Vocabulary, Assessment Tools, Parent and Community Engagement, and Comprehensible Input to name a few. These active professional development modules are at the core of creating an ‘ESL friendly’ school.

What I loved about VIF International Education was that it provided the basis of what I was seeking — how to create an ‘ESL friendly’ school, at low cost, yet with significant returns.

I once had a superintendent pull me aside and tell me that what went into making a school ‘ESL friendly’, would in fact benefit so many other students beyond the ESL population. Students with attention issues, learning challenges, different learning preferences, etc. Boys in particular, no matter their background or linguistic ability, seemed to really prosper in such an environment as traditional school models were not designed with boys in mind.

Best practices through the ‘ESL friendly’ mindset for the school benefitted everyone. This had a direct and positive impact on test scores across the entire school, making it very much equitable, with the biggest gains made by the ESL students and the students mired in the achievement gap.

I challenge you to create an ‘ESL friendly’ school, and enjoy the many rewards that will come with your efforts. Contact me or visit VIFlearn.com to learn how.

by Greg Cain, NBCT