Cultural and Linguistic Competency:
Strategies for Establishing a Learning
Environment based on Students' Needs
About NDTAC
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 Contract between U.S. Department of Education and
the American Institutes for Research
 John McLaughlin
Federal Coordinator, Title I, Part D, Neglected, Delinquent, or
At Risk Program
 NDTAC’s Mission:
 Develop a uniform evaluation model
 Provide technical assistance
 Serve as a facilitator between different organizations,
agencies, and interest groups
 Join our listserv at:
http://www.neglected-delinquent.org/nd/forms/listserv1.asp
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Cultural and Linguistic Competency:
Strategies for Establishing a Learning
Environment based on Students' Needs
Presenters:

Carlos Rodriguez, Ph.D.
American Institutes for Research

Ana Diaz-Booz
Principal, School of International Business (SIB),
Kearny High Educational Complex
San Diego, CA
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Statement: ELLs who speak English are ready to be
mainstreamed.
This is a myth.
 Oral communication skills are not the same as
academic language skills needed for classroom
success.
 Gaps in vocabulary and syntactic knowledge may
hinder future academic progress.
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Statement: Most ELLs have learned English by middle
and high school.
This is a myth.
 Among language-minority students, roughly 51% of
those who spoke English with difficulty failed to
complete high school, whereas only 18% of those who
spoke English very well did not complete high school.
Carlos Rodriguez, Ph.D.
American Institutes for Research

Between the age of 3 and 21

Enrolled or preparing to enroll in K-12

Speak a native language other than English or comes from
an environment where another language is dominant

Have difficulties in speaking, reading, writing, or
understanding the English language so as to deny the
individual:
◦ The ability to meet the state’s proficient level of achievement on state
assessments (described in section 1111(b)(3) of NCLB)
◦ The ability to successfully achieve in classrooms where the language of
instruction is English (Source: Section 9101 of Title IX)
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ELL placement is often associated with

◦
◦
Increased likelihood to dropout of high school (Kanno & Cromley, 2010)
Decreased likelihood to advance to postsecondary education (Kanno &
Cromley, 2010)
◦
Not being prepared for postsecondary education opportunities
(Callahan, 2010)

If ELL students attend PSE, they are
◦ More likely to attend 2-year colleges
◦ More likely to enroll in non-credit earning courses (e.g., ESL courses
and developmental/remedial courses)
◦ Less likely to persist in college (Kanno & Cromley, 2010)
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Projected Increase
120
120
100
100
Expected Increase (%)
Increase (%)
Population Growth
80
60
40
20
37%
9%
113%
80
60
40
27%
20
0
Hispanic Population
Total Population
2000-2009
0
Hispanic Population
Total Population
2000-2025
Source: US Census Bureau, Census 2000

Anchored in Federal legislation, Supreme Court
decisions and State laws since the 1970s

Intended to Equalize Educational Opportunity by
reducing achievement barriers due to language
ability of children
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
About 57 percent were born in the United States, while 43
percent were born elsewhere

Levels of language proficiency, socio-economic standing,
academic expectations, and immigration status vary by
student

No one approach or policy that will meet the educational
goals and needs of this population
11

Children can be misdiagnosed as having a learning disability

Overrepresentation of ELL students in special education has
been linked to the size of the ELL population as the lack of
adequate language support programs

Oral language proficiency may take 3 to 5 years to develop
where as academic language proficiency may be developed
over 3 to 7 years
12

ELL students need home language support over the 4 to 7
years that academic English can take to develop

Those who have had at least 4 to 7 years of dual language
schooling outperform comparable students in
monolingual programs

Supporting a child’s first language while teaching English
would include an enrichment bilingual/ESL program that
addresses the full spectrum of students’ developmental
needs
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
Professional staff need to be well trained to meet the needs
of ELLs
◦ Students with limited English proficiency are often the least likely of
all students to have a teacher who is actually prepared to instruct
them.

Native speakers are essential if students are non-English
speakers

Programs for ELL students need to address the unique
cultural characteristics of these students, their families, and
their communities

Differentiates instruction

Includes the use of the native language

Provides explicit language instruction in both languages

Prepares teachers with enough knowledge of primary and
secondary language acquisition to anticipate potential
barriers to ELL students’ comprehension
15

ELL Instruction is NOT simply providing
translations or speaking slower and louder

ELL instruction is grounded in developing
communicative competencies to develop cognitive
and academic growth
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“A set of congruent behaviors, attitudes, and policies that come
together in a system, agency, or among professionals that
enables effective work in cross-cultural situations.”

Issued by DHHS in 2000

Correct inequities that exist in provision of health care
services for a diverse population

Provide the first national and uniform approach to educate
primary health care providers in cultural competencies
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
Culturally competent care
◦ Relationship between client and provider, i.e., educator
and student

Language access services

Organizational supports for cultural competence
◦ How the environment is organized
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Culturally-blind agencies are characterized by the
belief that helping approaches traditionally used by
the dominant culture are universally applicable;
if the system worked as it should, all people -regardless of race or culture --would be served with
equal effectiveness.
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
Engage students in challenging, theme-based curriculum to
develop concept development

Draw on student’s background—their experience, cultures
and languages

Organize collaborative activities and scaffold instruction to
build students academic proficiency

Create confident students who value learning and
themselves
Understand these basic concepts when working with ELL
students:

Comprehension precedes production

Comprehension emerges in stages and it varies by each
individual student, therefore, differentiation of instruction
is required
Effective Strategies for Supporting
English Language Learners
School of International Business (SIB)
Kearny High Educational Complex
San Diego, CA
Ana Diaz-Booz, Principal
School of International Business (SIB)
Site Information

Located in urban San Diego

465 Students (total students at complex - 1850)

75% qualify for free or reduced lunch

45% Latino, 17% African American, 14%
Vietnamese, 14% Caucasian

34% English Language Learners (ELL)

80% of ELLs test at the “intermediate” or below
level on the California English Language
Development Test (CELDT)
Results of ELL Program
CAHSEE 10th
Grade Census
2009
All Students
SIB
ELL Students
SIB
ELL Students
District
English
89%
79%
34%
Math
95%
92%
44%

Highest Academic Performance Index for
ELs in the district – 50 points higher than
the average
 94% Graduation Rate
Strategy #1
Know your students as individuals
with distinct needs
Specific Supports for ELLs

Immediate Identification and proper placement

Regular monitoring of academic progress

Engagement of parents in primary language whenever
possible

Cultural awareness
Strategy #2
Provide the school structure to
best support English Language
Learners
Specific Supports for ELLs

Allocate more resources/personnel to the students
with the highest need

Balance class sections so that ELLs have many
strong models of English around them

Provide spaces and equipment that “force”
teachers and students to interact

Openly discuss the need to support ELLs with all
students
Strategy #3
Choose teachers carefully and train
them well.
Specific Supports for ELLs

Start building teacher capacity during the
hiring process

Place the most skilled teachers with ELLs

Incorporate participation strategies for
daily teacher-student and student-student
interaction
Specific Supports for ELLs

Provide staff development that explicitly
teaches the “how”

Implement a curriculum that truly
incorporates literacy strategies across the
curriculum

Work with teachers on obtaining and
analyzing individual student data