Thank you for this, Dr. Goldenberg. I have SO much to say about this. First, I 100% agree with you on all points. My last position with my “large urban school district” was as a MMALC, serving EB students who had not reclassified in 4th and 5th grade. What I saw almost without exception was that they were not being taught well, both basic literacy and ELD. The vast majority of my students had struggled since kindergarten, and little was done to help. It was absolutely heartbreaking and the main reason I took early retirement and lost out on a full pension. I could go on and on. I would love this to be discussed in our next session on Zoom.
I've spent the last two days dissecting our STAR Reading English and Spanish data for our DLE 2-way 50/50 program against what Renaissance published for the their Bilingual Trajectory study. To say I was dismayed is an understatement. We have newcomers to Spanish outperforming the Renaissance trajectory percentiles. It's incredibly clear to me looking at our data that our MLLs, both SLLs and ELLs, are achieving above what Renaissance is expecting, but below what would deem them skilled readers. Interestingly though, our ELLs who are in monitor year status are almost (MY1) or above (MY2 and EY1) 50th percentiles on STAR Reading English.
It's incredibly telling that your work published here and the underwhelming expectations of the Renaissance Bilingual Trajectory study are a symptom of the bigger cause, we are not teaching literacy skills to all MLLs well.
Amber.. this is so interesting. Well, not interesting ... troubling AND symptomatic of the situation we're in with expections for ELs' achievement, ironically, in the midst of all the talk about "asset-based instruction."
I think I understand what you're saying. In fact I recently had a conversation with some school district folks telling me something similar. The EL/BE supposed expert they'd consulted said it was ok for K-1 kids to be a year behind in their L2 reading skills. I assume this is the general drift of your comment?
Could you provide more detail about the discrepancy you see between the Renaissance expectations and what you see your students achieving?
Definitely! For example in 3rd grade the 25th percentile and 40th percentile scaled score range for the bilingual trajectory for English speakers taking the English reading is 917 to 956. Our students' median scaled score for third grade is 1020. This includes all ability groups of students and students who have 3 benchmark scores for this year.
In comparison, our 3rd grade Spanish speakers taking the English reading test the bilingual trajectory zones are 852 to 894. All ELLs (NEPs, LEPs, MY1) median scaled score was 901. Our NEPs median was 859.
So according to Renaissance's data, even our NEPs are in the bilingual trajectory for English reading. Yet, when we do CBMs or compare against classroom English reading comprehension tests, this data is not confirmed.
Our 4th grade cohort is very similar in this.
The Spanish bilingual trajectory scaled score range is even more concerning. From the Renaissance ranges, all of our student groups 3rd to 5th who are Spanish speakers on the Spanish reading test are outperforming the scaled score range by sometimes 150 points. Yet, when teachers do CBMs or we compare against state testing, the data shows something very different.
So, we're working on creating our own bilingual trajectory ranges because Renaissance's ranges appear to be incredibly low.
Some say LTELs is a derisive term (a “deficit view”), and we should refer to these students as “mature” English Learners. Really? As if that would change anything that actually matters. Call them what you will, but the Regional Educational Laboratory West at WestEd provides a harsh reality check, reporting that these students “are usually struggling academically due to their limited literacy skills in English."
This reminds me of what Robert Pondiscio said at the start of the pandemic. To paraphrase: Call it learning loss, missed learning--or a banana. The effect is real.
This post is both awe-inspiring and alarming. Yes—I expect my colleagues who haven’t climbed the ranks of bilingual education to have been immersed in Cummins and Krashen just as I expect them to have been immersed in Calkins rather than Ehri. But your questioner highlights the extent of the problem we face, with a logic that should have been obvious: My Calkins colleagues have internalized what they have been earnestly taught and go on to earnestly execute in the classroom. Likewise my Fountas and Pinnell followers. Breaking the chain of knowledge-transmission requires the top brass to go first. And the refusal of the CABE director to engage with you marks a low point (amongst many competing candidates for this distinction) in reconciling the reading wars. Kudos and commiseration in equal measure.
Excellent read. Thank you. As a biliteracy consultant, I appreciate your work and can tell you that I see the challenges teachers experience when they are not prepared to teach literacy in Spanish or literacy based ELD. Let’s spread this message and support our teachers.
Thank you for this, Dr. Goldenberg. I have SO much to say about this. First, I 100% agree with you on all points. My last position with my “large urban school district” was as a MMALC, serving EB students who had not reclassified in 4th and 5th grade. What I saw almost without exception was that they were not being taught well, both basic literacy and ELD. The vast majority of my students had struggled since kindergarten, and little was done to help. It was absolutely heartbreaking and the main reason I took early retirement and lost out on a full pension. I could go on and on. I would love this to be discussed in our next session on Zoom.
I've spent the last two days dissecting our STAR Reading English and Spanish data for our DLE 2-way 50/50 program against what Renaissance published for the their Bilingual Trajectory study. To say I was dismayed is an understatement. We have newcomers to Spanish outperforming the Renaissance trajectory percentiles. It's incredibly clear to me looking at our data that our MLLs, both SLLs and ELLs, are achieving above what Renaissance is expecting, but below what would deem them skilled readers. Interestingly though, our ELLs who are in monitor year status are almost (MY1) or above (MY2 and EY1) 50th percentiles on STAR Reading English.
It's incredibly telling that your work published here and the underwhelming expectations of the Renaissance Bilingual Trajectory study are a symptom of the bigger cause, we are not teaching literacy skills to all MLLs well.
Amber.. this is so interesting. Well, not interesting ... troubling AND symptomatic of the situation we're in with expections for ELs' achievement, ironically, in the midst of all the talk about "asset-based instruction."
I think I understand what you're saying. In fact I recently had a conversation with some school district folks telling me something similar. The EL/BE supposed expert they'd consulted said it was ok for K-1 kids to be a year behind in their L2 reading skills. I assume this is the general drift of your comment?
Could you provide more detail about the discrepancy you see between the Renaissance expectations and what you see your students achieving?
Definitely! For example in 3rd grade the 25th percentile and 40th percentile scaled score range for the bilingual trajectory for English speakers taking the English reading is 917 to 956. Our students' median scaled score for third grade is 1020. This includes all ability groups of students and students who have 3 benchmark scores for this year.
In comparison, our 3rd grade Spanish speakers taking the English reading test the bilingual trajectory zones are 852 to 894. All ELLs (NEPs, LEPs, MY1) median scaled score was 901. Our NEPs median was 859.
So according to Renaissance's data, even our NEPs are in the bilingual trajectory for English reading. Yet, when we do CBMs or compare against classroom English reading comprehension tests, this data is not confirmed.
Our 4th grade cohort is very similar in this.
The Spanish bilingual trajectory scaled score range is even more concerning. From the Renaissance ranges, all of our student groups 3rd to 5th who are Spanish speakers on the Spanish reading test are outperforming the scaled score range by sometimes 150 points. Yet, when teachers do CBMs or we compare against state testing, the data shows something very different.
So, we're working on creating our own bilingual trajectory ranges because Renaissance's ranges appear to be incredibly low.
Some say LTELs is a derisive term (a “deficit view”), and we should refer to these students as “mature” English Learners. Really? As if that would change anything that actually matters. Call them what you will, but the Regional Educational Laboratory West at WestEd provides a harsh reality check, reporting that these students “are usually struggling academically due to their limited literacy skills in English."
This reminds me of what Robert Pondiscio said at the start of the pandemic. To paraphrase: Call it learning loss, missed learning--or a banana. The effect is real.
This post is both awe-inspiring and alarming. Yes—I expect my colleagues who haven’t climbed the ranks of bilingual education to have been immersed in Cummins and Krashen just as I expect them to have been immersed in Calkins rather than Ehri. But your questioner highlights the extent of the problem we face, with a logic that should have been obvious: My Calkins colleagues have internalized what they have been earnestly taught and go on to earnestly execute in the classroom. Likewise my Fountas and Pinnell followers. Breaking the chain of knowledge-transmission requires the top brass to go first. And the refusal of the CABE director to engage with you marks a low point (amongst many competing candidates for this distinction) in reconciling the reading wars. Kudos and commiseration in equal measure.
Excellent read. Thank you. As a biliteracy consultant, I appreciate your work and can tell you that I see the challenges teachers experience when they are not prepared to teach literacy in Spanish or literacy based ELD. Let’s spread this message and support our teachers.