ESOL for Administrators

Given involvement in the course, the participant will

• Demonstrate sensitivity to multicultural and diverse student populations; recognize major differences and similarities among various cultural groups in the U.S., the state of Florida, the local school district, and the individual school.
• Demonstrate knowledge of cross-cultural issues facing ELLs and their families, and implement a plan to create a positive and supportive environment that accommodates to diverse cultural backgrounds and promotes the enrichment of a multicultural student population.
• Demonstrate outreach efforts to connect ELLs and their families to school personnel and community members that will facilitate accessibility to resources and services available to them within the school and the community.
• Demonstrate knowledge of available, necessary, and appropriate instructional materials and resources that will facilitate comprehensible instruction for all ELLs.
• Demonstrate knowledge of the background of the Consent Decree in the League of United Latin American Citizens et al. v. The State Board of Education, 1990, including knowledge of related legislation and litigation (e.g., No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, Lau v. Nichols, Plyler v. DOE, etc).
• Demonstrate knowledge of the state and federal requirements for the assessment of language proficiency and academic achievement of ELLs.
• Demonstrate knowledge of required training for instructional and non-instructional staff members established by the 1990 Consent Decree and its September, 2003 Modification; and of the necessary procedures to ensure that all school site personnel are in compliance with the requirements.
• Demonstrate the ability to update staff, students, and parents on pertinent changes in educational legislation, rules and policies that may potentially impact ELLs and their families.
• Demonstrate knowledge of the District ELL plan, which indicates the chosen model(s) of delivery of services to ELLs.
• Demonstrate knowledge of the legal requirements of ELL Student Plans.
• Demonstrate an understanding of the difference between language
• Demonstrate knowledge of second language acquisition (applied linguistics) theory and its applicability to the instructional process.
• Demonstrate knowledge and the ability to implement formal and informal methods of assessment/evaluation of ELLs, including measurement of language, literacy, and academic content metacognition.
• Demonstrate knowledge of the indicators of learning disabilities, especially hearing and language impairment, as compared to the process
• Demonstrate knowledge of the indicators for student identification and participation in gifted programs regardless of English language proficiency, and of the program policies that must be in place in order to actively promote and sustain the participation of ELLs in advanced placement courses.
• Demonstrate knowledge of the school site administrator’s role and responsibilities as the instructional leader representative in the school-based ELL Committee.
• Demonstrate the ability to communicate with ELLs, their families, and the community to assess the relevance of the curriculum and adequacy of student progress toward standards established by the Department of Education and the local school board.
• Demonstrate knowledge of procedures regarding identification, assessment (both content area and language proficiency) and placement of ELLs, which begin at school registration, and continue for two years after the student, has been exited from the English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) program.
• Demonstrate knowledge of appropriate teaching strategies and methodologies to deliver comprehensible instruction to students whose first language is not English, that are from diverse cultural backgrounds and that have significantly varied levels of education in their own languages.
• Demonstrate the ability to evaluate school site staff to ensure that they are using the appropriate strategies and methodologies to deliver comprehensible instruction to ELLs.
• Demonstrate ability to evaluate school site staff to ensure the use of appropriate native language (home language) instructional strategies in the instruction of ELLs.
• Demonstrate up-to-date knowledge of relevant, scientifically-based research and effective practices regarding second language acquisition, English as a second language methodology and the issues of teaching multicultural populations.
• Demonstrate knowledge of methods of disaggregating and analyzing data on the achievement of all subgroups, including ELLs, and its impact to the school site’s programmatic decisions.
• Demonstrate ability to apply scientifically based principles and practices to instructional programs in order to improve student achievement within the ELL population.
• Demonstrate ability to implement at the school site the Continuous Improvement Model, or other proven model for improving the academic achievement of all low-performing students.