26.07.2013 Views

Full Report - Center for Collaborative Education

Full Report - Center for Collaborative Education

Full Report - Center for Collaborative Education

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

Create successful ePaper yourself

Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.

the transfer of large numbers of LEP students from<br />

ELL programs to special education programs not<br />

designed <strong>for</strong> ELLs.<br />

Enrollment in Programs <strong>for</strong><br />

English Language Learners<br />

Boston Public Schools offers several programs <strong>for</strong><br />

English language learners: Sheltered English Immersion<br />

(SEI) (both Language Specific and Multilingual);<br />

Two-Way Bilingual programs; programs <strong>for</strong><br />

Students with Interrupted Formal <strong>Education</strong> (SIFE)<br />

(both Language Specific/HILT-SIFE and Multilingual);<br />

and Transitional Bilingual <strong>Education</strong> programs.<br />

In presenting the enrollment data <strong>for</strong> the ELL<br />

programs, we use SIMS enrollment categories (SEI,<br />

Two-Way Bilingual, and other bilingual programs)<br />

which allow us to show the four-year trends <strong>for</strong><br />

the enrollment in these programs (Table 8). Data<br />

that disaggregate programs further come from<br />

documents and databases of the Office of English<br />

language learners in BPS and are available only <strong>for</strong><br />

SY2009 (Table 9).<br />

Enrollment in Sheltered English Immersion (SEI)<br />

Programs. SEI became the approach of choice <strong>for</strong><br />

educating English language learners in Massachusetts<br />

after the passage of Referendum Question 2 in<br />

2002. It is the ELL program with the largest enrollment<br />

in the district. SEI is a model <strong>for</strong> teaching<br />

English language learners that relies on the use of<br />

simple English in the classroom to impart academic<br />

content, using students’ native language only to<br />

assist students in completing tasks or to answer<br />

questions. BPS offers two types of SEI programs:<br />

Language Specific and Multilingual. SEI<br />

Language-Specific programs are offered to students<br />

whose home language is Spanish, Haitian Creole,<br />

Cape Verdean Creole, Chinese languages, or Vietnamese.<br />

All students in an SEI Language Specific<br />

classroom speak the same language, and a bilin-<br />

gual/bicultural staff fluent in that language is available<br />

to students and their families. In a Multilingual<br />

SEI classroom, students are from various linguistic<br />

backgrounds and staff may or may not speak the<br />

language of the students or of their families.<br />

In SY2009, there were 72 SEI programs in Boston<br />

serving 6,142 students. Although SEI programs<br />

have the highest enrollment of all ELL programs, the<br />

SY2009 enrollment represents a decline of 29.6%<br />

relative to SY2006. The majority of BPS SEI programs<br />

are Language Specific programs offered in<br />

seven languages. The highest enrollment is found<br />

among those offered in Spanish.<br />

Enrollment in Two-Way Bilingual <strong>Education</strong><br />

Programs. 1 Two-Way Bilingual programs provide<br />

fluent speakers of English and English language<br />

learners an opportunity to become bilingual and biliterate<br />

in a second language. In Boston, Two-Way<br />

Bilingual programs are offered <strong>for</strong> Spanish-speaking<br />

English language learners and students fluent<br />

in English on a lottery basis. Boston has three<br />

Two-Way Bilingual programs, all Spanish/English<br />

students in ELL programs. 2<br />

programs. Two-Way Bilingual programs begin in<br />

Kindergarten where students are instructed 90%<br />

of the time in a language in which they are fluent<br />

and the target language 10% of the time. By third<br />

grade, the languages of instruction are 50% in<br />

English and 50% in the target language and continue<br />

as a 50-50 model through the fifth grade, at<br />

which time students’ transfer to secondary schools.<br />

The enrollment in two-way programs has increased<br />

from 277 students in SY2006 to 411 students in<br />

SY2009.<br />

Enrollment in Transitional Bilingual <strong>Education</strong><br />

Programs. TBE programs were the most prevalent<br />

approach to educating English language learners<br />

be<strong>for</strong>e 2002. Transitional Bilingual <strong>Education</strong><br />

models promote a gradual reduction of instruction<br />

Table 8. Change in Enrollment in Programs <strong>for</strong> English Language Learners, Pre-K to 12. BPS, SY2006-SY2009<br />

SY2006 SY2007 SY2008 SY2009<br />

Change in enrollment<br />

SY2006-SY2009<br />

In ELL Program 9,122 6,324 6,604 6,972 -23.6%<br />

SEI 8,728 5,851 5,960 6,142 -29.6%<br />

% 95.7% 92.5% 90.2% 88.1%<br />

Two-Way Bilingual 277 307 338 411 48.4%<br />

% 3.0% 4.9% 5.1% 5.9%<br />

TBE & SIFE 117 166 306 419 258.1%<br />

% 1.3% 2.6% 4.6% 6.0%<br />

Improving <strong>Education</strong>al Outcomes of English Language Learners in Schools and Programs in Boston Public Schools 29

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!