Study Guide
Field 116: English to Speakers of Other Languages
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Sample Constructed-Response Item 1
Competency 0007
Analysis, Synthesis, and Application
start bold Use the information in the exhibits to complete the task that follows. end bold
You are a new E S O L teacher who will be working with the group of English Language Learners described in the exhibits. The setting is a fifth-grade Integrated English as a New Language ( E N L ) English Language Arts ( E L A ) class early in the school year.
Using your knowledge of English Language Learners, language and literacy development, and research- and evidence-based practices in E S O L instruction, analyze the information provided about the three English Language Learners in this group and write a response of approximately 400 to 600 words in which you:
- identify one area of strength that the students share in English language arts (e.g., related to their development in listening, speaking, reading, writing, or academic language), citing specific trends in the evidence across the four exhibits to support your analysis;
- describe an appropriate instructional strategy or activity to use with this group of students to promote their achievement of the following fifth-grade New York State learning standard: start italics Make connections to other texts, ideas, cultural perspectives, eras and personal experiences (5th Grade Reading Standards [Literary and Informational Text], 5R9); end italics
- explain how the instructional strategy or activity you described would be effective in building on the group's identified strength to help them achieve the given grade-level standard;
- identify one student in the group for whom you would differentiate your instructional strategy or activity, citing evidence from the exhibits to explain why the student you selected has needs in reading that differ significantly from the needs of the other students in the group;
- describe how you would differentiate your lesson in order to accommodate the differing reading needs of this student; and
- explain why the differentiation strategy you described would be effective in addressing this student's reading needs during your lesson in order to support his or her achievement of the given grade-level standard.
Be sure to use evidence from all four exhibits in your response.
Exhibit 1: Educational Background
Educational background information for the three students as of the beginning of fifth grade
start bold Angel end bold is a 10-year-old Developing English Language Learner who arrived in the United States from Puerto Rico at the beginning of first grade. His home language is Spanish. English is his second language. Angel attended kindergarten in Puerto Rico. He received E N L instruction as a component of a bilingual education program from first grade until the spring of fourth grade. He has grade-level literacy skills in Spanish. He moved to his present school, which has no bilingual education classes, in the spring of fourth grade. He received E N L instruction as a component of his E N L program during the last two months of fourth grade.
start bold Betiane end bold is an 11-year-old Newcomer English Language Learner who arrived in the United States during second grade. Her home language is Haitian Creole. Betiane attended a French-speaking school in Haiti where she developed some beginning language and literacy skills in French before her family moved to the United States. English is her third language. Betiane has received E N L instruction as a component of her E N L program for two and a half years.
start bold Li end bold is a 10-year-old Developing English Language Learner who was born in the United States. Her home language is Mandarin Chinese. English is her second language. Li received E N L instruction as a component of a bilingual education program from kindergarten through half of fourth grade. In third grade, she achieved grade-level literacy skills on end-of-year assessments in traditional Chinese, which has a logographic writing system. She moved to her present school, which has no bilingual education classes, in the middle of fourth grade. She received E N L instruction as a component of her E N L program during the last four months of fourth grade.
Exhibit 2: N Y S E S L A T, Data
Excerpts of data and information from the N Y S E S L A T (New York State English as a Second Language Achievement Test), which was administered to the students in the spring of fourth grade.
Entering A student at the Entering level has great dependence on supports and structures to advance his or her academic language skills. As measured by the N Y S E S L A T, a student at this level has yet to meet the linguistic demands necessary to demonstrate proficiency in a variety of academic contexts within this grade level. Emerging A student at the Emerging level has some dependence on supports and structures to advance his or her academic language skills. As measured by the N Y S E S L A T, a student at this level has yet to meet the linguistic demands necessary to demonstrate proficiency in a variety of academic contexts within this grade level. Transitioning A student at the Transitioning level shows some independence in advancing his or her academic language skills. As measured by the N Y S E S L A T, a student at this level has yet to meet the linguistic demands necessary to demonstrate proficiency in a variety of academic contexts within this grade level. Expanding A student at the Expanding level shows great independence in advancing his or her academic language skills. As measured by the N Y S E S L A T, a student at this level is approaching the linguistic demands necessary to demonstrate proficiency in a variety of academic contexts within this grade level. Commanding A student at the Commanding level is now designated as a Former E L L, and entitled to receive two years of continued E L L services. As measured by the N Y S E S L A T, a student at this level has met the linguistic demands necessary to demonstrate proficiency in a variety of academic contexts within this grade level.
Listening Students will listen to and understand general academic information and demonstrate comprehension of main idea and key details in English. Speaking Students will speak using academic vocabulary and standard conventions in order to describe information, express ideas, and narrate stories and sequence of events in English. Reading Students will read to decode and comprehend stories, poems, informational texts, and functional texts and answer questions about main idea, details, and sequence in English. Writing Students will write from dictation and independently create narratives, descriptions, and informational pieces with relevant facts and details from pictures, graphic information, and text using standard conventions in English.
Proficiency Level by Modality Student Angel Betiane Li Listening Commanding Expanding Transitioning Speaking Expanding Transitioning Emerging Reading Expanding Transitioning Transitioning Writing Transitioning Transitioning Transitioning Overall Proficiency Level* Expanding Transitioning Transitioning *The raw scores for all four modalities are combined then converted to a single scale score. A student's overall English language proficiency level is determined by his or her scale score.
Exhibit 3: Anecdotal Notes
Excerpts from anecdotal notes made by the students' fourth-grade general education teacher toward the end of the previous school year
start bold Angel end bold devours every new science book and magazine in the classroom library as soon as I put them out! I wish he were as enthusiastic about writing, although on most of his assignments his detailed drawings of everything from spaceships to animals to the structure of atoms are simply amazing. The art teacher just told me that Angel was one of only four elementary students in the district to win a scholarship to the Art Institute this summer. Speaking of summer, I'd like to see Angel read more broadly, so I've collected several science fiction stories that I hope may pique his interest and encourage him to read some literature over the summer break.
start bold Betiane end bold also won one of the scholarships to the Art Institute for this summer. I notice several other students are starting to carry around a sketchbook just like hers and asking her for drawing tips, which she always enjoys discussing. Fantasy characters are her specialty, which has led her to begin devouring the same book series that some other classmates enjoy. Betiane's intensive decoding intervention earlier in the school year has really paid off. She's jumped over two grade levels in reading comprehension since the fall. And lately she's also begun writing some original fantasy stories. What a breakthrough it's been to finally see her reading and writing independently for pleasure!
start bold Li end bold clearly has an outgoing personality, which has begun to blossom this spring. She was very quiet the first few months after her arrival midyear. Her mother reported that Li spoke almost exclusively in Chinese with her friends in her old school, which had a very large Chinese-speaking student population, so this new setting took some adjustment for her. At this point, she's made several new friends, and her English production is improving rapidly with practice. Her reading skills with respect to narrative texts have also improved. I wish I could get her to branch out in her independent reading, however. No matter what I suggest, she always seems to gravitate to books from the same few fantasy series, which are written for younger readers. Comprehension and writing of informational texts also remain areas in need of improvement.
Exhibit 4: Supplemental Assessment Data
Data from a standardized reading assessment administered to the students at the end of fourth grade
Vocabulary/Reading Comprehension Group Score Summary
Student: Angel Betiane Li Vocabulary Composite
(Grade Equivalent)3.7 2.7 2.8 Comprehension Composite
(Grade Equivalent)3.5 2.5 2.6 Total Test
(Grade Equivalent)3.6 2.6 2.7 The start bold Vocabulary Composite end bold is a combination of a student's scores in word reading and word meaning. It measures the student's ability to decode phonetically regular words, recognize common grade-level sight words, and understand word meaning without the benefit of context clues.
The start bold Comprehension Composite end bold is a combination of a student's scores in sentence comprehension and passage comprehension. It measures the ability to understand a sentence as a whole unit and multiple sentences in a reading passage.
Sample Strong Response to Constructed-Response Item 1
Evidence in the exhibits suggests that these students share a relative strength in reading. Angel achieved expanding level in reading ( N Y S E S L A T Data) and a 3.6 grade-equivalent score in reading (Supplemental Assessment Data), while Li and Betiane both achieved transitioning level and grade-equivalent scores of 2.7 and 2.6, respectively. In addition, Betiane "jumped over two grade levels in reading comprehension since the fall," while Li's reading skills have improved "with respect to narrative texts" (Anecdotal Notes). Li and Angel both have grade-level, home-language literacy skills (Educational Background), which indicates a strong reading foundation. Finally, their fourth-grade classroom teacher describes all three students as avid readers in their areas of interest: Angel "devours" science nonfiction texts, while Betiane and Li enjoy fantasies.
One activity that helps students make connections between texts is constructing a Venn diagram. A Venn diagram uses intersecting circles to visually represent similarities and differences between two or more things (e.g., objects, people, ideas) that have a common theme. I would explicitly teach the students how to use a Venn diagram by first preteaching relevant academic language for comparing and contrasting information (e.g., similarly, by comparison, although, as opposed to). Then, I'd have the students read three biographical texts, each about a different person, and I'd use an overarching question to establish a common theme for the activity, such as, "What challenges did these individuals overcome to achieve greatness in their fields?" I would conduct a close reading of the first two texts with the students and then use guided discussion to support them in completing a two-circle Venn diagram comparing and contrasting information about the two individuals. Next, I'd have them read a third biography of their choice and make a brief oral presentation about it. After each presentation, I'd conduct another guided discussion, during which we'd add another circle to the Venn diagram.
The activity would be effective in building on the group's strength in reading because the genre of biography follows a narrative structure, which Li and Betiane read best, but is also nonfiction, which is Angel's strength. Also, the Anecdotal Notes suggest that each student needs to extend his or her independent reading experiences to other genres, and biography is the perfect bridge for interesting Li and Betiane in nonfiction texts and Angel in narrative texts. The activity would be effective in helping the students achieve the given grade-level standard because it provides them with a concrete scaffold for making connections between texts, including comparing and contrasting ideas, cultural perspectives, and eras represented in the texts, and it provides many opportunities for them to engage in guided practice of the strategy during the discussions.
I would differentiate the activity for Angel because his reading and overall English proficiency levels are one level above Li's and Betiane's ( N Y S E S L A T ) and his reading comprehension is one grade level above theirs (Supplemental Assessment), so his "needs in reading differ significantly" from theirs.
I would differentiate the activity for Angel by asking him more sophisticated questions during the close readings and discussions. I'd also guide him to select a more challenging text for the third biography—ideally a text that's written at a higher level of text complexity and includes lots of textual features (photos, time lines, diagrams), and I'd help him make explicit connections between these textual features and the text.
This differentiation strategy would be effective in addressing Angel's reading needs because the higher-level questions would enhance his critical and in-depth thinking about texts, while the text's features would take advantage of his visual or artistic strengths. Also, he'd learn how to scaffold his comprehension of more complex texts by attending to a text's visual/graphic features.
Sample Constructed-Response Item 2
Competency 0007
Analysis, Synthesis, and Application
start bold Use the information in the exhibits to complete the task that follows. end bold
You are a new E S O L teacher who will be working with the group of English Language Learners described in the exhibits. The setting is a sixth-grade Stand-alone English as a New Language ( E N L ) class two months into the new school year.
Using your knowledge of English Language Learners, language and literacy development, and research- and evidenced-based practices in E S O L instruction, analyze the information provided about the three English Language Learners in this group and write a response of approximately 400 to 600 words in which you:
- identify one area of strength that the students share in English language arts (e.g., related to their development in listening, speaking, reading, writing, or academic language), citing specific trends in the evidence across the four exhibits to support your analysis;
- describe an appropriate instructional strategy or activity to use with this group of students to promote their achievement of the following New York State learning standard: start italics Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words (Reading Standards: Foundational Skills Standard 3); end italics
- explain how the instructional strategy or activity you described would be effective in building on the group's identified strength to help them achieve the given standard;
- identify one student in the group for whom you would differentiate your instructional strategy or activity, citing evidence from the exhibits to explain why the student you selected has needs in reading that differ significantly from the needs of the other students in the group;
- describe how you would differentiate your lesson in order to accommodate the differing reading needs of this student; and
- explain why the differentiation strategy you described would be effective in addressing this student's reading needs during your lesson in order to support his or her achievement of the given standard.
Be sure to use evidence from all four exhibits in your response.
Exhibit 1: Educational Background
Educational background information for the three students as of the beginning of sixth grade
start bold Anna end bold is an 11-year-old Newcomer English Language Learner who arrived in New York State from Kazakhstan in August, shortly before the current school year began. Her home language is Russian, although she learned to speak Kazakh informally with peers at a young age. English is her third language. Anna attended a school in Kazakhstan for six years that prioritized Russian, which means that classes were all taught in Russian except a daily Kazakh language arts class beginning in kindergarten. Anna has grade-level literacy skills in her home language, Russian. According to her parents, who are bilingual and biliterate in Russian and Kazakh, Anna's literacy skills in Kazakh are a little below grade level as compared to students who attend Kazakh-priority schools. [Note: Although both Russian and Kazakh use the Cyrillic alphabet, which is written from left to right, Kazakh is in the Turkic language family and is unrelated to Russian.] Anna's parents report that she is an avid reader in Russian. Anna has been receiving Stand-alone E N L instruction as a component of her E N L program for approximately two months.
start bold Aaqil end bold is a 12-year-old Newcomer English Language Learner who arrived in New York State from Yemen during the summer before the current school year. His home language is Arabic, which uses the Arabic alphabet and is written from right to left. English is his second language. In recent years, Aaqil's education has been inconsistent due to ongoing civil war in the region of Yemen where his family/caregiver lived, and informal assessments indicate that his home-language literacy skills are about one year below grade level. Aaqil arrived in time to attend two out of the five weeks of an English Language Learner Summer Program offered by his school district, where he was exposed to English and made some Arabic-speaking friends of various ages. Aaqil has been receiving Stand-alone E N L instruction as a component of his E N L program for approximately two months.
start bold Samuel end bold is a 12-year-old Newcomer English Language Learner who arrived in New York State from Cuba shortly before the current school year began. His home language is Spanish. English is his second language. His parents report that he attended school in Cuba since age five. Home-language assessments indicate that he has above-grade-level literacy skills in Spanish. Samuel has been receiving Stand-alone E N L instruction as a component of his E N L program for approximately two months.
Exhibit 2: N Y S I T E L L, Data
Excerpts of information and student data from the Level 6 N Y S I T E L L (New York State Identification Test for English Language Learners), which was administered to the students as part of the identification process after enrollment
Entering A student at the Entering level has great dependence on supports and structures to advance his or her academic language skills. As measured by the N Y S E S L A T , a student at this level has yet to meet the linguistic demands necessary to demonstrate proficiency in a variety of academic contexts within this grade level. Emerging A student at the Emerging level has some dependence on supports and structures to advance his or her academic language skills. As measured by the N Y S E S L A T , a student at this level has yet to meet the linguistic demands necessary to demonstrate proficiency in a variety of academic contexts within this grade level. Transitioning A student at the Transitioning level shows some independence in advancing his or her academic language skills. As measured by the N Y S E S L A T , a student at this level has yet to meet the linguistic demands necessary to demonstrate proficiency in a variety of academic contexts within this grade level. Expanding A student at the Expanding level shows great independence in advancing his or her academic language skills. As measured by the N Y S E S L A T , a student at this level is approaching the linguistic demands necessary to demonstrate proficiency in a variety of academic contexts within this grade level. Commanding A student at the Commanding level is now designated as a Former E L L , and entitled to receive two years of continued E L L services. As measured by the N Y S E S L A T , a student at this level has met the linguistic demands necessary to demonstrate proficiency in a variety of academic contexts within this grade level.
Listening Students will listen to and understand general academic information and demonstrate comprehension of main idea and key details in English. Speaking Students will speak using academic vocabulary and standard conventions in order to describe information, express ideas, and narrate stories and sequence of events in English. Reading Students will read to decode and comprehend stories, poems, informational texts, and functional texts and answer questions about main idea, details, and sequence in English. Writing Students will write from dictation and independently create narratives, descriptions, and informational pieces with relevant facts and details from pictures, graphic information, and text using standard conventions in English.
Proficiency Level by Modality Student Anna Aaqil Samuel Listening Entering Entering Entering Speaking Entering Entering Entering Reading Entering Entering Entering Writing Entering Entering Entering Overall Proficiency Level* Entering Entering Entering *The raw scores for all four modalities are combined then converted to a single score. A student's overall English language proficiency level is determined by his or her scale score.
Exhibit 3: Anecdotal Notes
Excerpts from anecdotal notes made by the students' sixth-grade science teacher early in the school year
start bold Anna end bold is a friendly, happy student who seems to enjoy school. She is very motivated and tries to do what she is supposed to do at all times. She speaks frequently with Russian friends in class who help translate for her, but I've noticed that she also tries to make new friends by speaking as best she can in English with non-Russian peers, especially other English Language Learners. Her mother reports that Anna enjoys playing soccer and volleyball, but her after-school activities are limited to helping care for younger siblings at home. Anna seems to have a good background in science. She participates well in small-group work and lab work, especially when paired with another Russian speaker. She performs well on scaffolded written assignments, such as matching key content words related to the lesson to appropriate pictures or diagrams, and she can also write one- or two-word answers to short written questions.
start bold Aaqil end bold is very outgoing and vocal in Arabic when I've seen him with his friends in the hallways and at lunch. However, when he enters the classroom, he becomes very quiet, perhaps because he is the only Arabic speaker in this class. He sits down in his seat each day and waits to be told what to do, rather than following the regular daily routines that have been in place since the school year began. Although he demonstrates a solid foundation in science in his scaffolded assignments, which allow him to match written words to pictured concepts and use drawings to convey his responses to short questions, Aaqil appears to be very self-conscious about writing English words. I would like to see Aaqil become more independent in class, getting his supplies out and beginning his scaffolded written assignments without prompting. Perhaps as he becomes more confident in his English abilities, and he begins to make new friends in class, his comfort level and engagement will increase.
start bold Samuel end bold is a very quiet student, even with other Spanish-speaking students in the class. He sits with them at lunch and plays soccer after school, but I've noticed that he has a tendency to listen rather than participate in conversations, even when they are mostly in Spanish. In class, he appears to be worried about making mistakes when speaking in English. His mother reports that Samuel has always been rather shy. She also reports that he has always been interested in science, which he has demonstrated in class. He particularly seems to be in his element during labs. He is always the first to get started, his measurements are extremely precise, and his drawings of the given experiment are highly detailed. I've noticed that his lab partners tend to defer to him, even if their home language is English. They'll help him with directions and labeling, but otherwise he's definitely the one taking the lead. He seems to have a good foundation in basic science concepts and an intuitive feel for experimentation and discovery learning. He has no difficulty completing tasks requiring him to match key lesson vocabulary to appropriate graphics. He's also begun using short phrases in his written work, although his spelling is not standard. I can determine what he means fairly easily, however, because his spelling is very phonetic.
Exhibit 4: Supplemental Assessment Data
Data from a recently administered standardized reading assessment
Summary of Results Reading Assessment Subtests
Student Alphabet Knowledge Word List Dictation Running Record Anna Letter Naming: 52/52
Letter-Sound Correspondence: 48/52
List 1—11/20 28/36 Book Level: Kindergarten
Accuracy: 93 percent
Comprehension Level: Level 2
Aaqil Letter Naming: 49/52
Letter-Sound Correspondence: 45/52
List 1—8/20 23/36 Book Level: Kindergarten
Accuracy: 90 percent
Comprehension Level: Level 1
Samuel Letter Naming: 52/52
Letter-Sound Correspondence: 50/52
List 1—13/20 31/36 Book Level: Kindergarten
Accuracy: 96 percent
Comprehension Level: Level 3
Assessment Description Alphabet Knowledge 1 point for each correctly named lowercase and uppercase letter
1 point for each correctly identified letter-sound correspondence
Word List 1 point for each correctly read word from the following list (taken from the first 100 highest-frequency words): the, of, and, a, to, in, is, you, that, it, he, was, for, on, are, as, with, she, they, I Dictation Test administrator dictates a sentence from a decodable text twice. Student records the words using phonetic spelling. 1 point for each correctly recorded phoneme Running Record Accuracy: Instructional reading range 90 to 96 percent
Comprehension: See retelling rubric (below)
Reading Comprehension Rubric
1
- Includes few or no key ideas or details from the text
- Refers to one or two characters using pronouns only
- Offers incorrect information
- Provides limited or no response to text-based questions/prompts
2
- Includes some key ideas and details from the text
- Refers to one or two characters by generic label (girl, boy, cat)
- Misrepresents some information
- Provides some responses to text-based questions/prompts
3
- Includes many key ideas and details from the text
- Refers to many characters by name
- Demonstrates literal comprehension
- Provides adequate responses to text-based questions/prompts
4
- Includes most key ideas and details, using key language or vocabulary from the text
- Refers to all characters by their correct names
- Demonstrates beyond literal comprehension (makes inferences, evaluates)
- Provides insightful responses to text-based questions/prompts
Sample Strong Response to Constructed-Response Item 2
According to the N Y S I T E L L data, all three students are at the entering-level of proficiency in all four modalities. Evidence in the exhibits, however, suggests that the students share a relative strength in reading. The educational background data indicates that all three students have literacy skills in their home language. Samuel reads above grade-level in his home language of Spanish. Anna has grade-level literacy skills in Russian, which is her home language, and reads slightly below grade-level in Kazakh. Aaquil's home language is Arabic, and he reads one level below grade-level. According to the Supplemental Assessment Data, all three students are making good progress in acquiring foundational reading skills in English.
In order to promote students' achievement of the reading standard, I would explicitly and systematically instruct the students in phonics skills to increase their accuracy in decoding and word recognition skills. To reinforce the skills taught during phonics lessons, I would engage the students in various phonics activities using basic vocabulary words they have been exposed to in one of their content area classes. For example, since the science teacher's notes indicate that the students are able to match content vocabulary to graphic representations, I would build on this background knowledge and I would show students a picture of a decodable word ("plant" or "cell"), have students name the word, and then spell the word using magnetic letters or letter tiles. Finally, I would have students read decodable texts that have words that are consistent with the letters and corresponding phonemes that have been taught.
This instructional strategy would be effective in building on the group's identified strength of reading. Because the students have literacy skills in their home language, the students already understand that there are systematic and predictable relationships between written letters and spoken sounds. This is a concept they can apply as they continue to learn the sound-spelling relationships associated with print, so they can effectively decode and encode words.
However, as part of my strategy, I would differentiate instruction for Aaquil. According to the educational background data, his schooling had been disrupted before moving to the United States, so he has experienced some gaps in his education. In addition, the reading assessment data reveals that he performed lower than the other two students in every subtest. In letter-sound correspondence, he achieved 45/52. In dictation, he earned 23/36. The running record indicates that he scored a 90% in accuracy. The science teacher's anecdotal notes indicate that Aaquil is also reluctant to write in English and often uses drawings to convey his ideas. Finally, as his home language of Arabic is read right to left, Aaquil has the additional challenge of learning the directionality of print in English.
During the phonics activities, I would differentiate for Aaquil by giving him sound boxes. This would provide him with a visual representation of the discrete phonemes for each word that he is asked to spell during instruction. In addition, I would draw arrows on Aaquil's sound box mat to remind him of the left-to-right directionality of print in English
This differentiation strategy would be effective in addressing some of Aaquil's reading needs because the sound boxes would improve his phonemic awareness skills. The boxes segment a word into individual phonemes, so they would teach Aaquil to count the number of phonemes in the word, not the letters. Using these boxes would help him to improve his letter-sound correspondence, dictation, and reading accuracy.
Performance Characteristics for Constructed-Response Item
The following characteristics guide the scoring of the response to a constructed-response item.
| Completeness | The degree to which the response addresses all parts of the assignment |
|---|---|
| Accuracy | The degree to which the response demonstrates the relevant knowledge and skills accurately and effectively |
| Depth of Support | The degree to which the response provides appropriate examples and details that demonstrate sound reasoning |
Score Scale for Constructed-Response Item
A score will be assigned to the response to a constructed-response item according to the following score scale.
| Score Point | Score Point Description |
|---|---|
| 4 |
The "4" response reflects a thorough command of the relevant knowledge and skills:
|
| 3 |
The "3" response reflects a general command of the relevant knowledge and skills:
|
| 2 |
The "2" response reflects a partial command of the relevant knowledge and skills:
|
| 1 |
The "1" response reflects little or no command of the relevant knowledge and skills:
|
| U | The response is unscorable because it is unrelated to the assigned topic or off task, unreadable, written in a language other than English or contains an insufficient amount of original work to score. |
| B | No response. |