Jodi,
 
The classroom mix of the highly educated literate students who didn't
know English with the literacy level beginning English students was
often a challenge. The first (unstated) task was to help the educated
students realize that they might learn a great deal from those who
picked up oral language faster than they did. 
 
Techniques for dealing with the mixed levels:
    The Key: fostering a sense of community within the class
    Main technique: Group work - teacher as enabler, moving around the
groups

*	        extra reading help in reading given while class was
working on either written assignments or group projects
*	        groups were mixed

	*	            always by language
	*	            occasionally by gender
	*	            rarely by ability (only when reading lessons
specifically for the literacy group were held)

    School Job: The Refugee Center has a working Snack Bar, and Boutique
(donated clothing - everything sells for fifty cents/item).

*	         students polish their abilty to work together
*	        students learn chain of command (literacy level students
are supervisors just as often as the highly educated, since they often
have a verbal advantage)
*	         literacy-level students could make coffee, serve as a
cashier, and give excellent customer service
*	        a highly educated accountant who cannot get out an
English sentence orally, could create a cost-accounting spreadsheet see
if it was less expensive to buy bulk sugar or packets for coffee.

Other projects are used as well - making recipe books, making student
profile books. Today, with the use of the computer, the possibilities
are endless for activities for mixed classes.
 
Noa
   

________________________________

From: assessment-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:assessment-bounces at nifl.gov]
On Behalf Of Jodi Crandall
Sent: Thursday, February 07, 2008 12:59 PM
To: The Assessment Discussion List
Subject: [Assessment 1152] Re: {Dangerous Content?} RE: No Questions
orComments?!


Noa, 

Thanks for sharing this.  How wonderful to have had 20 hours per week
for these students.  Besides mutual respect (which is very important),
were there ways in which students could use their complementary skills
to help each other.  If you could describe some of the activities that
you or others used that were helpful, that would be great.

If others of you could share your experiences with mixed classes, and
how you coped with them, I think a lot of us would be interested.

The change to separate Listening, Reading and "Homeroom" classes is also
a very interesting way of meeting the needs of this diverse population.
I know that many community colleges separate their instruction in adult
ESL to oral language skills (Listening/Speaking) and written language
(Reading/Writing) skills.  Are there others out there who could share
your experiences in this regard?

The presence of World English speakers and Generation 1.5 speakers in
adult ESL has further complicated the situation.  I'd be interested in
knowing how  others  have dealt with such diverse students in adult
ESL/ESOL.

Jodi


 
n Feb 7, 2008, at 12:16 PM, Sadan, Noa wrote: 


	Years ago, the Montgomery County Refugee Training Program
(Montgomery
	College, Silver Spring, MD)had highly educated people with no
English,
	in class with literacy level students. It was certainly
difficult
	meeting the needs of all students, but in this intensive
20-hours/week
	program, a tremendous mutual respect was fostered between the
groups.
	Typically, the highly educated students raced ahead with reading
and
	writing, while the literacy students sped ahead with oral
language. The
	Somali mother of nine would say to the Russian engineer, "I wish
I could
	read and write like you!", while the Russian woman would reply,
"I wish
	I could speak like you."

	All this ended with a slightly different solution. The Refugee
Center,
	then under the direction of Donna Kinerney, divided that school
day into
	separate Listening,Reading and "Homeroom" classes. Homerooom
took in all
	skills, plus the introduction to the American workplace. This
model was
	in place when we began to get World English speakers who were
not
	literate. It provided a solution in which they could study in a
	literacy-level reading/writing class, and interact in a higher
level
	Listening and Homeroom class. 

	-----Original Message-----
	From: assessment-bounces at nifl.gov
[mailto:assessment-bounces at nifl.gov]
	On Behalf Of JoAnn (Jodi) Crandall
	Sent: Wednesday, February 06, 2008 3:10 PM
	To: The Assessment Discussion List
	Subject: [Assessment 1139] Re: {Dangerous Content?} RE: No
Questions or
	Comments?!

	Jackie and Forrest,

	I think most large programs separate literacy level students
from others
	who are at a beginning level.  I know that back in the 1980s
when there
	were large refugee ESL programs, several community colleges
created
	parallel ESL classes for the beginning levels and even into
intermediate
	levels, with one set of classes for students with limited
literacy or
	prior schooling and another for more educated students.  The
reason was
	that the students with less education made slower progress.
Some of
	this is undoubtedly due to the way in which we teach English
(requiring
	literacy), but it is also because students need to become
accustomed to
	attending classes, learning to hold and use a pen or pencil, and
a wide
	range of basic skills that come with being a student in a class.

	Those of you who have separate classes for those who need
literacy:
	Can
	you tell us what kind of classes or program you provide?

	Those who teach both literacy and more educated learners in the
same
	class:  Can you let us know how you manage?  What are some ways
in which
	you accommodate both sets of needs?

	Jodi

		Forrest,
		   I like the idea of separate classes for those with a
literacy 
		background and those without. These two groups have such
different 
		needs. Having both in the class make it difficult for a
teacher to 
		meet the needs of either group well and I find that
often the stronger


		students dominate the class, and their drive push the
teacher forward.


		If the instructor does not keep up with the students who
are learning 
		at a faster rate, they often become frustrated and leave
or mentally 
		check out. However, if the instructor keeps up with
those students, 
		the others are unable to keep up and they get
frustrated.
		  I think that literacy could perhaps be separated out.
And regardless


		of how you do it, well-trained instructors are
essential.
		Jackie


		On 2/5/08, Forrest Chisman <forrest at crosslink.net>
wrote:


			 To all of you who commented on level of prior
education as a factor 
			in student performance:



			Everyone with whom Jodi Crandall and I talked
believes that more 
			highly educated students do better in terms of
persistence, learning


			gains, and transitions. And learning theory
would lead us to expect 
			this.
			Regrettably
			we found very little hard data about how much
difference prior 
			education makes, because too few programs track
the level of prior 
			education of their students and correlate it
with outcomes. DO any of


			you do this? That is, do you have any data on
HOW MUCH difference 
			level of prior education makes?
			Or
			any strong impressions? And are there "cut
points" in prior education


			that seem to make a difference -- e.g. students
who are completely 
			illiterate, students who at least reached high
school, high school 
			graduates, college graduates, etc. --  or is
level of prior education


			pretty much of a continuum?



			More importantly, what can programs DO to narrow
the gap between 
			highly educated students and those with less
prior education? 
			Presumably students with very low levels of
education are more likely


			end up in the lower level ESL courses (Literacy
or Low-Beginning 
			levels) why are (almost by
			definition)  in the business of teaching basic
literacy and sometimes


			math.
			Why isn't this enough? In your experience, does
the "gap" exist at 
			these levels too, or mainly at higher levels? At
any levels, would it


			be desirable to place less highly educated
students in separate 
			classes from those with more education and
adjust the 
			curriculum/support systems for them accordingly?
Some programs have 
			tried "native language literacy" or the Spanish
GED. What has been 
			the experience of any of you with these
approaches? Any other ideas? 
			IS there an adult ESL equivalent of "bi-lingual
education" that 
			should be tried?



			It seems to me that we need to come up with
better ideas. Because the


			people who study immigration tell us that the
level of education of 
			immigrants has been falling. And if Immigration
Reform mandates large


			numbers of undocumented people to "learn
English" (whatever that 
			means), ESL programs may be swamped with
students who have very 
			little education in their native countries and
too little money to 
			serve them.  So anyone who has any ideas about
how to bridge this 
			"education gap" could help us a lot by posting
ideas about how to 
			close it on this discussion list.



			Forrest Chisman

			Vice President

			CAAL







			*From:* assessment-bounces at nifl.gov 
			[mailto:assessment-bounces at nifl.gov]
			*On
			Behalf Of *Tina_Luffman at yc.edu
			*Sent:* Tuesday, February 05, 2008 1:32 PM
			*To:* The Assessment Discussion List
			*Subject:* [Assessment 1109] Re: {Dangerous
Content?} RE: No 
			Questions or Comments?!




			Hi Jackie,

			Thank you for this information. I believe this
research must be what 
			my former Spanish teacher was basing her
argument on for bilingual 
			education in the K-12 school system.

			Tina

			Tina Luffman
			Coordinator, Developmental Education
			Verde Valley Campus
			928-634-6544
			tina_luffman at yc.edu

			  *"Jackie Coelho" <jackie.coelho at gmail.com>*
Sent by: 
			assessment-bounces at nifl.gov

			02/05/2008 11:13 AM

			Please respond to
			The Assessment Discussion List
<assessment at nifl.gov>

			To

			"The Assessment Discussion List"
<assessment at nifl.gov>

			cc

			Subject

			[Assessment 1108] Re: {Dangerous Content?} RE:
No Questions or  
			Comments?!






			Hi Tina,

			This has been researched already and is the
basis for the arguement 
			in favor of bilingual education, a good idea
that was not implemented


			in the best way. For many years people have
known that a good 
			foundation in literacy in the first language
will facilitate learning


			in a second or third language.

			Another interesting twist is the existence of
languages that are not 
			written.

			Jackie


			On 2/5/08, Tina_Luffman at yc.edu
<Tina_Luffman at yc.edu> wrote:

				Hi list members,

				My experience teaching ELAA students in
the GED class is similar to

			that
			of

				Gail. If the student has a solid
educational background in the 
				country

			they

				came from in their native language, they
tend to advance rather

			quickly
			and

				get their GED. Those coming with 6th
grade educations from their

			country
			or

				lower tend to stay in the GED class for
years and do not make much 
				advancement.

				This experience relates well to research
done among Native American

			tribes

				teaching them English. Those Native
Americans who were first taught

			literacy

				skills in their own tongue learned
English much quicker than those 
				who

			tried

				to learn literacy skills in English
without that background in 
				their

			own

				tongue. I also found similar problems
when I was learning Spanish. 
				The concepts I could mentally translate
from English to Spanish 
				were much

			easier

				to grasp and learn than those I didn't
know in English. Perhaps 
				this

			is

				something deserving more research.

				Tina
				Tina Luffman
				Coordinator, Developmental Education
Verde Valley Campus
				928-634-6544
				tina_luffman at yc.edu

				-----assessment-bounces at nifl.gov wrote:
-----

				To: "The Assessment Discussion List"
<assessment at nifl.gov>
				From: "Gail Burnett"
<gburnett at sanford.org> Sent by: 
				assessment-bounces at nifl.gov
				Date: 02/04/2008 06:34PM
				Subject: [Assessment 1104] {Dangerous
Content?} RE: No Questions or


				Comments?!


				Warning: This message has had one or
more attachments removed
				Warning: (not named).
				Warning: Please read the
"AttachmentWarning.txt" attachment(s) for

			more

				information.

				In our small adult education program, my
experience (just about 
				three

			years)

				is that students with solid educational
backgrounds advance,

			particularly if

				they're not working too many hours.
Those who advance the slowest, 
				if

			at

				all, are immigrants who are barely
literate in their first 
				language. I

			would

				say that lack of education is a bigger
factor than lack of time; a

			student

				who works full-time and is exhausted
often will still succeed 
				because

			he/she

				is familiar with academic work, and is
goal-oriented. What we do is

			try
			to

				get our low-level students to come up
with goals, but that's a hard

			concept

				in a second language.

				This does not mean that the factors
mentioned in the research don't

			play
			a

				part, though. I'm one of those
barely-trained teachers 
				(transitioned

			from

				another career, got trained mainly
through workshops rather than

			classes).

				My skill level very well may contribute
to students' slow

	advancement.

			It's

				hard for small adult education programs
to get highly skilled ESL

			teachers.

				The pay is low and there are no
benefits. But my program is

			encouraging
			me

				to get extra training and has me on a
plan of improvement. I think

			we're

				making some progress.

				Does this address any of the issues? And
am I submitting it right?

				________________________________

				From: assessment-bounces at nifl.gov on
behalf of Marie Cora
				Sent: Mon 2/4/2008 6:50 PM
				To: Assessment at nifl.gov
				Subject: [Assessment 1103] No Questions
or Comments?!


				Hello everyone,

				I'm so surprised!  No one has anything
to comment on regarding your


				program's effectiveness at helping ESL
students advance??  I was 
				very curious to know if subscribers
experience the same types of 
				issues

			that
			Dr.

				Chisman and Dr. Crandall found in their
research:  a lack of 
				intensity

			of

				instruction/few protocols for
transitioning students/few 
				opportunities

			for

				professional development.

				What are the issues in your program that
you feel inhibit the ESL

			student

				from advancing?  What do you try to do
about that?

				Please post your questions and comments
now.

				Thanks!

				Marie Cora
				Assessment Discussion List Moderator


				Marie Cora
				marie.cora at hotspurpartners.com
				<mailto:marie.cora at hotspurpartners.com>
				NIFL Assessment Discussion List
Moderator 
				<marie.cora at hotspurpartners.com>

			http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/assessment



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	--
	JoAnn (Jodi) Crandall
	Professor, Education Department
	Director, Ph.D. Program in Language, Literacy & Culture
Coordinator,
	Peace Corps Master's International Program in ESOL/Bilingual
Education
	University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) 1000 Hilltop
Circle,
	Baltimore, MD 21250
	ph:    410-455-2313/2376  fax:   410-455-8947/1880
	email: crandall at umbc.edu
	www.umbc.edu/llc/
	www.umbc.edu/esol/
	www.umbc.edu/esol/peacecorps.html



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