ELL Task Force
About us
The ELL Task Force is a group, now over 10 years old, that meets regularly around the state to discuss the education of English language learners in Pennsylvania. There are nearly 200 people on the Task Force mailing list, including educators, social service providers, advocates, and parents. Our meetings and e-mail updates enable us to work together on ELL concerns at both the state and local levels. To be added to the Task Force mailing list, contact Len Rieser.
End-of-year report - May 2010
Meetings. This year, the Task Force held meetings in Lancaster, Glenside, Immaculata, Wilkes-Barre, Edinboro and Pittsburgh. Attendance was terrific, averaging about 20 per meeting, including many new people. Meetings focused on developments at the state level (PDE programs, staffing, guidelines; teacher preparation; budget; Keystone Exams), as well as local problems, e.g., students denied access to services, translation and interpretation problems, and more.
Improving communication. Every year brings reminders that those involved with ELLs in Pennsylvania want more opportunities to be in touch with each other. While the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE), the Pennsylvania Training and Technical Assistance Network (PaTTAN), the Task Force, the TESOL organizations, and other groups are all making efforts in this regard, more is needed.
Two new websites can help. PASchoolTalk is a forum in which anyone interested in public education in Pennsylvania can post and respond to queries; you’ll find some Task Force members on SchoolTalk, and we hope you’ll join too (it’s easy). SchoolVictories, another site, helps groups plan and document actions and projects aimed at improving their school. Some groups serving ELLs are represented on this site as well.
State-level developments. Here’s a quick summary of our work with PDE this year.
PDE staffing. We strongly supported efforts to fill the two Bilingual Education Advisor positions at PDE. One has now been filled (by an individual who is a strong advocate for ELLs) and the other should be filled soon as well. For more, see the ESL page on PDE’s website.
We also pushed for more services through the Pennsylvania Training and Technical Assistance Network (PaTTAN). These efforts were successful, in that PaTTAN added staff who did extensive training and consulting with schools around the state – and from what we can tell, made a very positive difference. The Task Force is urging PDE to continue these arrangements next year; we don’t yet know whether this will occur.
We also urged PDE to designate a point of contact for ELL matters in each of its offices and bureaus. There’s now a chart showing names and contact information for bureaus within the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, the Office of Postsecondary and Higher Education, the Office of Child Development and Early Learning, and the Office of Commonwealth Libraries. Please use these contacts!
Teacher preparation. We continued to push PDE to create a “full” ESL certificate. After much discussion, however, PDE has opted for giving priority to upgrading the existing Program Specialist certificate. PDE will convene a team to propose changes over the summer, with the goal (as we understand it) of adopting new requirements by late fall. Changes may involve the designation of more (and more specific) competencies, an increase in the number of credit-hours required, fieldwork, and so forth. A number of Task Force members have volunteered to serve on the team.
While we support improving the Program Specialist certificate, which is clearly inadequate, we still believe that Pennsylvania should have a full ESL certificate. For more information, see our position paper, which also includes a chart showing that all but one of our neighboring states have put such a certificate in place.
Standards Aligned Systems website. PDE devoted major resources this year to its new SAS website, which offers information on standards, instructional methods, resources, and more. We were concerned that the site provided little information relevant to teaching ELLs. PDE is working on improving the site (for example, English language proficiency standards were recently added). We are hoping for much more, including videos showing examples of effective instructional practices. PDE tells us that they welcome recommendations of specific items.
Other topics. We also worked with PDE on other matters, such as “Annual Measurable Achievement Objectives” (AMAO) reports, which deal with whether districts have met expectations for the education of ELLs. For more on this, or other aspects of our discussions with PDE, contact Len Rieser.
Thanks to all of those who contributed to the work of the Task Force this year, by hosting meetings, volunteering for committees and work groups, sharing information, and otherwise. And please -- keep in touch, join PASchoolTalk, share your opinions, call with concerns on behalf of a child or family, and let us know what else we should be doing (and how you’d like to be involved)!
New Publication
- English Language Learners in Pennsylvania Public Schools: Law and Policy, Current Problems, and Possible Solutions is ELC's latest publication on the status of ELLs in Pennsylvania schools. We welcome your comments, which we'll take into account in subsequent versions. Comments may be sent to Len Rieser.
Other News
The PA Department of Education has revised three important "Basic Education Circulars" dealing with the rights of ELLs.
- Educating Students With Limited English Proficiency (LEP) and English Language Learners (ELL), the biggie, deals with all of the major aspects of school services for ELLs -- including testing, program requirements (ESL as well as content), communication with parents, and more.
- Enrollment of Students deals with residency and enrollment rules. It makes clear that immigration status is irrelevant to public school admission, and also clarifies a number of other often-misunderstood rules about eligibility to attend school (e.g., for students who live with adults other than their parents).
- Foreign Students' Eligibility for Enrollment again makes clear that immigration status is irrelevant to school admission.