1. Situating Our Work - C. Create Materials

Use of Academic Language	Descriptor	Level	Domain
Argue	Generating words and phrases that represent opinions.	1	Writing

SIOP Section	Descriptor
Building Background	Concepts Explicitly Linked to Student’s Background Experiences

Action Steps:

Step 1

The purpose of this assignment is to investigate publicly available data and interview a staff member familiar with ELs at your school (e.g., EL Coordinator, EL teacher, Instructional Director, Director of Curriculum) in order to create a profile describing your school as a learning site for ELLs.

Prepare

What are you interested in learning? Decide on a few key areas to focus on. See this document for a list of ideas that you may want to ask in your interview or focus on in your profile.

Interview

Discuss the school’s ELL program with a staff member who is knowledgeable about the school’s approach to meeting the needs of ELLs.

Create a Profile

Create a school profile that includes:

A descriptive overview of the school’s ELL population
An analysis of the school’s approach to meeting the needs of its ELLs
Incorporate data from the Office of Civil Rights, School and District Profiles, IES Public School Finder, English Language Learners by State and/or the DART Detail for ELLs
Include citations to identify the various sources of your data
OPTIONAL: Include data from the Public School Coordinated Program Review System. The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education periodically evaluates public school districts on their adherence to compliance requirements. One dimension of the review process is an examination of a district's approach to serving English language learners.

The profile can be in any of the following forms or a combination:

2-3 written profile (double-spaced, 12 point font, Times New Roman)
A nuanced graphic image (e.g., chart, graph, picture, drawing, info-graphic) that adequately represents each of the required elements above
A PowerPoint Presentation

Resources

See examples from past years here
Want to see an academic example? Estrada, P. (2014). English learner curricular streams in four middle schools: Triage in the trenches. The Urban Review, 46(4), 535-573. Immigrants and their Stories

NOTE FOR TEACHERS WHO SERVE AT THE SAME SITE AS OTHER STUDENTS FROM T-210:

Working in education can be very demanding; for that reason, we want to be respectful of teachers’ and staff members’ time. If you serve at a school where other students in our class also teach, you will need to coordinate with one another to avoid interviewing the same individual.

If you and others at your site are interested, you can put together a single profile that is proportionally similar in work as other students. For example, one student is writing 2-3 pages; thus, a group of 3 students would put together a writing assignment that is 6-9 pages long. The level of detail in the school profile should also be proportional. For instance, in addition to the required elements above, you may include example (de-identified) student profiles, analyses of curricula, a map of the resources in the community, student perspectives of what they feel are the most important resources in the community, etc.

Even though the profile will be a collaborative process, each student should still write their own individual reflection.

Step 2

Be sure to link your work and documents in the capstone project:

Step 3

Reflection: Answer the following questions on a Capstone slide

Thinking about the school profile. Write a brief reflection on the task using the following questions as guidelines. You can choose one or all questions, or parts from each question. (150-250 words total)
1. How did you determine which topics to ask about in your interview or address in your profile?
2. How did developing the school profile impact your beliefs about students? Instruction? Your identity as a teacher?
3. What cultural or linguistic resources did you uncover? Think about the students, their families, the school, community, etc.
Takeaways: You can choose one or all questions, or parts from each question. (200-250 words)
1. What was your most significant take away from the assignment? What did you find interesting and useful?
2. What was most challenging in the task? How did you overcome that challenge?
3. How will you apply your learning to practice?
4. To learn more, what might your next steps be?
5. How would you improve on your current product in the future?

Create a School Profile

Why this task? If we do not understand context in which we teach, it is more challenging to appreciate existing resources and to meet the needs of students.

Points: 10

Must Haves
1. Response completes the task. 2. Accurately reflects WIDA Standards and the principles of SIOP. 3. Demonstrates precision and accuracy appropriate to the demands of a graduate course (including correct citations, grammar, and mechanics). 4. Demonstrates thoughtfulness and insights appropriate to the demands of a graduate course. 5. Responds specifically and explicitly to an identified language demand taught in an inclusive setting.

Must Haves

1. Response completes the task.
2. Accurately reflects WIDA Standards and the principles of SIOP.
3. Demonstrates precision and accuracy appropriate to the demands of a graduate course (including correct citations, grammar, and mechanics).
4. Demonstrates thoughtfulness and insights appropriate to the demands of a graduate course.
5. Responds specifically and explicitly to an identified language demand taught in an inclusive setting.

Amazing
* Explain how learning from completing the task can be useful to you. * Promotes self and cultural awareness. * Describes possible next steps. * Relates to developing language skills in specific ways. * Share materials or examples that may be useful to others.