ISS WLI English as an Additional Language Certificate Course Descriptions International Schools Services (ISS) is proud to offer a new three course training program, focused on developing administrators’ and teachers’ mindsets and capacities to respond to the growing number of English language learners in international-schools. The program is designed and led by program co-creator and global EAL expert Dr. Gini Rojas. This cutting-edge certificate program effectively blends theory and practice based on Stanford University’s Six Key Principles for ELL instruction, incorporating the latest learning and best practices from the ISS WLI EAL Pilot Schools to provide you with practical strategies you can apply in your classroom. Academic credit is available through Seton Hall University for an additional fee, after the successful completion of each course. Meet Dr. Virginia Rojas ISS is honored to partner with Dr. Gini Rojas. She is the cocreator and founder of the WLI EAL program, and is the primary instructor for the ISS EAL Certificate. Dr. Rojas conducts professional training on effective programs and strategies for English language learners. She has worked in more than 300 international schools throughout the world as well as with school districts in the US and Canada. Dr Rojas uses the backwards design curriculum model to help teachers design high-challenge, high-support learning experiences for strengthening English learners’ second language proficiency and academic achievement. She provides professional development trainings, job coaching and demonstration lessons, and conducts linguistic audits of EAL (English as an Additional Language) programs. She is an ASCD Faculty member (Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development) and is the author of Strategies for Success with English Language Learners: An Action Toolkit for Classroom and ESL Teachers published by ASCD (2007) and of Educating English Language Learners: Connecting Language, Literacy, and Culture (2010). Dr. Rojas teaches the summer graduate course EAL for Mainstream Teachers for the Teacher's Training Center in Miami and London and Translating Brain Research into Effective Language Education for the Association for the Advancement of International Education. Course 1: Teaching English as an Additional and Academic Language The first course, Teaching English as an Additional and Academic Language, emphasizes the difference between a ‘fixed vs. growth EAL mindset.’ Traditional policies and programs originated from a deficit paradigm where English learners are perceived as a ‘problem’ requiring ‘fixing’ by specialists and, until that process is complete, are seen as incapable of achieving academically in grade- level classrooms. The ramifications of this perspective run deep: English learners are seen as the responsibility of EAL staff despite that fact that they spend most of their school day in mainstream classrooms and are perceived as remedial or categorized with students who may be prescribed with an individual education plan due to learning differences. These ambiguities as well as a lack of research-based knowledge on bilingualism and second language acquisition result in instructional approaches based on modifications, accommodations, and simplifications. Rethinking and redefining EAL instruction results in a call to action away from this basic-skills, remedial approach to one that focuses on two current tenets of EAL teaching and learning; namely, differentiation to access content and progressive scaffolding for intentional and systematical academic language and literacy development. • • • • TESOL STANDARD 1 LANGUAGE TESOL STANDARD 2 CULTURE TESOL STANDARD 3 PLANNING, IMPLEMENTING & MANAGING INSTRUCTION TESOL STANDARD 5 PROFESSIONALISM) Course 2: Assessment & Curriculum for English Learners The second course, Assessment & Curriculum for English Learners, is offered online and focuses on a rigorous, standards-driven, and evidencebased curriculum model co-designed by classroom teachers and EAL specialists to ensure that all English learners - regardless of English language proficiency - have access to grade-level standards and materials, including technology. The relationship of assessment as evidence, standards-based grading and reporting, and proactive instruction are analyzed and applied to current classroom practices. The roles and responsibilities of EAL teachers in this model are clear: to identify language learning targets aligned to teachers’ content learning targets and to support English learners’ achievement on formative and summative assessments as an integral or inclusive part of the school. EAL and classroom teachers co- plan summative and formative assessments grounded in the standards and benchmarks and collect evidence to dispel the fallacious notion that English learners can’t attain the same expectations. Course participants review the use of standardized language proficiency tests, achievement tests, and classroom-based formative and summative assessments to inform instruction and monitor academic English-language development as a part of - and not apart from - an EAL responsive ecology throughout the school (i.e. immersion schooling). • • • TESOL STANDARD 3 PLANNING, IMPLEMENTING & MANAGING INSTRUCTION TESOL STANDARD 4 ASSESSMENT TESOL STANDARD 5 PROFESSIONALISM) Course 3: English Language, Literacy and Learning in International Schools The third and final course, English Language, Literacy and Learning in International Schools, examines those aspects of language that are relevant to education through the lens of various subfields of linguistics (as well as the reverse). The course investigates the study of language in teaching and learning, the nature of linguistic systems and their role in learning, and what kinds of knowledge about language influence daily instructional practices. Participants apply concepts, theories, research, and practices of language, culture and academic literacy to construct learning environments facilitating English learners’ language and literacy development and content- area achievement. The ISS WLI EAL certification candidates plan a culminating action-research project to present at a simulated symposium on the teaching and learning of English learners in international-school settings as it differs from national school systems. The project demonstrates knowledge of history, research, and current practice in the field of EAL teaching and apply this knowledge to improve teaching and learning in their classrooms. • • • • TESOL STANDARD 1 LANGUAGE TESOL STANDARD 2 CULTURE TESOL STANDARD 3 PLANNING, IMPLEMENTING & MANAGING INSTRUCTION TESOL STANDARD 5 PROFESSIONALISM Questions? Contact Dr. Rojas with any questions about the courses. Email: [email protected] • Sykpe: vprojas1
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