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.
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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).
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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.
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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