Can English Learner Teacher Effectiveness Be Observed? Validation of an EL‐Modified Framework for Teaching

Abstract

Across the United States, school districts have adopted various methods to capture what effective teachers do to facilitate student learning. Some of these methods include peer lesson studies where teachers co‐plan and co‐evaluate their work, examining student standardized tests scores to align teachers with student learning outcomes, and using a teacher observation protocol to examine in‐class instructional practices and evaluate teachers. These methods have been used across the teaching profession with generalized student populations. The Danielson Group Framework for Teaching (FFT) is one observation protocol that has been used throughout the United States as a tool to examine teacher effectiveness in the context of teacher evaluations (Campbell & Ronfeldt, 2018, American Educational Research Journal, 55, 1233). In its traditional form, the FFT protocol does not capture the specialized work of teachers of English learner (EL) students in mainstream inclusive classrooms. This article examines the modification and validation of an EL‐modified FFT observation protocol across two of the four domains of the FFT. Findings demonstrate that the EL‐modified FFT instrument is both valid and reliable as an observation tool for teachers of EL students in mainstream inclusive classrooms.

Adopting Instructional Strategies for English Language Learners in Elementary Classrooms

“…Samalot-Rivera, Treadwell, and Sato (2017) claimed that teacher implementation of ELL instructional strategies for the whole class is beneficial. It also supports Krashan's theory of the use of teacher to student interactions to develop language (Lowen & Sato, 2018 feasibility is further validated by Coady et al (2020) who emphasized teacher's preference for whole group strategies to support students rather than differentiating for specific groups.…”

The Role of Language Teacher Metacognition and Executive Function in Exemplary Classroom Practice

“…Reviews of this body of research suggest that effective teaching can be described, in part, "through multidimensional assessments of teachers' warmth, rigor, classroom management, and provision of instructional supports" (Sandilos et al, 2019, p. 11). This is also reflected in recent work that adapts such frameworks for thinking about the degree to which teachers' classroom practice is engaging, demanding, and supportive of students' development in our own field (e.g., Coady et al, 2020). There are also several published measures that attempt to capture various aspects of the aforementioned elements either directly through classroom observations or indirectly through stakeholder ratings (e.g., Ferguson & Danielson, 2014;Pianta & Hamre, 2009).…”

“…As the complex nature of the relationship between language teachers and student learning has become clearer, the question of what effective language teachers do has grown in significance (Coady et al., 2020). Particularly in the present context—the United States—there is a steady emphasis on common state standards for student learning in compulsory education, with school districts adopting various methods to capture what effective teachers do to facilitate student learning.…”

Rural English Learner Education: A Review of Research and Call for a National Agenda

“…One of the most salient characteristics of rural schools is limited access to resources, both human and material, because of economic constraints and geographic distances. Resources for effective EL teaching and learning include curriculum and assessments in students' home languages, culturally responsive materials (Coady et al, 2020), and time for professional learning to use those materials. Tieken (2014) noted that rural schools have not kept pace with the technological and economic advances of urban settings, and the pandemic-driven push to "put learning online" has illuminated those resource disparities (Pratt, 2020).…”

“…Although scholars in the field of EL education in general have an emerging research base on what constitutes high-quality education for ELs (Coady et al, 2020), including how to prepare teachers for linguistic diversity (Coady, Harper, & de Jong, 2016; Lucas, 2010; Nugent, Kunz, Sheridan, Glover, & Knoch, 2017), we know little about place-based, rural EL education as a subfield. In this work I examine the state of rural EL education and related research and call for a coherent national research agenda that identifies, examines, and advances rural EL education in the United States.…”