Chesney 1 Amber Chesney EDSE 460 Dr.

Sheryl Muir 5 December 2013

ELA Teacher Interview Anita Hoekstra ELA and Literacy Specialist, CBLA Coordinator, K-8 Curriculum Designer and Special Education Generalist

1. Where did you receive your training in ESL? Anita Hoekstra has been teaching grades K-12 for 25 years with a variety of extensions and configurations from special needs to gifted students. She received a BA from San Diego State University with graduate credentials (both Elementary and ESL) from United States International University that prepared her well for her concentration of instruction in ESL, Literacy, and all levels of educational schooling years. She also has masters degrees from the National University and University of California in San Diego in graduate teacher trainings and literacy. A few years ago she also completed a masters degree in Curriculum and Instruction from Colorado Christian University.

2. Describe your current teaching scenario. How frequently do you work with students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds? See attached schedule

3. What do the services for students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds look like? Services include several models and different teaching models for direct instruction depending on multiple language levels. What does special education mean for this population? Special Education for this population means several situations depending on what pod and services are determined according to the IEP for dual services (Special Education and ESL).

Chesney 2 For the 7th graders, she has students directly in a support class with a co-taught Language Arts class. However, the 8th graders are on consult support services only.

4. From whom do you receive referrals to work with these students? There is not a referral system. The Home Language Survey (HLS) that is done at registration is the kicker into the testing process. The Home Language Survey (HLS) dictates appropriate testing and qualifications determined by the W-APT, which is the CDE test for all ELLs. Every student who writes on the HLS that they have another language(s) other than English within their "body" is automatically tested. No parent permission is required as it is a state & federal law that the testing process be conducted.

5. How do you typically begin to work with the students, family, and the team upon receiving a referral? As soon as testing is completed and scaled NEP (Non-English Proficient) or LEP (Limited English Proficient), the schedule should be designed by the (1)counselor, (2)parent, (3)student, and (4)ESL teacher. A team should be chosen to fit the direct needs of the student as well. Depending on the needs of the student is where she begins working with him/her. After the initial placement score from the W-APT, she does her own batteries of assessments in reading & writing along with the grade level math assessment - usually Math Mates. Then design the student's ELLP (English Language Learner Plan) to fit those direct needs within five levels that are designated by CDE. The ELLP operates somewhat as the same as an IEP.

The parent has the option of refusing services too. The legal signing of the refusal is conducted with (1)administrator, (2)parent, and (3)Anita. This is a very involved process as basically, the parent is saying "no thank you" to the extra support and the parents assume educational responsibilities for the student.

Chesney 3 6. How do you facilitate communication with other team members and family? Most communication with staff is direct, through consult meetings, through lunch meetings, and through collaborative meetings. Emails and texts have been used in the past because she is split between the middle and high school buildings and so they catch each other as they need to with anything that may be needed immediately. When communicating with the parent, if a translator is needed, she will request one through the district and if one is available in the family's native language one is sent. If there happens to be one in the building, she will ask for the professional courtesy. Most of the time, the parent brings one or the student translates.

7. What strategies do you use with families to help them understand special education services? Unfortunately, ELLs have not qualified for special education services at Mountain Ridge Middle School or Mountain Vista High School because the protocol states that the student must have three years of good strong English instruction. Most ELLs that have qualified in the past had other significant issues that were most apparent at the elementary school levels. Really? So what happens if they do not have those three years? Yes, the three years is a standard process unless something significant arises. Otherwise, the process of three solid good years of ESL instruction is desired and documentation has to be solid in all areas of reading, writing, listening, speaking and math in some cases. She has had students reach out to other testing means and come back with a diagnosis and the district still doesn't qualify the student. It is a very tricky business with Sped - not an easy process. Then, if the student has been schooled in their native language - bilingual education - the process becomes even trickier and very strict. So, if they don't have those three years, it's another design process of the ELLP that has to be instituted from the CDE Guidelines.

Chesney 4 8. Describe some adaptations you make to your techniques or strategies you use when a student is from a culturally and linguistically diverse background or a student with disabilities from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds when a child has additional disabilities. She uses the SIOP Model for most ESL instruction and depends upon her formative assessments to drive instruction. She plans and makes adjustments as she is deeply within a lesson from her observations of how the students are doing during the lesson, how well they demonstrate their skills or their lack of skills, and feedback.

9. How do you decide what to teach and how to teach it? The curriculum design is based on the direct needs of the students and content areas.

Summary of My learning from the interview I learned that Anita is a very educated and experienced teacher. I have had several conversations with her and she has been extremely informative and eager to answer my questions. I have learned a lot during my conversations with her. Prior to this interview, I had no idea what the protocol was for ELL students getting services and that parents could refuse those services. I guess I had never considered the thought that parents of ELL students would ever want to refuse services for their children because it is such an important piece of their success in the school environment. I learned that it is a state and federal law that students who indicate another language on the Home Language Survey must be tested and that it can be done without parent permission. I also had no knowledge of the process of what it takes for an ELL student to also qualify for special education. I know that schools try to keep from putting ELL students into special education and I guess that is the driving force for them to have to have three solid years of instruction. I think there should be exceptions to this rule when it is determined that a student does have a disability in addition to needing English instruction. I was unaware that ELL students have an English Language Learner Plan (ELLP) which operates similar to an IEP.