Meeting the Needs of Students with Limited or Interrupted Schooling: A Guide for Educators »

Today’s public schools are brimming with students who are not only new to English but who also have no schooling or a large break in their schooling. These students create unique challenges for teachers and administrators.

This handbook is a welcome new resource for secondary teachers and administrators working in areas with burgeoning immigrant populations, as well as ESL instructors and researchers. The book addresses some of the many issues facing the subpopulation of English language learners who have limited or interrupted formal schooling, helping dedicated teachers and administrators to meet this subpopulation’s highly specific literacy development and content-area knowledge needs.

Meeting the Needs of Students with Limited or Interrupted Schooling is grounded in research but goes beyond it to offer practical guidance on fostering the success of students from limited or interrupted schooling backgrounds by providing student case studies, model programs and classes, and helpful teaching techniques and tips.

Chapter 1 Who Are Slife? 1

Challenges and Issues for Slife 2

Identifying Slife 4

Possible Indicators 6

Additional Instruments for the Identification of Slife 8

Tests 8

Writing Samples 9

Parent/Guardian Interviews 10

Student Interviews 11

Alternatives to Face-to-Face Interviews 15

Profiles of Representative Slife 16

Mamadou from Mali 16

Sonia from the Dominican Republic 16

Chang-Ching from China 17

Brenda from Bosnia 17

Luis from Mexico 18

Chapter 2 Literacy and Academic Language Proficiency 20

Literacy Skills 20

Alphabet Knowledge 22

Phonology and Phonics 22

Print Materials 24

Picture Books 26

Academic Language Proficiency 26

Vocabulary 26

Sight Words 29

Affixes 30

Chapter 3 Educating the Whole Child 32

Psychological Issues 33

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder 33

Culture Shock 34

School Shock 36

Easing the Transition 38

Humanistic Approaches to Working with Slife 38

Alternative Goals 40

Case Study: Leon, A 16-Year-Old 10th Grader from Sierra Leone 40

Commentary on the Case Study 41

Chapter 4 Program Models 42

Newcomer Program Model 42

The Pull-Out Model 44

The Push-In Model 45

Extended-Day, After-School, and Saturday Models 47

Extended-Day Programs 47

After-School Programs 47

Saturday Programs 48

Practical Considerations 50

Chapter 5 Overview of Approaches and Practices 52

Bloom's Taxonomy 53

Small-Group/Cooperative Learning 56

Experiential Learning: Field Trips 59

Differentiated Learning 60

Scaffolding Instruction 61

Project-Based Learning 62

Case Study: Project-Based Learning Overnight Field Trip 63

Chapter 6 Best Classroom Techniques 65

Routines 65

Graphic Organizers67

Choral Poetry Reading 67

Class Books 68

Autobiography and Biography Collage Project 69

Listening and Reading with Audio Books 70

Vocabulary Books 70

Story Development Practice 71

Wh-Question Practice 73

Sentence Frames 74

Mobile Hangers 75

Cooperative Learning: Example from Science 75

Structural Adaptation of Texts 78

Field Trips 78

Chapter 7 Key Elements of Successful Slife Programs 82

Administrative Support 83

The Principal 84

Devoted and Well-Trained Teachers 84

The Classroom 86

A Well-Planned Program 87

Team Teaching 89

Articulation 89

Program Assessment and Improvement 90

Exit Strategies 92

Portfolios 92

Meaningful, Standards-Based Learning 93

A School Community 94

Communication with Parents 94

Orientation Programs 95

Parental Involvement 96

Appendix: Graphic Organizers 98

References 101

Index 109