Kristal Williams Assignment 2
For this assignment you may choose to answer the questions as they appear in this document
or complete a summary chart (included at the end of this section). The guiding questions should
form a basis for the summary.
Curriculum Guiding Questions
1. Is there an ESL curriculum in the school? How well does it complement the mainstream
curriculum? – Yes, there is an ESL curriculum at GOCA. The ESL program runs parallel to our
mainstream curriculum, giving our ELL students the opportunity to learn correct grammar,
English language, and interactive skills with the support of an ESOL class, paras who are fluently
in other languages that can act as a translator as well.
2. How does the curriculum balance high expectations for ELL with their limited facility in
English? – The curriculum holds the ELL students to their high expectations because there are
many different ways to close the language gap which include- Spanish/Russian/Ukrainian
dictionaries as well as google translate to ensure that our ELL students are able to keep up in
class and understand the work.
3. How does the school ensure that every ESL student has access to the standards-based
curriculum (both in mainstream and ESL courses)? – Each student is attached to every one of
their teachers through clever where they can follow along on multiple platforms (i.e.
ActivelyLearn, No Red Ink, StudySync, Google classroom, Animal Farm) where they can hear the
text in English but read it in their language.
4. How is academic content integrated with language learning throughout the curriculum (both
in mainstream and ESL classes)? – The teacher should make sure that whenever any issue is
covered, there are several perspectives. Never can you deal with them all. That’s not possible.
But if you deal with several and change the perspectives when you teach about an issue, you
will cover a range of perspectives over time.
Instruction Guiding Questions
1. How adequately are mainstream teachers prepared to teach ELL? – I don’t think all
mainstream teachers are adequately prepared
2. How adequately are ESL teachers prepared to teach ELL?
3. How often do teachers collaborate to adjust instruction for ESL students?
4. How does instruction develop academic language and learning strategies?
Assessment Guiding Questions
1. To what extent are ELL and mainstream assessment practices coordinated?
2. Is there a clear written policy for assessing ELL? How do stakeholders have access to the
policy?
3. To what extent are assessments for ELL derived from individual student needs?
4. How are assessments adapted for ELL? Are alternative assessments offered for ELL?
5. How is guidance provided to mainstream staff in the use of alternative assessments?
Kristal Williams Assignment 2
Staff Development Guiding Questions
1. To what extent does the school support effective staff development for educational personnel
(administrators, teachers, paraprofessionals and staff) who work with ELL?
2. To what extent is there a school-wide effort to have ESL and mainstream teachers work
together and learn from each other in order to support the academic achievement of ELL?
3. How are questions and concerns of teachers addressed through staff development?
4. How often are ESL and Bilingual Education teachers in the school sought out as experts for
staff development on programming for ELL?
5. How often do administrators help provide the necessary time for staff development?
Family and Community Involvement Guiding Questions
1. How are members from the communities of ELL included in school activities?
2. How well does the school achieve effective two-way communication with ELL families and
their communities?
3. How do school administrators support the efforts of educational personnel in their efforts to
address the needs of ELL families and their communities?
Leadership Guiding Questions
1. Is there a vision or mission for the school of which teachers are aware?
2. To what extent are decisions about the academic achievement of ELL made on the basis of
school data?
3. To what extent does school leadership reflect the concern for achievement of all learners?
4. To what extent does school leadership reflect the input of various stakeholders (students,
parents, community, mainstream staff, ESL staff)?
5. What sort of effort do school personnel make to include ELL, their families, and community-
based organizations as active participants in the school’s decision-making process?
Governance Guiding Questions
1. Who are the stakeholders in the governance of the school?
2. How does the decision-making process include all stakeholders?
3. How are federal, state, and district policies aligned within the school?
4. How are school policies that address the needs of ELL developed, and how are those policies
made accessible to school staff and other interested parties?
Resources Guiding Questions
1. To what extent do ELLs have access to the same resources as all other students?
2. How are stakeholders made aware of available resources to support ELL achievement?
3. How often do stakeholders have input in the process of allocating resources (planning,
coordination, monitoring and review)?
4. To what extent does the use of resources demonstrate alignment of federal, state and district
policies with site and ESL program mission and objectives for ELL?
