scholarly journals Pursuing Regional Opportunities for Mentoring, Innovation, and Success for English Learners (PROMISE) Initiative: A Three-Year Pilot Study Research Monograph

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laurie Olsen ◽  
Kathryn Lindholm-Leary ◽  
Magaly Lavadenz ◽  
Elvira Armas ◽  
Franca Dell'Olio
Keyword(s):  
Los Angeles ◽  
School Reform ◽  
English Learners ◽  
Leadership Skills ◽  
Multicultural Competency ◽  
Transformative Education ◽  
Classroom Implementation ◽  
Achievement Gains ◽  
Transition To Higher Education ◽  
County Offices Of Education

The Pursuing Regional Opportunities for Mentoring, Innovation, and Success for English Learners (PROMISE) Initiative Research Monograph is comprised of four sub-studies that took place between 2006 and 2009 to examine the effectiveness of the PROMISE Initiative across six implementing counties. Beginning in 2002, the superintendents of the six Southern California County Offices of Education collaborated to examine the pattern of the alarmingly low academic performance of English learners (EL) across Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino, San Diego, Riverside, and Ventura. Together, these six counties serve over one million EL students, more than 66% of the total EL population in the state of California, and close to 20% of the EL population in the nation. Data were compiled for the six counties, research on effective programs for ELs was shared, and a common vision for the success of ELs began to emerge. Out of this effort, the PROMISE Initiative was created to uphold a critical vision that ensured that ELs achieved and sustained high levels of proficiency, high levels of academic achievement, sociocultural and multicultural competency, preparation for successful transition to higher education, successful preparation as a 21st century global citizen, and high levels of motivation, confidence, and self-assurance. This report is organized into six chapters: an introductory chapter, four chapters of related studies, and a summary chapter. The four studies were framed around four areas of inquiry: 1) What is the PROMISE model? 2) What does classroom implementation of the PROMISE model look like? 3) What leadership skills do principals at PROMISE schools need to lead transformative education for ELs? 4) What impact did PROMISE have on student learning and participation? Key findings indicate that the PROMISE Initiative: • resulted in positive change for ELs at all levels including achievement gains and narrowing of the gap between ELs and non-ELs • increased use of research-based classroom practices • refined and strengthened plans for ELs at the district-level, and • demonstrated potential to enable infrastructure, partnerships, and communities of practice within and across the six school districts involved. The final chapter of the report provides implications for school reform for improving EL outcomes including bolstering EL expertise in school reform efforts, implementing sustained and in-depth professional development, monitoring and supporting long-term reform efforts, and establishing partnerships and networks to develop, research and disseminate efforts.

scholarly journals Pursuing Regional Opportunities for Mentoring, Innovation, and Success for English Learners (PROMISE) Initiative: A Three-Year Pilot Study Research Monograph

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laurie Olsen ◽  
Kathryn Lindholm-Leary ◽  
Magaly Lavadenz ◽  
Elvira Armas ◽  
Franca Dell'Olio
Keyword(s):  
Los Angeles ◽  
School Reform ◽  
English Learners ◽  
Leadership Skills ◽  
Multicultural Competency ◽  
Transformative Education ◽  
Classroom Implementation ◽  
Achievement Gains ◽  
Transition To Higher Education ◽  
County Offices Of Education

The Pursuing Regional Opportunities for Mentoring, Innovation, and Success for English Learners (PROMISE) Initiative Research Monograph is comprised of four sub-studies that took place between 2006 and 2009 to examine the effectiveness of the PROMISE Initiative across six implementing counties. Beginning in 2002, the superintendents of the six Southern California County Offices of Education collaborated to examine the pattern of the alarmingly low academic performance of English learners (EL) across Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino, San Diego, Riverside, and Ventura. Together, these six counties serve over one million EL students, more than 66% of the total EL population in the state of California, and close to 20% of the EL population in the nation. Data were compiled for the six counties, research on effective programs for ELs was shared, and a common vision for the success of ELs began to emerge. Out of this effort, the PROMISE Initiative was created to uphold a critical vision that ensured that ELs achieved and sustained high levels of proficiency, high levels of academic achievement, sociocultural and multicultural competency, preparation for successful transition to higher education, successful preparation as a 21st century global citizen, and high levels of motivation, confidence, and self-assurance. This report is organized into six chapters: an introductory chapter, four chapters of related studies, and a summary chapter. The four studies were framed around four areas of inquiry: 1) What is the PROMISE model? 2) What does classroom implementation of the PROMISE model look like? 3) What leadership skills do principals at PROMISE schools need to lead transformative education for ELs? 4) What impact did PROMISE have on student learning and participation? Key findings indicate that the PROMISE Initiative: • resulted in positive change for ELs at all levels including achievement gains and narrowing of the gap between ELs and non-ELs • increased use of research-based classroom practices • refined and strengthened plans for ELs at the district-level, and • demonstrated potential to enable infrastructure, partnerships, and communities of practice within and across the six school districts involved. The final chapter of the report provides implications for school reform for improving EL outcomes including bolstering EL expertise in school reform efforts, implementing sustained and in-depth professional development, monitoring and supporting long-term reform efforts, and establishing partnerships and networks to develop, research and disseminate efforts.

Does Progressive Finance Alter School Organizations and Raise Achievement? The Case of Los Angeles

2020 ◽  
pp. 089590482090147
Author(s):  
Joon-Ho Lee ◽  
Bruce Fuller
Keyword(s):  
Los Angeles ◽  
English Learners ◽  
High Poverty ◽  
High Poverty Schools ◽  
The Past ◽  
Poor Students ◽  
Past Half Century ◽  
The Social ◽  
State Finance ◽  
Past Half

State finance reforms have raised per-pupil spending and elevated the achievement of disadvantaged students over the past half-century. But we know little about how fresh funding may alter teacher staffing or the social and curricular organization of schools, mediating gains in learning. We find that US$1.1 billion in new yearly funding—arriving to Los Angeles high schools after California enacted a progressive weighted-pupil formula in 2013—led schools to rely more on novice and probationary teachers. Schools that enjoyed greater funding modestly reduced average class size and the count of teaching periods assigned to staff in five subsequent years. Yet, high-poverty schools receiving higher budget augmentations more often assigned novice teachers to English learners (ELs) and hosted declining shares of courses that qualified graduates for college admission. Mean achievement climbed overall, but EL and poor students fell further behind in schools receiving greater funding.

scholarly journals Incorporating Scaffolded Dialogic Reading Practice in Teacher Training: An Opportunity to Improve Instruction for Young Dual Language Learners in Transitional Kindergarten

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carola Matera
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Los Angeles ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
English Learners ◽  
Dual Language ◽  
Language Learner ◽  
Dialogic Reading ◽  
Advisory Panel ◽  
Policy Recommendations ◽  
Transitional Kindergarten

Findings from a joint collaborative between the Center for Equity for English Learners (CEEL) at Loyola Marymount University and the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) to provide professional development and coaching to Transitional Kindergarten (TK) teachers on the Scaffolded Dialogic Reading (SDR) are presented in this policy brief. SDR is a method to enhance language skills through dialogue and research-based scaffolds between teachers and small groups of children mediated through repeated readings of storybooks. The purpose of this brief is to: 1) state the opportunity to ensure Dual Language Learner (DLL) support within California’s TK policy; 2) provide a synthesis of research findings; and 3) provide TK professional learning and policy recommendations that would allow for the inclusion of professional development on evidence-based practices purposefully integrated with DLL supports. Policy recommendations include: 1) utilize professional learning modules such as SDR in 24 ECE unit requirement for TK teachers; 2) include individuals with ECE and DLL expertise in the ECE Teacher Preparation Advisory Panel; and 3) allocate additional funds in the state budget for training on SDR, in-classroom support for TK teachers of DLLs, and evaluation of these efforts.

scholarly journals A review of year 2 LCAPs: A weak response to English Learners

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laurie Olsen ◽  
Elvira Armas ◽  
Magaly Lavadenz
Keyword(s):  
Local Control ◽  
English Learners ◽  
English Language ◽  
The State ◽  
Teacher Capacity ◽  
Weak Response ◽  
Local Control Funding Formula ◽  
Second Year ◽  
County Offices Of Education ◽  
Services And Supports

A panel of 32 reviewers analyzed the Local Control and Accountability Plans (LCAPs) of same sample of 29 districts for the second year of implementation of the 2013 California Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF). Using the same four questions as the Year 1 report, the Year 2 analysis also addresses the key differences between first and second-year LCAPs. Key findings from the Year 2 LCAPs review include: (1) similarly weak responses to the needs of ELs by LEAs in Year 2; (2) some improvement in clarity about services provided to ELs in some areas, though most evidence was weak; (3) minimal attention to the new English Language Development Standards; (4) minimal investment in teacher capacity building to address EL needs; (5) lack of attention to coherent programs, services and supports for ELs and failure to address issues of program and curriculum access; (6) weak engagement of ELs’ parents in LCAP process and content of LCAP plans; (7) poor employment of EL data to inform LCAP goals and weak use of EL indicators as an LCAP accountability component; (8) lack of specificity in describing district services and site allocations for supplemental and concentration funding; and (9) difficulty identifying the coherence of responses of EL needs in year 2 LCAPs. Overall, the analysis of the 29 LCAPs continue to signal a weak response to EL needs. The authors reassert the urgency of the recommendations in the Year 1 report, offer additional specific recommendations for the state, county offices of education, and districts, and call upon the state to reaffirm the equity commitment in the LCFF design.

scholarly journals Systemic Reform in a Federated System:Los Angeles at the Turn of the Millennium

2004 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
pp. 60
Author(s):  
David Menefee-Libey
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Los Angeles ◽  
School Reform ◽  
Program Implementation ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
The United States ◽  
Systemic Reform ◽  
Policy Choice ◽  
Turn Of The Millennium ◽  
Policy Making Process

I synthesize some of the lessons we have learned about systemic school reform in order and derive two explicit hypotheses about when such reforms are likely to be more and less successful. The first hypothesis focuses on program implementation: to achieve success, any systemic reform must overcome challenges at each stage of the policy-making process, from agenda-setting to policy choice to implementation. The second hypothesis focuses on the federated nature of education policymaking in the United States: any successful systemic reform must offer a program that aligns local efforts with state and sometimes federal policy. I derive and test more specific hypotheses related to recent systemic reform efforts in the Los Angeles region—especially the Los Angeles Annenberg Metropolitan Project, or LAAMP—which ran from 1995 through 2001. The case confirms the hypotheses and enables a clearer understanding of systemic school reform.

Abstract P102: Consumption of Fruits and Vegetables is Inversely Associated with Academic Performance Index Scores at a Large Urban School District

Circulation ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 127 (suppl_12) ◽  
Author(s):  
Vivian H Alfonso ◽  
Tony Kuo ◽  
William J McCarthy
Keyword(s):  
School District ◽  
Los Angeles ◽  
Low Income ◽  
English Learners ◽  
Performance Index ◽  
Food Production ◽  
Fruits And Vegetables ◽  
Inverse Association ◽  
Academic Performance Index ◽  
Plate Waste

More than 26% and 22% of 5 th and 7 th graders, respectively, in Los Angeles County are obese. Recent efforts to address this public health problem have focused on system-level changes in the food environment, especially in school settings. Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), the second largest district in the nation, serves well over 650,000 meals a day, 80% of which go to students who qualify for free or reduced-price lunches (FRPL). Because the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) meals are often the primary source of nutrition for students from low-income families, this setting represents a natural opportunity to examine the effects of offering more healthful foods on student health and academic achievements. Effective in the 2011-12 school year, new standards for the NSLP included increased offerings of fruits and vegetables. Food production records from LAUSD were validated using data from plate waste studies at four randomly selected middle schools. Correlations between food production records and visually monitored plate waste varied by school size (r=0.194 and r=0.722 for large and small schools, respectively). Using school-level data (N=74), race/ethnicity was associated with Academic Performance Index (API) scores; the ethnic composition of each school was associated with the percent of students eligible for FRPL. Simple linear regression (SLR) analyses revealed an inverse association between consumption of fruits and vegetables and API scores (β FV =-1.44, p<0.001). The SLR also revealed an inverse association between percent of English learners and API score (β E =-5.81, p<0.001) as well as an inverse association between percent of students eligible for FRPL and API scores (β L =-3.13, p<0.001). The inverse relationship between healthful food consumption and standardized test scores may be a result of the high correlations between percent of English learners (E), percent of students eligible for FRPL (L) and weight of fruits and vegetables consumed per student (FV) (r E-L =0.80, p<0.001; r E-FV =0.52, p<0.001; r L-FV =0.68, p<0.001). These findings suggest that healthful eating may help optimize physical and cognitive development. Due to their significant contribution to the diets of school children, changes in school meal program offerings could broadly help improve nutrition for children in low-income areas.

A Beautiful Struggle: Reimagining Neighborhood Schools in Urban Communities

2020 ◽  
Vol 122 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-46
Author(s):  
Karen Hunter Quartz ◽  
Rebecca Cooper Geller ◽  
Shanté Stuart Mcqueen
Keyword(s):  
Los Angeles ◽  
School Reform ◽  
Urban Communities ◽  
Community Context ◽  
Community School ◽  
Historical Case Study ◽  
Neighborhood Schools ◽  
Development Framework ◽  
History Of ◽  
K 12

Background/Context Historians of education have chronicled the essential link between schools and communities from a variety of perspectives, exploring how ideology, material conditions, and political struggles have shaped public education. Viewing school reform historically allows us to see how schools are tied to their particular contexts, breathing in and out the values, beliefs, and conditions of local communities. This link is especially important to acknowledge in the high-poverty urban communities targeted by school reformers in the current policy landscape, which pits privatization against local democratic control of schools. This paper contributes to scholarship on school reform by portraying a local struggle to reimagine a longstanding neighborhood urban school in the context of an expanding marketplace of school choices. Purpose Our study uses an asset-based community school development framework to analyze the rich 90-year history of a particular school in the greater Los Angeles area. We were guided by the following research questions: (1) What are the multiple and overlapping demographic, political, educational policy, social, and economic contexts that have shaped or defined the history of the school since its opening? (2) How has this history shaped the community's relationship to the school now? (3) How does this history inform current efforts to increase public will and community engagement at the school? Research Design We conducted this historical case study as participants of a local design team comprised of university and school partners charged with re-envisioning a struggling neighborhood middle school as a K–12 university-assisted community school. Data sources included artifacts, primary and secondary historical sources, and in-depth semistructured interviews with a purposive sample of 14 current and past staff, faculty, alumni, parents, and community members. Findings/Results Our findings are visualized in a timeline that captures the school's reform history, changing demographics, and community context across three periods of school reform. We interpret this history by focusing on three tensions: reform means versus ends, public versus private goods, and critical hope versus despair. By grappling with these democratic tensions, we conclude, urban communities can counter the dominant policy discourse of failing and turnaround schools to reimagine the promise of neighborhood schools as anchor democratic institutions in urban communities. Conclusions/Recommendations We recommend that community school reformers consider local histories of neighborhood schools and their communities as important reform assets. Reflecting on these histories can help establish a shared understanding of education as a public good, affirm the linked fate of schools and communities, and set the stage for collective problem-solving.

scholarly journals Dialogic Reading and the Development of Transitional Kindergarten Teachers’ Expertise with Dual Language Learners

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carola Matera ◽  
Magaly Lavadenz ◽  
Elvira Armas
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Los Angeles ◽  
Early Literacy ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
English Learners ◽  
Dual Language ◽  
Dialogic Reading ◽  
Reading Practices ◽  
Transitional Kindergarten ◽  
Early Literacy Development

This article presents highlights of professional development efforts for teachers in Transitional Kindergarten (TK) classrooms occurring throughout the state and through a collaborative effort by researchers from the Center for Equity for English Learners (CEEL) at Loyola Marymount University. The article begins by identifying the various statewide efforts for professional development for TK teachers, followed by a brief review of the literature on early literacy development for diverse learners. It ends with a description of a partnership between CEEL and the Los Angeles Unified School District to provide professional development both in person and online to TK teachers on implementing Dialogic Reading practices and highlights a few of the participating teachers. This article has implications for expanding the reach of professional development for TK teachers through innovative online modules.

scholarly journals Increasing Usage of ESL Instructional Practices in a Rural County Elementary School

2018 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
John J. Hoover ◽  
Julia S. Sarris ◽  
Raymond Hill
Keyword(s):  
Elementary School ◽  
Best Practices ◽  
Instructional Practices ◽  
English Learners ◽  
Classroom Observations ◽  
Rural County ◽  
Self Assessment ◽  
Classroom Implementation ◽  
Study Setting ◽  
Use Of Research

The study setting is one elementary school located in a remote rural county school district in a mountain western state. Implementing a specific set of procedures, ESL Instructional Improvement Process, educators examined and increased use of research-based ESL instructional practices in the education of English learners (ELs). A key feature of the piloted process is educator self-assessment of instructional practices, resulting in the development of workshop sessions and action items, and completion of classroom observations. Researchers found that the process proved effective in increasing rural educators’ knowledge and application of ESL best practices. Self-assessment was highly effective in helping educators examine existing instructional practices, leading to relevant workshop sessions and classroom implementation of ESL action items. Numerous examples of the use of research-based ESL instructional practices as a result of this project are provided, along with suggestions for further research to improve the education of ELs in rural county schools.

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