Select two Florida school districts. Based on your reading about the school districts language education programs for ELL students and/or ESL/EAL/ESOL support programs, discuss the following:
- What model program(s) is/are offered to ELL students in these school districts?
- Based on what you have learned in this module, compare and contrast the two school districts programs. What is your opinion of these programs? I need 1 more to add, preferably Duval or St. Johns county in Florida.
- This is what I have so far:
- The increasing diversity in the student population necessitates school districts like Nassau County to implement ESOL programs that bridge the gap between native language and academic success. Nassau County achieves this through a Mainstream-Inclusion model that is focused on differentiated instruction and specialized ESOL support (Nassau County Schools, 2017). Nassau County Schools utilizes a mainstream-inclusion model or content-based programs that prioritize English-dominant instruction for all grade levels. The Countys ESOL program is structured around a Sheltered English framework that ensures ELL learners are integrated into general education classrooms, and at the same time receiving specific linguistic support (Nassau County Schools, 2017). More specifically, at the elementary level, the district provides specialized ESOL instruction delivered by trained teachers who focus on second language acquisition techniques aimed to enable students grasp foundational concepts. For high schoolers (9-12), the district emphasizes differentiated instruction. Teachers modify their lesson delivery and materials so that ELL can participate in the same grade-level content as their ENL speakers. Nassau Countys model is focused on inclusion. Some models adopt a dual-language approach where students learn in two languages; Nassaus model aims for rapid immersion into the English language to facilitate immediate participation. This policy ensures the students are not held back due to language barriers.Reflecting on the Nassau County ELL Plan, its reliance on English-dominant inclusion models has its strengths and limitations. On the plus side, the plan utilizes various staff to support ELL students, this includes bilingual paraprofessionals, teachers, counselors, and an ELL coach. Further, placement is determined by test scores, students prior academic history, interviews (in home language-Spanish to accommodate non-English speaking population), and social experiment. Some of its limitations include that the materials are provided in Spanish, but for other languages, a translator is provided only if available. Bilingual paraprofessional is prioritized for district schools where the ELL population is largest, possibly leaving students in smaller programs with minimal support (Nassau County, 2017). From the perspective of our textbook, Nassau Countys model is English-dominated. This means the goal is for students to become proficient in English. This is an efficient assimilation approach, but it misses the cognitive, linguistic, and social benefits of dual-language programs cited by proponents in Chapter 3 of Why Tesol? theories and issues in teaching English to speakers of other languages in K-12 classrooms. Overall, the various program models for dual language to transitional bilingual are beneficial in supporting language and literacy development; at the same time, they benefit teachers as they value the cultural identities of their students. ReferencesAriza, E., & Coady Bedard, M. (2024). Why Tesol? theories and issues in teaching English to speakers of other languages in K-12 classrooms.Nassau County Schools. (2017). District English Language Learners (ELL) plan. Florida Department of Education.
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