(Non)standardization in the BC ESL/ELL Curriculum

The B.C. Ministry of Education sets the curriculum for students in grades K to 12 through the provincial curriculum. While most subjects have detailed Prescribed Learning Outcomes, ESL/ELL do not. As an ELL/ESL specialist, I am curious as to the reasons for not having a unified PLOs for English Language Learners. Certainly, there are merits and disadvantages of having a set standard for students when it comes to language learning subjects due to different levels, ages, and abilities of students in given classrooms. I borrowed the title “Room for Debate” from The New York Times website because I have decided to present my inquiry project as a form of an online debate by posting articles on perspectives from different sides, definitions of terms, and comparisons of current curriculum. Viewers can increase the quality of the indirect debate by commenting on each articles regarding their thoughts.





References

Banks, J. A. (Ed.). (2012). Encyclopedia of diversity in education. (Vols. 1-4). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781452218533

Burnett, Joanne. The Cambridge Guide to Second Language Teacher Education Edited by BURNS, ANNE, & JACK C. RICHARDS. 95 Vol. Malden, USA: Blackwell Publishers Ltd, 2011. Print.

Duff, A. Patricia. Handbook of Research in Second Language Teaching and Learning, Volume 1, ESL in Secondary Schools: Programs, Problematic, and Possibilities

Lessow-Hurley, J. (2003). Meeting the needs of second language learners: An educator’s Guide. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Miller, P. & Endo, H. (2004). Understanding and meeting the needs of ESL students. Phi Delta Kappan, 85(10), 786-791.

Rodgers, Catherine Ann. “Curriculum and Culture: Reflecting on Resistance in an ESL Classroom.” ProQuest, UMI Dissertations Publishing, 1997. Print.

Sleeter, C. E. (2005). Un-standardizing curriculum: Multicultural teaching in the standards-based classroom. New York: Teachers College Press.

Steiner, Judy. Why have a standards-based curriculum 
and what are the implications for the teaching-learning-assessment process? Retrieved from:
http://www.etni.org.il/red/etninews/issue4/whystandard.html

Non-scholarly sources:

British Columbia Ministry of Education. (2009). English as a second language: Policy and guidelines. Retrieved from http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/esl/policy/guidelines.pdf 

English Language Learners ESL and ELD Programs and Services: Policies and Procedure for Ontario Elementary and Secondary Schools, Kindergarten to Grade 12

Language education in BC schools: Policy and guidelines. Victoria.

Review of English as a Second Language Programs by the Quality Assurance Division

State of Tennessee Department of Education ESL Curriculum Standards

Curriculum & Standards


Curriculum and Diversity, K–12
 
Curriculum is frequently equated with the officially approved subject matter content explicitly taught in schools. Although scholars agree that content is a critical component of curriculum, they quickly add that it includes more than that; nor are all curricula always approved by educational authorities, or taught explicitly. Philip Jackson notes that there are many different types of curricula. Each one offers different challenges and opportunities for addressing cultural diversity. For purposes of discussion here, a composite definition of curriculum, derived from the conceptions of leading scholars in the field, is used:

Curriculum is a plan or design for instruction that results from deliberate and intentional decision making on what students should learn about a given topic, issue, discipline, or event, why they should learn it, and how the learning should be facilitated and evaluated. (Geneva Gay)

Ultimately, curriculum is what is communicated to the student through the presentation of subject matter knowledge content. The communication of such content may contain noticeable absences of information (the “null curriculum”), and the manner in which it is communicated may also teach students social norms and expectations (the “hidden curriculum”). The basic idea of curriculum-as-the-communication-of-content offers definitional unity.

<Encyclopedia of Diversity in Education>

Sample & Current Curriculum

Unlike B.C. where they currently do not have specified PLOs for English Language Learners, the State of Tennessee in U.S. has ESL Curriculum Standards (2005). The standards are based on four modalities of English including listening, speaking, reading and writing, and the language of mathematics. In their Curriculum Standards, the three goals for the ESL curriculum are stated: To use english to communicate in social settings, to use English to achieve academically in all content areas, and to use English in socially and culturally appropriate ways in multicultural and diverse settings. Each grade has its own learning standards, and the expectations are clearly written in the curriculum handbook.


Ontario Ministry of Education also provides curriculum for ESL and English Literacy 
Development (2007). The document entails overview of the program, goals of the curriculum, and details of expectations and assessment. The expectations identified in Ontario ELL curriculum include knowledge and skills that students should develop and demonstrate in their class work, on tests and in various activities on which achievement is assessed and evaluated. There are two sets of expectations: overall expectations and specific expectations. The former includes general knowledge and skills, whereas the latter describes skills in greater detail.

B.C. Ministry of Education provides policy and guidelines in teaching English Language Learners. This brief document contains ELL policy, rationale, definitions, background, assessment and identification, placement, planning and service for the learner and so on. There is also a document called ELL standards by the Ministry of Education, which illustrates the standards and samples for three different levels (Primary, intermediate, and secondary level). However, this is not used as a PLO.

Here is a list of perspectives on why having a standardized curriculum can be harmful.

• Ironically, the more standardized we make curriculum to improve students' achievement, the more we cut ourselves off from students' cultural, experiential, and personal resources on which learning should be built. (Sleeter, 124)
  

• It is the standardization of curriculum that has the most adverse effects on students and teachers because teachers and districts become preoccupied with the kind of low-level knowledge that can be measured. This book argues that “standardization is a consequence of standard setting when attempts to improve student learning become bureaucratized and curriculum is defined in detail in terms of what is measurable and is established at state or national levels” (p. 4). Sleeter argues that standardization does not permit students to make sense of their learning or to generate critical thought. 
  

• In America, concerns were raised that setting standards would lead to centralized education and would undermine innovation at the local level. Setting standards was seen as an attempt to centralize a decentralized educational system; defining standards would limit what pupils should learn and would not allow for pupil diversity and the specific needs of different populations (Fiske, 1998).
  

• The curriculum defines what pupils are expected to do at different levels of performance in four areas of language learning: social interaction, access to information, presentation and appreciation of literature,   culture and language. Teachers will now have autonomy to decide how they want to teach in order that their pupils achieve the standards. Teachers are therefore encouraged to become active participants in the development of curriculum materials that follow the principles stated in the curriculum, and that are appropriate for their specific learning populations. 
  

• In some cases, there have been objections by the public regarding the standards that have been defined. For example, the National Center for History in the Schools, at the University of California at Los Angeles, prepared standards for history in collaboration with scholars, teachers and organizations. The standards were not approved, as they were thought to be too politically biased (Ravitch, 1996).
  

• An additional caveat is that the standards should reflect a high level of achievement, while being realistic and relevant to the context in which they are being taught. In California, for example, the State Board of Education decided to innovate large-scale curriculum change. Instead of working with the regular course sequence of algebra, geometry, etc., they decided to integrate the content of these subjects in a new way. This proposed approach, however, had never been tried anywhere (Evers, 1997). To avoid this problem, the writers of the standards for the English curriculum scrutinized standards set up in different states and countries (Foreign Language Standards, 1998; National Standards in Foreign Language Education; Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, 1996). These standards were then adapted accordingly for the Israeli pupil population.  
  

Issues with teaching-learning-assessment

• Standards require a change in both teaching and assessment. Standards and assessment are intertwined and need to be integral parts of the curriculum and the program of instruction. 
  

• In traditional curricula, content matter that pupils are expected to know is determined. It follows that the purpose of testing is to see if the pupils have learned the specific knowledge indicated in the curriculum. Recent approaches to how pupils learn have changed from the behavioral view of learning to that of cognitive learning theories, and the constructivist approach to knowledge acquisition (Birenbaum, 1996; Herman, et.al. 1992). Similarly, assessment is no longer seen as testing pupils on an accumulation of isolated facts and skills, but emphasizes the application and use of knowledge. 
  

  

Here is a list of advantages of having a standardized ELL curriculum

• According to Sleeter, multicultural curriculum has as its purpose social improvement and equitable conditions for learning that can close achievement gaps. (Sleeter)
  

 

• Setting national standards allows for equal pupil opportunity. All pupils are compared to the same standards. If there are no common standards and every teacher sets his or her own standards, schools’ demands on their pupils will be different. Since there is nothing for schools to compare with, both instruction and assessment cannot be consistent.

• If national standards are set, it is clear what pupils should know at different levels of their education. Exams given by the state can measure pupil progress towards attaining the standards. Pupils who are not achieving the standards can be provided with early, effective assistance. 
  

• Setting standards is an important and effective learning tool because they express clear expectations of what all pupils should know and be able to do with the language. They can be helpful to different populations, such as the state, districts and schools, teachers, pupils and parents. The following describes how setting standards can help these different populations (Harris & Carr, 1996).
  

• Standards in and of themselves are meaningless. What counts are the steps that educators and others take to help pupils reach them. (Fiske, 1998). If the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport decides to embark on the implication of standards-based education, there are different areas that they will need to be addressed regarding pupils, teachers, assessment and the setting of standards.
  

• The state. For the state, standards are a common reference tool and provide a defined framework for national testing. 
  

• Districts and schools. For districts and schools, standards provide a focus for developing new ways to organize curriculum content, instructional programs and assessment plans.
  

• Teachers. Standards help teachers design curriculum, instruction and assessment on the basis of what it is important to learn. They also enable teachers to make expectations clear to pupils, which improves their learning.
  

• Pupils. For pupils, standards set clear performance expectations, helping them understand what they need to do in order to meet the standards.
  

• Parents. Since standards communicate shared expectations for learning, they allow parents to know how their children are progressing in their education.