The REL Southeast and Region 7 Comprehensive Center (R7CC) have been collaborating to make a positive difference for teachers and English learner (EL) students in Alabama through services requested by the Alabama State Department of Education (ALSDE). The efforts of both the REL Southeast Alabama Research Partnership on Improving English Learner Outcomes and R7CC's Alabama Improving EL Student Academic Achievement Project have led and will continue to lead to an increased use of evidence-based practices and systems change focused on EL students. As R7CC enters its final year of the grant cycle, the REL Southeast work has dovetailed with its initiatives, providing seamless technical support to its research partners in Alabama.

The Need
In 2020, when R7CC and ALSDE began co-developing the Alabama Framework for EL Success (ALSDE, 2021), they reviewed 2019 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) data and found achievement gaps between ELs and non-EL students where ELs scored lower. In fourth grade, there was a 23 percent gap in reading and a 17 percent gap in math. In eighth grade, there was a 10 percent gap in math. There were similar trends in the 2019 State Achievement Test (Scantron) in reading and math, with the widest gaps between EL students and all students at the secondary level in both reading and math. An increase in the EL student population was another factor in the need to bolster support for teachers and administrators serving EL students. In 2020, there were 32,630 (4.6 percent) EL students enrolled in Alabama schools, an increase of 61 percent from 2015.¹

To address these needs, REL Southeast and R7CC worked closely together to support Alabama in the development of the Alabama Framework for EL Success. The timeline below (Figure 1) illustrates each phase of development during the 2020/21 school year, which occurred during the previous REL Southeast cycle—and during COVID-19. At each phase of development, R7CC planned a series of three-hour virtual work sessions with the state EL team and leadership representing different offices within the department. Some sessions involved external stakeholders, including parents, district leaders, teachers, and EL teacher preparation program members. Ninety-minute REL Southeast coaching sessions were embedded into the work sessions to increase state capacity to review data and research focused on EL students and to inform the development of the Framework.

Figure 1. Stages of the Development of the Framework

REL Southeast Coaching Session Activities in Coordination with R7CC
Fall 2020 – Stage 1

• Identified key data sets needed for understanding EL performance (e.g., REL Southeast shared findings from the state assessment data through charts and graphs).
• Supported partners with reviewing and interpreting aggregate EL student subgroup data compiled by R7CC to address high-leverage issues.

Winter 2021 – Stage 2

• Provided a 90-minute coaching session on using survey data.
• Supported partners with developing the Survey of English Learner Programs and Practices in Alabama.
• Supported partners in small groups with interpreting survey data using guiding questions.

Spring 2021 – Stage 3

• Reviewed survey data with external stakeholders² identified by the assistant superintendent for serving on the Framework committee and the state implementation team to prioritize needs.
• Provided two coaching sessions on research related to long-term ELs and dually identified ELs and the teacher workforce.

 Summer 2021 – Stage 4

• Supported R7CC and ALSDE with vetting the Framework in preparation for publication.
• Provided infographics developed by REL Southeast on evidence-based practices for ELs in elementary grades, secondary grades and meeting the needs of EL students with disabilities.

Click here to access the Alabama Framework for EL Success

Following the co-development of the Framework for EL Success, R7CC began supporting Alabama with the implementation of its first goal and strategy: Increase the use of high-quality instruction and assessment in every classroom every day to engage ELs. To achieve this goal, the state identified high-leverage strategies, including the development of criteria and guidance for high-quality instruction and assessment (HQIA) for ELs and classroom observation protocols to support the implementation of HQIA.

As R7CC continued working with Alabama to develop and implement tools related to HQIA for ELs, REL Southeast began its new cycle with a continued research partnership with Alabama focused on ELs. To kick off this work, a needs assessment was conducted, and findings showed that Alabama experienced an increase in the percentage of ELs scoring at or above proficient in fourth grade reading on NAEP from 2019 through 2022. However, achievement gaps persisted between EL students and non-EL students on the 2022 NAEP. In fourth-grade reading and math, there were 17 percent and 21 percent gaps, respectively. On the 2022 Alabama state assessment, the percentage of all students proficient in math, science, and reading was approximately three times as large as the percentage of EL students proficient in those subjects. REL Southeast aimed to address these needs in the short-run by delivering training on evidence-based practices for teachers serving EL students.

The partnership began with acoaching project focused on implementing professional learning communities (PLCs) for the What Works Clearinghouse Practice Guide, Teaching Academic Content and Literacy to English Learners in Elementary and Middle School (Baker et al., 2014), which was developed by REL Southwest. By this time, Alabama had hired 12 regional EL specialists who would prove instrumental to this work. This coaching project followed the train-the-trainer model to deliver the practice guide recommendations virtually to close to 30 district trainers and regional specialists in 9 sessions. You can access the practice guide and companion PLC Facilitator's Guide (Dimino et al., 2015) used in these training and coaching sessions by clicking on the icons below.

Figure 2. Map of HQIA For ELs PLC Schools

The Alabama EL team took advantage of the lessons learned from the coaching project to design the HQIA for ELs training and coaching rollout by developing and delivering 5 HQIA modules to the 12 regional EL specialists using the PLC model. These 12 regional specialists are currently leading PLCs locally at 22 new schools and will hold a total of 5 monthly PLC sessions. Geographically, these 22 schools are distributed across Alabama (Figure 2). Through a new applied research project with Alabama, REL Southeast aims to support Alabama by studying the rollout of HQIA, its implementation, and its impact on the academic achievement of EL students and instructional practices of teachers serving EL students.

Next Steps and Conclusion
REL Southeast will continue its collaboration with R7CC to support Alabama in using data to improve instruction for EL students. Once the HQIA PLCs have been fully implemented in spring 2024, REL Southeast will support the state with the analysis of the HQIA data at the end of the 2023/24 school year, looking into implementation fidelity of HQIA and its association with increased use of evidence-based instructional practices for ELs among intervention teachers and with growth in their EL students' proficiency in math, reading, and English. So, the synergy between REL Southeast and R7CC provides complementary support—sharing, using, and generating evidence-based project components—to address high-leverage needs and ultimately improve teacher effectiveness and EL student outcomes in Alabama schools. Rather than duplicating efforts, the two centers empower each other's work toward providing Alabama with seamless technical assistance that shares goals of positive and sustainable outcomes for teachers and EL students in Alabama.

References:

Alabama State Department of Education. (2021). The Alabama framework for English learner success.
RMC Research Corporation.

Baker, S., Lesaux, N., Jayanthi, M., Dimino, J., Proctor, C. P., Morris, J., Gersten, R., Haymond, K., Kieffer, M. J., Linan-Thompson, S., & Newman-Gonchar, R. (2014). Teaching academic content and literacy to English learners in elementary and middle school (NCEE 2014-4012). Washington, DC: National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance (NCEE), Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education. Retrieved from the NCEE website: http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/publications_reviews.aspx

Dimino, J. A., Taylor, M., & Morris, J. (2015). Professional learning communities facilitator's guide for the What Works Clearinghouse practice guide: Teaching academic content and literacy to English learners in elementary and middle school (REL 2015–105). Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance, Regional Educational Laboratory Southwest. Retrieved from https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/rel

Ruiz de Castilla, V. (2022). Participation of English learners in the National Assessment of Educational Progress: Opportunity and Inclusivity. U.S. Department of Education, Region 7 Comprehensive Center.