Curriculum & Standards

As the Chairperson for NYS TESOL Curriculum and Standards, I am pleased to share with our membership the latest update of the ELA/ESL draft documents and the next steps.

Under the leadership of Dr. Walter Sullivan, Dr. Bonne August, John Harmon and I along with a large number of excellent and knowledgeable practitioners have worked hard to complete the ELA/ESL standards that were presented to the Board of Regents on December 16, 2009. The work reflects P-12 standards and performance indicators of the highest quality.  The work was reviewed by the best researchers, Dr. Dorothy Strickland and Dr. Catherine Snow who offered a thorough review and feedback for improvement.  We also sought guidance from Dr. Jim Cummins as we explored issues that affected English Language learners. 

Highlights:

1. Our goal was to develop a single set of standards and PIs that would be appropriate for all students in New York State, with the understanding that many English Language Learners
2. Beginning last February and continuing through the summer, a working group of ESL practitioners, under the leadership of Estee Lopez and Bonne August, reviewed the draft standards and PIs in light of the existing ESL document.
3. We were able to fold their work back into the main standards document, so that New York now has a single set of standards applicable both to native speakers and to ELLs from the advanced beginner level on. Because newly arrived ELLs who speak no English have particular needs, a small group of ESL practitioners put together a draft set of ungraded PIs for beginning ELLS.
4. In large measure, these PIs were selected from the main document, with some additions where needed.
5. An essential task for implementation of the standards and PIs will be the development of guidance documents that provides explicit strategies for teachers working with ELLS at various levels of language learning.
6. Strategies are also required for teaching, struggling learners, Special Ed students and other students with special needs.

While our presentation to the Board of Regents does not mean approval of the ELA/ESL standards, we provided an explanation of its value, its strengths and suggestions for next steps. We also recognize that these standards are currently under review by the professional developing the National Common Core Standards for ELA. To quote both my colleagues Dr. August and John Harmon in regards of our work with the Common Core standards,
“We continue to believe, however, that our state standards are of extremely high quality, and that they will compare favorably to standards developed on the national level.”

Stay tuned everyone…..more is to follow

Estee Lopez

Draft Documents

• Diagram of Literacy and Literacy Standards
• Draft Student Learning Standards for English Language Arts/ English as a Second Language
• The Beginner Level English Language Learners Specific Performance Indicators in the Area of the Literacy Standard
• The Need for Curriculum Guidance Document
• A Chronological Summary of the Review of NYS Standards November 2007-November 2009
• Common Core Standards crossed with NYS Standards and Performance Indicators
• List of Contributors

• Final NYS Board of Regents Powerpoint Presentation