New Inclusive Model Gems World Academy has embraced a more inclusive, whole-learner approach when it comes to supporting our students in English language acquisition. This approach means that:
The EAL department continues to support EAL students in developing their academic language by coming to their content classes and by pulling out into small, focused classes. GWA has criteria to determine the EAL services that are appropriate for individual students based on English ability and grade level. EAL teachers plan with Grade level teachers to ensure material is appropriate for EAL student levels of understanding. This collaborative approach to teaching, while not an exact co-teaching model, adapts many of the same ideas: co-planning, co-teaching, co-assessing, co-reflecting. Our inclusive model supports a “Can Do” philosophy. This means we focus on what students can do, instead of what they can’t. Lessons are differentiated to meet students in their understanding as well as to challenge them so that they can reach their goals. The EAL department also supports teachers by providing training, resources, strategies and scaffolded supports as needed. Such supports are shared at Response to Intervention meetings, in literacy planning times and in informal conversations. Research tells us that for an inclusive model to work, teachers need time in well-established, collaborative teams built into the school day. Our administration supports such planning time. The inclusive model supports the idea that “language acquisition is not a separate subject but a systematically supported practice situated in the authentic context of the classroom” and “it is now widely recognized that developing all four skills – speaking, writing, reading, and listening – simultaneously with content-area study is pertinent to (the English Language Learner’s) academic success.” (Dove and Honigsfeld 2017) |