Sunday, October 28, 2007

A Line from Needs to Deeds


To align tasks with needs and goals the illustration attached may be helpful. The Saturday School Program would begin the first year with three and four year olds at the pre-kindergarten level. The program would grow to pre-kindergarten and kindergarten the second year.

The kindergarten teacher would have been trained by the pre-kindergarten teachers the first year. The kindergarten teacher would be observed by and train the first grade teacher during the second year of the program. In the second year of the program there would be only two grades: pre-kindergarten and kindergarten. The third year of the program the first grade teacher would be observed by and train the second grade teacher. In the third year of the program there would be three grades: pre-kindergarten, kindergarten, and first grade.

The Saturday School program would grow year by year in a similar fashion. As the original group of four year old children advance year by year, so will the program grow, year by year, one year at a time. By thirteen years time the original children from the first year of the program will be graduating from high school. The goal of the Saturday School program would be for these children at this time to be well enough prepared in Spanish to be able to enter a Latin American or Spanish University program, as well as one in the United States.

Sunday, October 14, 2007

ABCD

The Goal of the Saturday School program is for students to reach a level of proficiency in their heritage language to equal proficiency levels required in Latin America for their age group. Although it may take a few years for each student to reach this goal, it remains the high standard to which the program would stirve.

The Objectives to meet this goal would be cusomized for each student. They may be generalized as per the ABCD method, (Audience, Behavior, Conditions, Degree.) Although the acronym for setting Goals and Objectives is as simple as A-B-C, the actual detailed analysis necessary for doing this is not. Without explaining customized objectives for each student, the method may be applied as follows:

Audience:

The audience this program will be addressing is composed of the children of immigrants from Latin America who speak Spanish at home, or for whom Spanish was their mother tongue. The audience is not well known because each student would have to be evaluated before beginning the Saturday School program in this design.

Behavior:

The learners will be able to speak, read and write Spanish on grade level. The learners will also be able to retain knowledge of their culture and history to encourage language learning. The specific objectives would be formed after evaluation of each student. Overall, the program's objectives would be for each student to reach grade level skills as would be judged in Latin America for Latin American students.

Conditions:

The learners would be able to perform objectives without prompts and without paper and pencil testing (ie: multiple choice questions). The learners would eventually be able to take the same tests their cohorts would be taking in Latin America for grade level accuracy and skills in Language, Reading, Culture and History.

Degree:

The degree of performance would be the same as required of students in Latin America. It would take perhaps many years to meet this degree of skill in the heritage language, but by transferring skills learned in English to Spanish the process would be sped up the older the students become.

The degree of performance required of each student would be spelled out specifically in each student's plan of study monthly. The objectives would be customized for each child and clearly understood. The degree of skill in Spanish required to meet the overall objectives would be age level skills required in Latin America.

Noting Hannum

The great difficulty in designing the task analysis is the lack of knowledge about the specific students. Even so, in the process of more detailed Task Analysis as per Hannum the following may be noted:

1.) Task Inventory

Students in the pilot Saturday School program should be able to
a.) Speak Spanish fluently
b.) Read Spanish fluently with grade level comprehension levels
c.) Write Spanish fluently with grade level composition levels
d.) Retain knowledge of culture and history of Latin America at grade level expectations

2.) Task Selection (in order of priortity after survey of Spanish teachers)

1-Retain knowledge of culture and history of Latin America at level set individually for each student after pre-test
2-Speak Spanish fluently at level set individually for each student after pre-test
3-Read Spanish fluently at level set individually for each student after pre-test
4-Write Spanish fluently at level set individually for each student after pre-test

3.) Task Analysis

The Spanish culture, history and language learning are all considered both behavioral and cognitive learning tasks. The task of learning these "tasks" for each child will by aided procedurally by:

First- Pre-testing and observation to note individual child's Spanish verbal skills, reading skill in Spanish and reading comprehension in Spanish, written skills in Spanish, as well as knowldge base of Latin American history and culture.

Second-using ESL and Lectura Proactiva (which is similar to a teaching program for reading in English called Wilson) individualized monthly objectives will be discerned and teaching methods implemented. Only Spanish will be spoken in these courses, no other language, as speaking a heritage language is crucial to learning (Potowski, 2004). These objectives will be communicated to student and the student's family.

Third--Teaching and learning will take place in small learning groups on Satruday mornings with monthly oral assessments and in some cases written assessment of students to show if objectives have been met. Using traditional task analysis methods or traditional paper and pencil multiple choice tests would not encompass constuctivist activities these courses would use and the traditional instructional design can be lacking for such alternative pedagogies (Der-Thanq, Hung and Wang, 2007).

Fourth--Monthly evaluation of each student's objectives will take place using results of any assessments or post-tests as guides; any adaptations necessary will be made at that point. Frequent evaluation and re-design will be necessary as there are few proven methods to improve performance in a second language by boosting heritage language skills, except the connection with the child's culture by the teacher and consistency of Spanish instruction beyond basic reading skills (Mathes, Pollard-Durodola, Cardenas-Hagan, Linan-Tompson, Vaughn, 2007).

Fifth--Rewards and recognition will take place for each student as he or she meets an objective and this recognition will be communicated to the student's family.

Sixth--At the end of the school year a Post-test will be given similar to the ESL pre-tests. Each student's plan will be customized after analysis of results. Each student will be given revised objectives for the new year.

References:

Der-Thanq, C., Hung, D. & Wang, Y. (2007) Educational design as a quest for congruence: The need for alternative learning design tools, British Journal of Educational Technology,Vol 38 No 5, 876-884.

Hannum, W., Notes on How to Conduct Task Analysis, (no other reference information given in LIS 672 course at UNCG)

Mathes, P., Pollard-Durodola, S., Cardenas-Hagan, E., Linan-Thompson, S., & Vaughn, S. (2007). Teaching Struggling Readers Who Are Native Spanish Speakers: What Do We Know?, Language, Speech and Hearing Services in Schools, Vol 38, 260-271.

Potowski, K. (2004). Student Spanish Use and Investment in a Dual Immersion Classroom: Implications for Second Language Acquisition and Heritage Language Maintenance, The Modern Languages Journal, 88, 1, 75-101.

Sunday, October 7, 2007

Analyzing the Task Ahead

The focus of the task is to teach children of Spanish speaking families the Spanish language, culture, and history. The method to be used will be the "lectura proactiva" method (see below) in small learning groups. Strategies will include a starting point analysis of students' reading levels in both Spanish and English, background knowledge of culture and history of Latin America, as well as instruction to families about how the program will work. The courses will meet individualized objectives throughout the year. Evaluation, perhaps more frequently in start-up groups, will be done on a regular basis to assure objectives in reading, grammar, comprehension and oral fluency are met in the Spanish language, as well as evaluation of retention of subject matter. Subject matter for course materials and activities will be culture and history comparable to what children of the same age are learning in Latin America.

Criterion tests will be similar to ESL testing for evaluation, even using ESL test scores when parents make that available to the program.

Children will have individualized objectives constructed under the following precepts:

1.) Identifying the skills to be learned
2.) Determining which of these skills take preference, and which need attention in small group teaching, which will be done at home
3.) Identifying the requirements for the objective skill to be considered learned

These individualized objectives will be constructed on a one-to-one basis in initial evaluations and subsequent evaluations throughout the year. This program would be year long. At the end of one year reading levels in both Spanish and English will be evaluated as a post-test result of instruction.

Contextual Analysis

The mode of delivery, as discussed in the criteria for my needs assessment, would be small reading groups with well trained teachers as group leaders. A mix of consistent repetitive instruction with pulling exisiting knowledge for scaffolding and letting the children's interests guide subject matter (within teacher chosen subjects) would set the tone for the courses.

Children would have to be evaluated early on to determine reading ability levels in both Spanish and English. ESL testing exists for this and could be already done. It could be a matter of having the parents access this information for the program. Testing could be used on the public school model within the program. I worked with an elementary school ESL program in Greensboro that is very effective and could use their testing procedures as a model.

Materials would be books read in classes, crafts made, tapes sent home to listen to in the car, videos or DVD's to watch of favorite cartoons. It would not matter if the cartoons had been seen already in English. In fact this could accelerate Spanish learning. Information could also be delivered by a newsletter for parents about the program published weekly, in addition to listening and reading materials for the children to take home that Parents could help with. Parents will need to be educated to how the program will work in the classroom and what is expected at home.

The learners need to feel connected not only to the Spanish language, but more importantly to the culture of their parents' as well. The course materials must be carefully selected in accordance with set learning objectives as well as student interests, within the curriculum chosen of lectura proactiva, and customized for each and every student's level of comprehension. This is a huge task, but feasible in small learning groups.

The objectives of each and every lesson must be clear to the teacher, student and parents. Each time a student meets an objective there must be some recognition or reward. They must be tiered and clearly communicated.

The readings and course work should include relevant instructional subject matter relating to the history and culture of Latin America. Materials must be well researched and chosen at first by teachers and secondly by a study group of students for high interest levels. The children must be challenged on a level comparable to their peers in Latin America. This is a key to the success of the program.

Learning about Learners

I have not heard back from the Spanish teachers I sent my research question to. A friend who is a Spanish teacher in this area attended a conference for Spanish teachers last week and agreed to approach the teachers personally and ask them to help me with my project. I hope to have some information soon.

What I do know about the learner population I have chosen is that it is very challenging to spark an interest in their native language learning unless they can appreciate their rich culture and exquisite history. It may be difficult to spark an interest in learning at all with some bad experiences under their belts at school.

With so much emphasis on melting into our culture here in the US, Spanish learning can be de-emphasized. Meanwhile knowing their family culture is a little different, but not knowing why, makes it difficult to spark an interest in learning to read and write in Spanish. Teachers in school may not know much about their culture and can not identify with it.

The bilingual skill is invaluable, and the gift of literacy in oral Spanish without the reading and writing component is only a partial gift. The earlier the intervention the better the chance of boosting not only Spanish learning, but English as well, as a transferred skill. The better educated the child is in the mother tongue, and the earlier, the better the chance they can excel in English.

There is a great physical problem with getting to an educational program for these children, and through the generosity of a church some free transportation may be provided directly from school to after-school in busses. The parents would appreciate the free after-school child care while they work. The non-working parents can even accompany children on the bus and network, or take courses of their own, while the children study. They can also help with instruction and supervision at play time.

The children may never have seen the country their parents were born in, and thus are familiar with only the language and stories their parents tell. They also live within a community that practices customs from Latin America without knowing the reasons behind the customs in most cases. They may not readily see the importance of their culture.

The children may be unwilling to study more, the parents unaware of the value of native Spanish instruction, and the interest in such a program may be slow in growing. Once parents see the successes of the program they may want their children to participate. The program must be free as financial means are scarce to afford tutoring. The make up of the classroom will be children that need a place to feel important, who may hate school because of setbacks in English during the day in class. A feeling of community must be developed early on.

The children may have learning disabilities disassociated with language and this must be known or monitored. A close relationship with the parents and school counselor would be key to the success of the program.

The objectives will be the same for all children--literacy in Spanish--and so a committment must be made on the part of the parents to consistently send the children to the program. Some reward must be evident to the children and parents for attending the program or they may not participate. This must be well investigated before beginning the program--what will attract families to participate?

Criteria for Needs

To construct needs assessment for my design project I used the article, A Needs Assessment Audit (Kaufman, 1994), organized by the levels of results from Maga to Micro. This is based upon the ADDIE Instructional Design Model. This being highly recommended both by our professor and the author Hannum (Hannum, 2005), seemed the most fitting choice for my design. I chose this both as a learning experience to familiarize myself with the ADDIE model, and as a challenge to an out-of-school educational program for children.

The performance goals would be literacy in Spanish and basic familiarity with the history and culture of Latin America, similar to that expected of students in Latin American countries.

There is a great need for instructional intervention on a daily basis (Mathes, 2007). Native Spanish speakers, in order to transfer skills in their mother tongue, Spanish, to their second language, English, must have these skills in Spanish on a continued basis.

Classrooms would be used after school and on weekends in the school adjacent to the Church that the majority of the target Latino community attends. Although the courses would be in a traditional classroom, the course would need to be interesting to the children. The environment for learning would include programs for outside the classroom as well. A form of immersion would be sought with home readings, music to listen to in their car (cassette or CD players are common in their cars or trucks), as well as videos or DVD's to watch at home of favorite cartoons or shows in Spanish on television.

The learning environment would be classrooms with well trained teachers. Small instruction groups would be used. Just the prerequesite of speaking Spanish is not enough to quality as a teacher. The parents of the children could make cultural presentations to the children to transfer stories of heritage to the younger generation. They would, however, not be relied upon as main teachers. Many of the parents are uneducated in Spanish or English. Parents would enrich the learning environment with personal connections to the history and culture of a country these children have perhaps never seen. I could teach a pilot program with the help of at least one more highly qualified teacher.

There is an existing curricula used in a study group which I could use for the beginning readers called lectura proactiva (Mathes,Linan-Thompson, Pollard-Duradola, Hagan, & Vaughn, 2001). I would have to extend and expand the program of my own design for children already reading in Spanish. I have found, through personal tutoring, that once a child is in fourth, fifth or sixth grade and does not have basic reading skills in Spanish that much of the same material must be covered, but may be covered at a faster pace than for non-readers. The reading skills learned in English may be transferred to Spanish, and with less instruction than for non-readers they may learn to read in Spanish. The philosophy of lectura proactiva is that using the same type of instruction that helps slow learners read in English will work in Spanish, with adaptations for difference in language and grammar. The strategy is small instructional groups with repetition and consistency. The learning theory will be a mix of behavioral, cognitive as well as constructivist learning. The structured course, consistency and repetiton is behavioral. The use of tie-in to the students' Latin culture and heritage is building upon knowledge they bring to the classroom and found to be effective in teaching. (Mathes, 2007) The constructivist portion I would add is allowing the children to contribute, even to write in Spanish--creative writing.

There is one set of classroom laptop computers that I may be able to borrow from the school, or at the Middle School level a computer lab. I would have to research what is available in software, probably from Spain. There are overhead projectors in the classrooms, whiteboards, and the elementary school Spanish teacher does have some limited resources she may be willing to lend me.

The class would be composed of children in the Spanish speaking community who attend the service in Spanish on Sunday afternoons at the church. These children are attending public school for the most part, some are scholarship students at the private school attached to the church.

The environment for learning would be based in elementary classrooms at the school which hold up to 26 students. There is a gym, library, computer lab, art and music trailers, as well as a science lab on the property. I could possibly visit these rooms on a rotating daily basis for after-school programs.

The philosophy of the school is faith-based instruction. Part of the classes may be parental religious education for the group, if the children are not already enrolled in religious education during church attendence time. The taboos of the larger community would not be more restrictive than the public school system where the students attend. In fact, they may have more freedom to play and meet outdoors with the existing after-school program which meets in the gym, playground, and an ajoining room to the gym.

The learners would be the children of the Spanish speaking community in our area. They could be born in the United States, or abroad, but would have been spoken to in Spanish by their parent(s) at home from an early age. All children from this community would be welcome, regardless of their reading level in Spanish or English, regardless of whether or not their parents attend this church. Class size would be limited due to the curriculum demanding small study groups.

References:

Kaufman, R., (1994) A Needs Assessment Audit. p&i.

Mathes, P. G., Linan-Thompson, S., Pollard-Duradola, S.D., Hagan, E.C., & Vaughn, S. (2001) Lecturea proactiva para principiantes: Intensive small group instruction for Spanish speaking readers. (Available from Patricia G. Mathes, Institute for Reading research, Southern Methodist University, PO Box 850381, Dallas, TX 75275.)

Mathes, P.G., Pollard-Durodola, S. D., Cardenas-Hagan, E., & Linan-Thompson, S. (2007) Teaching Struggling Readers Who Are Native Spanish Speakers: What Do We Know? Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 30, p. 260-271.