FCAT and the ESOL Learner: How Can an ESOL Teacher Help?

Idalís Alvarez

Ojus Elementary School

North Miami Beach, Florida

Abstract

In theory, it’s not supposed to drive curriculum, but often I feel the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) does exactly that. In this essay, I describe a bit of my life as an ESOL teacher in an FCAT world. I try to make sense of what I understand to be effective teaching while trying to maintain, as best as I can, sound curriculum which is hopefully reflected in any kind of accountability. With this backdrop, I ask us to explore the following: 1) the lives of our ESOL students as they work through FCAT-driven schooling; 2) how accommodations as permitted by the Florida Department of Education play out in terms of our work with our students; 3) some obstacles our ESOL students face, particularly with respect to academic language development; and 4) strategies I use in classes so that FCAT hopefully remains subsidiary without being the impetus for everyday lesson planning.

Introduction

      Imagine that you are eight years old again. You live with your parents and your siblings. You love your house, your school, your teachers, and your friends. You have lived in the same community your whole life. Your father comes home from work one day with what he says is good news. He has been promoted at work, which will mean more money and a better life for you and your family. There’s just one problem. The new job is in Japan. This new job will mean many changes for your family. You will have to leave behind your grandparents, your old school, your old friends – everything that you know and love.

      However, your parents decide to go, because it will be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the family. It is hard for you and for everyone else. You have to adapt to a new country, a new culture, make new friends, go to a new school, and learn a new language. Fortunately, you are put in a special class for part of the day at school to help you learn Japanese. However, this too is very hard. You must learn a whole new way of speaking and writing, but your teacher is nice, and you are a fast learner. You’ve been in Japan a short time, and all seems to be going well until the day your Japanese teacher tells you that in a few weeks you will be taking the JCAT, the Japan Comprehensive Assessment Test. It is a test that all students in the Japanese school system must take and pass in order to graduate. “Don’t worry,” your teacher says. “You will have special accommodations because you are a new Japanese learner. You will have extended time and be able to use a Japanese-English dictionary.” Later that week, you and your class leave the classes you enjoy in order to “practice JCAT.”

      “Ridiculous!” you say. “That makes no sense! It’s not fair!” Nevertheless, it is exactly what many US states expect of our ESOL students. Across the US, second language learners are being made to take standardized tests that they are not ready for while losing out on valuable instructional time because teachers are feeling pressured to “teach to the test.”  

FCAT accommodations for ESOL students

      To be fair, the Florida Department of Education does recognize that the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) is an obstacle for all students, causing even greater problems for those students who use English as their second language. Taking this into account, the state of Florida has allowed for several accommodations.

   According to Sarasota County’s FCAT Test Administration manual (Sarasota County Public Schools, 2004), ESOL students in Florida receive the following accommodations:

1. Flexible setting. ESOL students can take the test with their heritage language or ESOL teacher in a separate room.
2. Flexible scheduling. ESOL students can take a part or session of the test during several periods within the day, though they must finish the given section on the day that it was started.
3. Flexible timing. ESOL students receive extended time.
4. Limited assistance in the heritage language.
1. In math and science, the test administrator can translate a word or phrase.
2. In reading, you (the teacher) can answer only questions related to the actual test directions.
3. On the writing test, you can explain the test directions and translate a word or phrase from the prompt. You may not read the prompt to them.
5. Dictionaries. ESOL students can use an approved English to heritage language dictionary, but it cannot contain definitions of words. Students cannot use electronic dictionaries.¹

ESOL students and FCAT: Obstacles

      Despite these accommodations, taking the FCAT is a challenge for ESOL students, because these accommodations are simply not enough. Cummins (2001) might argue that many ESOL students are still at Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills, or BICS, level of language development, while they would need to have mastered Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency, or CALP, in order to perform on grade level. Although students who have been in an ESOL program less than two years are not included in an individual school’s performance grade, this exception does not give second language learners enough time to master academic language that is often context-reduced (School Advisory Councils, 2006). Cummins cites his own research, stating “conversational fluency is often acquired to a functional or peer-appropriate level within about two years of initial exposure to the second language whereas at least five years is typically required to catch up to native speakers in academic aspects of the second language.”²

      Also, the FCAT has had major effects on teaching and learning in ESOL classrooms. High stakes testing has forced the focus of ESOL classrooms from building communicative competence to acquiring the literacy skills tested on the FCAT. In this vein, Menken (2006) remarks, “Curriculum and instruction focuses on test content and strategies, and English as a second language classes have become more like English language arts classes for native English speakers” (page 521). Menken argues that No Child Left Behind (NCLB) has actually “left behind” many ESOL students, with disproportionate numbers of second language learners performing far below their native English speaking counterparts on standardized tests, partly because the tests were not designed with ESOL students in mind.³ 

ESOL strategies for the FCAT 

      Despite their language problems, ESOL students must take the FCAT, so it is not something I can just ignore. I do not teach FCAT, but I try to prepare my students the best I can so that they can familiarize themselves with test taking strategies. I try to teach these skills in context, making them powerful, authentic, and developmentally appropriate for second language learners. Following are some of the strategies I use to facilitate my students’ learning in reading and language arts, many of which are supported by the Florida Language Arts Through ESOL Strategies Guide (1999):

1. Teach students to “go back to the text.” I teach my students how to read questions, and go back to the text to find the answer and underline it. Students are shown how to provide support for their responses using details and examples from the passage, and are encouraged to keep their books open when looking for an answer.
2. Teach test vocabulary as academic vocabulary. I teach my students the meaning of terms that they will encounter on many exams. Coxhead (2000) reports on an academic word list, which can be helpful for ESOL students in academic contexts. As an example, I ask students to understand word such as describe, illustrate, explain, and summarize so they might decipher what is being asked of them in a question. I also include these types of words on my own teacher-made tests to familiarize them with these terms, knowing that students should first understand the directions before they even begin to tackle an answer. I directly instruct students how to follow these directions, often as a separate lesson, since following directions itself is a specific skill ESOL students need to master.
3. Include word study instruction. I teach my students how to use context clues, looking at other words in the sentence, to help determine the meaning of a word. Also, I teach affixes explicitly so students can decipher the meanings of unknown words by looking at the prefix or suffix.
4. Teach skills in context. In my theme-based lessons and units, I find skills that lend themselves to the literature we are reading, be it naming the main idea, identifying author’s purpose, comparing and contrasting, or some other skill. For instance, when we read the story Cendrillon, a Cinderella story from Martinique, I also read Cinderella stories from around the world, including Egypt, China, and even New York City!
5. Use literature logs. I have students then respond to higher-level questions after reading a passage, making sure that they include details and information in their answers.
6. Read a variety of texts. Reading both fiction and non-fiction in the form of stories, brochures, advertisements, and magazine articles helps my students with comprehension strategies.
7. Engage in small groups. I use guided reading, pairs, and cooperative group work to individualize instruction. My new arrivals have very different needs from those students who have been in the country for longer.
8. Use visual representations. Sometimes the answers are not in the actual text. I teach my students to look at pictures, graphs, charts, captions, and footnotes, since many times these “extras” hold valuable information that can be useful in comprehending a text and answering questions.
9. Teach dictionary skills. I teach my students dictionary skills, such as using guide words, to determine the meaning of a word. We practice these skills regularly in class, and my students are allowed to use dictionaries to help them with their writing as well.
10. Model. I model what good writing looks like. As I work on the overhead projector, I think aloud as I make revisions or add “big words” to improve my writing and make it more interesting. I model the writing process by going back to an expository or narrative piece I’ve written and look for ways to add details, change the wording, or add figurative language such as similes and metaphors⁴.

      I have found these strategies effective in helping my students become better readers and writers in general. The FCAT is a required assessment by the state, so I try to make the best of it. These strategies can be used in any ESOL classroom, regardless of standardized test use or not. Teaching these skills support, as Watts-Taff and Truscott (2000) note, that 

“effective instruction should direct and support the practice and use of English

language throughout the school day. Embedding language development in daily

literacy activities would . . . take advantage of the powerful influence that

purposeful language use has for all children” (page 259). 

      These strategies also seem incidentally to assist students with the FCAT. In other words, if we follow the 10 guidelines in the Florida Language Arts Through ESOL Strategies Guide, hopefully our ESOL students should be able to 

1. underline answers in the FCAT test booklet after reading question prompts,
2. recognize academic vocabulary as test language, including that of the FCAT,
3. identify context and linguistic cues while taking the FCAT,
4. demonstrate numerous reading skills purportedly assessed on the FCAT,
5. answer not only to higher level questions but also so-called FCAT-type questions,
6. be familiar with different types of passages encountered on the FCAT,
7. refer to a classroom atmosphere where FCAT is a reflection of varied situations rather than a direct purpose for attending school,
8. refer to visuals often included in the FCAT,
9. use a dictionary they already know during FCAT, thereby preventing them from becoming anxious should they be handed such a dictionary for the first time on FCAT day, and
10. do extensive writing incorporating varied styles in addition to those assessed through FCAT.

      Remember the Japanese Comprehensive Assessment Test I proposed earlier?⁵ I wish that students going through the JCAT all the luck in the world. I can only hope that the ESOL students in our class are successful, despite the obstacles they will face in this new environment. As ESOL teachers, we must resist succumbing only to that which is simply FCAT worthy and continue doing what we know is good teaching and sound pedagogy.  

References

Author Bio