Online Education Improves Science Scores

With the increase in popularity of STEM, it is no surprise that schools are using many different modes to teach science related subjects. A recent study completed with students in Oregon and Georgia shows that enhancing science education with online content increased test scores for students. Students with a learning disability and ELL students improved science scores by more than 15%.
The online units included lessons and activities that incorporated virtual experiments, interactive content, games, collaboration with peers and videos. The online content used features like voice to text, pop up definitions, the ability for text to be read aloud and captioning for the videos. This online content is a great way to provide accommodations which are helpful to ELL students. Students can rewatch and listen to the material as many times as they need to help them understand. The interactive features help students stay engaged in their learning.
This sounds like a great way to enhance and support lessons taught in the classroom.

Fairview's Dual Language Program

At Fairview Elementary in Carthage, Missouri, students learn in both English and Spanish in their dual-language program. Students who are enrolled in the program spend half of their day learning core content subjects in Spanish and the other half of their day learning core content subjects in English. Students enrolled in this program are native English speakers and native Spanish speakers. By the time students in this program graduate high school, they will most likely be bilingual. This is the third year the school is running this program and the interest has been overwhelming. There is a waitlist for students to be enrolled in the program.
This is an interesting approach to learning that almost levels the playing field for ELL students. With half of the content being taught in their native language, students are able to focus on the content rather than the language and the content.  This also gives the English speaking students an idea of what it is like to learn in a language they are not familiar with. Both ELL and native English speakers will benefit from the ability to speak both English and Spanish after high school graduation. It would be interesting to see the data as the students progress through school.

Renzulli ELLA

One of the Google Alerts I received this week discussed the breakthroughs Renzulli Learning is having with ELL students. According to this article, Renzulli personalizes instruction for ELL students. It allows teachers to pair ELL students with native English speakers to work collaboratively using Peer Assisted Learning Strategies.  Renzulli is an online tool making it accessible anywhere the Internet is available.

I was intrigued enough by this article to check out the website for Renzulli Learning. The ELLA program is available in Spanish, Chinese, Italian and Arabic with Vietnamese, Thai, German and French becoming available soon. I was disappointed to see the cost was not readily available on their website and I would have to request a quote. I would be interested in seeing a trial of this program to see what it offers.

When I think about my district, we have a variety of web-based programs used for personalizing learning, but we don't have anything specific for ELL students.  Our district also shares one ESL teacher between our two elementary buildings. I wonder if Renzulli ELLA (or something similar) would be a better option for our ELL students then some of the programs they are currently using.