In lesson two, you learned about the essential components of the ELPS and how to write content objectives aligned to the TEKS and language objectives aligned to the ELPS.
In this lesson, you will learn about the Proficiency Level Descriptors (PLDs) and how to use the PLDs in the delivery of your instruction to support student outcomes and assess student proficiency in English.
Participants will gain an understanding of the three instructional components of the ELPS and identify an ELL's language proficiency level using the summaries of the Proficiency Level Descriptors (PLDs).
Language ObjectiveParticipants will list their comprehension of adapted text related to the PLDs by making connections between a student's proficiency level and appropriate linguistic accommodations.
adapted text
linguistic support
environmental print
high-frequency words
content-based abstract terms
There are three instructional components of the ELPS. Having an understanding of how they are interrelated will assist you as you make instructional decisions.
"These three instructional components work together to accelerate the rate at which ELLs learn English and subject matter" (TELPAS Educator Guide).
Copy this information to the graphic organizer on p. 4 in the Participant Resource Manual.
TELPAS assesses the English language proficiency of K–12 ELLs in four language domains—listening, speaking, reading, and writing. English language proficiency assessments in grades K–12 are federally required to evaluate the progress that ELLs make in becoming proficient in the use of academic English.
Since the inception of the PLDs in 2003, teachers have been trained in the use of this holistic rating system to determine their students' English proficiencies. The descriptors in the ELPS are the same as those found in TELPAS.
Understanding the PLDs will serve as a guide and a framework for how to instruct your students and support them in achieving higher levels of proficiency in English.
TELPAS focuses on assessment.
What level of proficiency do my students have?
ELPS focus on instruction.
How do I align my instruction to their level of proficiency?
"The ELPS and TELPAS are designed to work together to enable ELLs to make steady progress in learning the English that is necessary for meaningful engagement in grade-appropriate content area instruction. The second language acquisition knowledge and skills in the ELPS are the means for helping ELLs learn English simultaneously with academic subject matter. Together, the ELPS and TELPAS provide formative and summative assessment opportunities that support teaching and learning" (TELPAS Educator Guide).
Review the summaries of the PLDs on p.19 in the ELPS Resource Supplement, or for a complete version of the PLDs, refer to pp. 8–17.
From the TELPAS Educator Guide:
"The PLDs play an important role in linguistically accommodated instruction. The PLDs describe the degree to which students at each of the four proficiency levels need linguistic supports and accommodations to engage meaningfully in grade-level instruction. The PLDs are, thus, a key resource to use in determining the kinds of linguistic accommodations to provide. As students progress from one proficiency level to the next, they gain more and more facility with English and need fewer and fewer linguistic accommodations."
"Teachers who internalize the meaning of the PLDs understand what a student can currently comprehend and communicate in English as well as what communication skills are associated with the next proficiency level. This knowledge helps teachers adjust content area instruction to make it comprehensible in accordance with the student's current proficiency level. Teachers are also able to better sequence and scaffold instruction to help the student acquire the English abilities of the next proficiency level. Using the PLDs as a formative assessment tool leads to linguistically accommodated instruction that helps students 'get from point A to point B' in both subject matter instruction and the learning of English."
Instructionally accommodate by considering the content to be taught, student proficiency levels, and the purposeful and intentional use of specific linguistic accommodations.
There are various strategies teachers can use to make content comprehensible and understandable. Linguistic accommodations are a means to supporting students in their reaching higher levels of English proficiency and content-level understanding.
Using these tools on a consistent, routine basis is a means of providing the scaffolding students may need throughout lesson delivery.
The pre-teaching of key vocabulary is a critical element in the success of your students in the acquisition of both content and language.
The use of word walls is an instructional tool that promotes academic language development of academic vocabulary.
In order for your content to be comprehensible to your students, previewing key terminology will assist them as they begin to build background and make connections with essential concepts.
Reviewing vocabulary before the lesson will provide you with an understanding of what supports ELLs may need. Verifying student understanding of key vocabulary and identifying words needing explicit instruction will guide you as you begin the preparation and execution of your lesson, ensuring that necessary supports and scaffolding are made available.
Remember that students will increase their levels of academic language proficiency and classroom participation if they are provided with opportunities to use sentence stems in content area discussions.
"Sentence stems should be carefully constructed so students will demonstrate their level of knowledge by how they complete it.
Rather than requiring students to start from scratch to create context, meaning, and syntax simultaneously in one sentence, sentence stems serve to isolate meaning.
They should include the targeted word, and be open-ended so students can finish the sentence."
Adapted from Bringing Words to Life by Isabel Beck, Margaret McKeown, Linda Kucan, 2002.
Differentiated stems are scaffolds that enable students to participate in classroom discussions. They provide students with the support they need at various levels to feel confident in their responses both oral and written.
Use one of the following sentence stems to describe your current understanding of the Proficiency Level Descriptors (PLDs). Pay careful attention to how the stems are differentiated.
I know the PLDs . . .
I want to know how the PLDs . . .
Understanding the PLDs might mean that . . .
The PLDs are like . . .
The PLDs remind me of . . .
This concludes the ELPS Academy. Please review course information and materials, and complete the assessment listed in the left-hand menu.
After successful completion of the ELPS Academy assessment, return to Gateway Courses and enroll in the appropriate Implementing the ELPS course or courses. Participation in an Implementing the ELPS course will allow you to explore how to apply the ELPS in a foundation curriculum lesson.
