Description
A legacy of the No Child Left Behind legislation of 2001 is that the significant achievement gaps between language minority students (ELLs and other speakers of non-Standard English) were made painfully visible to educators and the general public. Unfortunately, disaggregating data or ‘exposing the cracks beneath the wallpaper’ (Johnson/Avelar La Salle, 2010) alone is an insufficient remedy. Addressing these gaps remains a salient theme of our nation’s school reform agenda and will be for years to come. Over the years, Corwin has published a number of works that aim to help close achievement gaps between ELs and non-ELs as well as children of color and their White counterparts. Some of these titles are aimed at school leaders and suggest that a ‘top down’ approach emphasizing culture shifts and policy changes are the most effective starting points. (see, e.g., Lindsey et al., Cultural Proficiency: A Manual for School Leaders, Singleton, Courageous Conversations about Race, and the upcoming Walking the Equity Walk by John Browne. Other titles start with changing practices at the classroom level, e.g., Bonnie Davis’ How to Teach Students Who Don’t Look Like You. The proposed title which falls into this second category highlights the importance of mastering Academic Language as a key to school success and closing achievement. It is grounded in an originalfour-pronged framework that describes how academic language learning is a (1) sociocultural, (2) literacy learning, (3) academic, and (4) a cognitive (higher order thinking skill) process. Written in a teacher-friendly voice, the book emphasizes what can be done to strategically plan and deliver high quality learning, school and parent engagement environments using this four pronged framework. It is also well-suited to the work of teacher teams and includes a number of reflective prompts and professional development activities. Debbie Zacarian is known for her work in advancing student engagement and achievement. Her explanations of current research into practical instructional, leadership, family-school engagement, and strength-based teacher evaluation systems are widely practiced. An expert in policies and practices, Dr. Zacarian provides professional development, strategic planning and policy work with school districts and state agencies. She served as a consultant for the Massachusetts Parent Information Resource Center and Federation for Children with Special Needs. For over a decade, Dr. Zacarian served on the faculty of University of Massachusetts-Amherst. She was also the founding director of the Center for English Language Education and Academic Achievement at the where she led and provided professional development for thousands of educators and wrote policies for many urban, suburban and rural districts. She was also the founding director of the Amherst Public Schools bilingual and English learner programming where she and the district received many local, state and national honors. Her professional books include: . (with Michael Silverstone) . . .(with Judie Haynes) . (with Judie Haynes) In addition, a planning, observation, and evaluation mobile app tool for teachers, coaches, and supervisors was created in partnership with Dr. Zacarian. Bring Debbie Zacarian to you! Debbie is available for workshops, keynotes, and consulting services. Click to learn more about her workshops: For a recording of Debbie Zacarian’s webinar, Unleashing the Power of Academic Language, please click here: Acknowledgments About the Author Introduction 1. A Call for Reframing 2. Using a Four-Pronged Framework 3. Learning as a Sociocultural Process 4. Learning as a Developmental Process 5. Learning as an Academic Process 6. Learning as a Cognitive Process 7. Engaging in Parent Partnerships 8. Making Data-Driven Decisions Index
