Language Learners fully and meaningfully access and participate in a 21st century education from early childhood through Grade 12 that results in their attaining high levels of English proficiency, mastery of grade-level standards, and opportunities to develop proficiency in multiple languages.
Mission
California schools affirm, welcome, and respond to a diverse range of English Language Learner (ELL) strengths, needs, and identities. California schools prepare graduates with the linguistic, academic, and social skills and competencies they require for college, career, and civic participation in a global, diverse, and multilingual world, thus ensuring a thriving future for California (CDE, 2017).
Lastly, Proposition 58 does away with strict English only policies in California. In the fall of 2016, Proposition 58, the California state ballot that created more opportunities for bilingual education, passed with overwhelming public support, at 73.5 percent. The research base has proven that students who are able to speak, read, and write in two or more languages are able to participate in several different cultural and language worlds. Additionally, multilingual proficiency actually strengthens how the brain functions. Bilingualism is also associated with more cognitive flexibility and better problem solving abilities. Children who are bilingual tend to also perform better on achievement tests (Californians Together, 2017). Under Proposition 58, ELLs (and native English speakers) in California will once again be honored for their primary languages, and have an opportunity to become bilingual and biliterate. ELLs in bilingual programs in California are also required and expected to master the ELD and ELA standards. As such, they are also required to have participated in Designated and Integrated ELD, so all teachers must know these standards well in order for student mastery to occur.
It is an exciting time to be a teacher of ELLs in California! Understanding and teaching to the ELD Standards is one way to contribute to language equity. The California ELD Standards Companion should and can be used as a resource to assist educators in understanding the standards deeply so that they can better instruct and prepare ELLs around these more rigorous expectations. We recommend that teachers focus in and study the standards at their grade level, perhaps as a department or grade-level team. Then, they can use this resource to design their own lessons or units of study.
Preface
All too often, teachers who are trying to really make sense of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and the California English Language Development Standards will find themselves on a Sunday night with standards documents spread out all over their kitchen tables. And these are no small documents! They leave no room for that cup of tea (or glass of wine) on the surface to accompany lesson planning time.
As educators, we know that scaffolding is meant to be a support, to be used to build understanding and mastery. Scaffolding both the ELA and ELD standards documents is our intent with this California ELD Standards Companion series, so that teachers, coaches, and principals can go to one well-organized source for their needs. Over the years, we have heard these kinds of questions from teachers about the ELD Standards:
1 How do I know which ELA standards are correlated with a particular ELD Standard? The California ELD Standards document just cites numbers. Am I really working toward an ELA standard with my lesson?
2 What if I am trying to use the ELD Standards with other content areas, not just ELA? How do I know they will link to other content?
3 What are the important differences between the performance levels of an ELD Standard? What do these differences look like in teaching students at the three levels?
4 What do some of the terms mean in the Standards language? I don’t have time (or space) to add a dictionary to the stuff already on my table.
It is with these questions in mind that we developed the format for the California ELD Standards Companion series. With some adaptations to the Corwin Common Core Companion books (linked to ELA), we have laid out these resources in one convenient place for each ELD Standard within the grade span:
Charts with the correlated ELA standards in easy view, so no more digging across documents
Examples of the ELD Standards used with other content areas, in both the What the Teacher Does and the Snapshots and Vignettes sections
Definitions of terms used in the Standards, in kid-friendly language in the What the Student Does section, and in teacher terms with examples in the Academic Vocabulary section
The three performance levels of the ELD Standard by grade level, with highlighting of the “build” between the Emerging, Expanding, and Bridging levels
It is our hope that this set of California ELD Standards Companion books, whether you are using the K–2, 3–5, 6–8, or 9–12 versions, will open up some space on your kitchen table and also clear up some space in your thinking to do successful lesson and unit planning for your ELL students. And maybe even for your cup of tea!
Acknowledgments
We would like to acknowledge the Whittier College students who worked alongside of Dr. Soto on this project: Adrianna Negus and Hollie Hollingsworth. You will both make fine teachers!
Publisher’s Acknowledgments
Corwin gratefully acknowledges the contributions of the following reviewers:
Rebecca Castro
Elementary Principal
La Merced Elementary School
Montebello, CA
Michele R. Dean, Ed.D.
University Field Placement Coordinator & Lecturer
California Lutheran University
Thousand Oaks, CA
Mathew Espinosa
Coordinator, Multilingual Literacy
Sacramento City Unified School District
Sacramento, CA
Dr. Kathe Gonsalves
Coordinator, Language & Literacy Department
San Joaquin County Office of Education
Stockton, CA
Overall Introduction
Becoming Familiar With the California English Language Development (ELD) Standards—Like No Other
Whether educators and parents are already familiar with English Language Arts (ELA) standards from California or the Common Core State Standards, or know about ELD standards from other organizations (e.g., Texas, New York, WIDA)—a first look at the California ELD Standards (November 2012) will come as a surprise. Anyone looking
