Spotlight on . . .
ESOL & IEL Programs
at
East Cobb Middle School
ESOL & IEL Programs at
East Cobb Middle School
Among the 100,000 students in Cobb County, more than 120 countries are
represented. With such a diverse international representation, some
students require English language instruction. In an effort to welcome
and assist these students, the school district has developed a
comprehensive IEL Program (Intensive English Language) and ESOL
Program (English to Speakers of Other Languages).
At East Cobb Middle School, for
example, more than 130 students participate in the IEL and ESOL
programs. Students first take the Language Assessment Battery (LAB),
which will determine their placement in either the IEL or ESOL
program.
The IEL is the first level of support
and is designed to assist students who have lived in an
English-speaking country for less than 12 months — those considered
newcomers to the English language. Students in the IEL Program take
three 90-minute blocks of English each day: the American Language
Course, Reading and Writing, and Basic English. IEL students also take
math and physical education as part of their curriculum.
With a concentrated approach to all
aspects of language acquisition, the IEL Program provides students
with the necessary time to fully focus on developing proficiency in
English prior to tackling language-dense courses such as science and
social studies.
The second level of support at East
Cobb Middle School is the ESOL Program. Designed for students who have
been in an English-speaking country for more than 12 months, but for
whom English is not their first language, the ESOL Program provides
participating students with specialized classes for enhancing their
reading and language arts skills.
In addition, ESOL students do take
other academic classes along with their English-speaking peers. Their
specialized ESOL classes focus on developing skills in reading
comprehension, literacy, writing, and in furthering listening
comprehension and fluency in spoken communication.
The ESOL and IEL student population at
East Cobb Middle School is served by seven full-time ESOL teachers and
three para-professionals who strive to help their students reach a
high level of achievement in the English language. Cobb County is
committed to supporting our ESOL and IEL students as they work to
“graduate” from these programs and join their peers in the
English-speaking academic program of their schools. |
 The
following is a look at some of the divisions within the Cobb
County School District working daily to ensure that more
than 100,000 Cobb County children receive the best education
available.Curriculum &
Instruction —
Maximizing Learning, Increasing Achievement
The No. 1 strategic goal of
the school district is to Increase Student Achievement, and
the division most directly responsible for carrying out the
district’s strategies to improve academic performance is
Curriculum and Instruction. The mission of Curriculum and
Instruction is to:
Increase student
learning through the development and implementation of a
rigorous relevant curriculum and identification of
effective instructional resources and strategies that
challenge all students to maximize their potential.
Five strategic initiatives
have been developed and are under way. The initiatives are:
I. Curriculum and Data
Management System — PICASSO (Portal Integrating
Curriculum, Assessment, Student System Operations) provides
a one-stop comprehensive Web site for teachers, administrators,
parents, and the community that includes:
- Aligned comprehensive curriculum – content standards for
all K-8 subjects and
9-12 courses aligned with state and national standards; test objectives; district resources and Web links; programs;
learning domains; pacing suggestions; and
benchmarked for levels of academic achievement. Exemplary
lesson plans will
provide teachers with integrated approaches to teaching the standards as well as best-practice models that have been
proven successes elsewhere;
- Assessment options that provide immediate
feedback to measure student achievement;
- Online access for grading, attendance, and discipline
records, e.g., student information system (SIS)
- Multiple reporting options
- Parent communication tools
The Media Services department already provides and promotes
valuable resources to support teaching and learning. These
include:
Online Resources — Cobb County students and staff have access to current online reference collections, which include full-text magazine articles, newspapers, encyclopedias, biographies, maps, and pictures. These quality resources were selected to support the teaching of social sciences, language arts, science, and multicultural studies at all levels. Students and staff also may use the online resources from home.
Video Resources — Media Services maintains a video collection that can be used by teachers. An online catalog can be searched to locate the videos available in the collection. Teachers submit their video orders online and
the videos are delivered to the schools. This online Video Catalog is available through the Cobb Intranet. In addition, some Cobb teachers and students are now using Georgia Public
Broadcasting’s PeachStar video streaming Web site in a pilot
program. This Web site features more than 10,000 educational
video clips which may be searched by grade, subject area,
keyword, or Georgia Quality Core Curriculum Standard. This
video resource will be available to all schools in the
future.
 II. No Child Left Behind (NCLB)
— This initiative provides
support for PK-12 student remediation in response to state
and federal mandates.
III. Technology Integration Standards
— This initiative
infuses national technology integration standards into the
instructional and administrative environment. It also
provides infrastructure and equipment to support the
curriculum.
IV. Emerging Instructional Delivery Systems
— This
initiative utilizes technology to enhance the teaching and
learning experience while enabling instruction to be
delivered to more students in new ways. Some examples of
this initiative include:
Distance Learning for Students
— The school district is a
recognized national and state leader in the use of
technology to maximize learning opportunities for students.
Among the distance learning initiatives offered to high
school students are eHigh School, NovaNET, Georgia Virtual
Technical College, and APEX. Distance learning is on the
rise in the education and business communities. Distance
learning multiplies the resources available to students and
teachers and greatly increases opportunities for both
teaching and learning. The mission of online and distance
learning in Cobb is to provide alternative instructional
delivery methods to meet the needs of all students.
eHigh School — The district offers high quality
Internet-delivered online courses year-round for high school
students through the eHigh School program. eHigh School
delivers courses identical in content to those offered in
traditional classrooms and uses interactive activities and
multi-media to engage students. As in face-to-face classes,
online classes include a teacher, lessons, homework, due
dates, class discussions, and tests. The main difference is
that the activities occur over the Internet at a time that
is convenient for students. All courses are developed and
taught by CCSD teachers and meet national, state and Cobb
County School District curriculum standards. Eleven courses
served 293 high school students during the 2001-02 school
year. Eight additional courses are currently in development
to be offered in 2002-03. The online delivery of curriculum
benefits students by improving critical thinking, writing,
reading, and technology skills; enhancing college success;
preparing students for a global workforce; and encouraging
lifelong learning. Information about eHigh School can be
found by
clicking here.
NovaNET — NovaNET revolutionizes the relationship among
students, teachers and technology and ensures accountability
by linking educators with progressive technology, a
standards-based curriculum and proven teaching methods to
prepare today’s students for the challenges of tomorrow.
NovaNET is a system of individualized, computer-based
curricula delivered over the Internet. It includes
courseware for middle school, high school and adult
learners. The courseware includes integrated pre- and
post-testing, assessment, and student management. It also
contains a record-keeping administrative component that
allows detailed reports on student progress and mastery of
course objectives. NovaNet served more than 400 students
during the 2001-02 school year.
V. Post-Secondary/Career Planning Preparation — This is a
three-pronged initiative that establishes district
expectations for students who complete 13 years of public
education in Cobb County Schools. It includes:
- Graduate expectations for all Cobb County students
- Model for academic support and career planning
- Emphasis on student acquisition of workplace skills
There are many
other areas of responsibility that are part of Curriculum
and Instruction division that, along with
the noted initiatives, support the Cobb County School
District’s Strategic Directives. The following are Web sites
that provide additional information about the Cobb County
curriculum:
www.cobbk12.org
(Cobb County School District)
www.doe.k12.ga.us
(Georgia Department of Education)
www.glc.k12.ga.us
(Georgia’s Quality Core Curriculum)
www.ed.gov
(U.S. Department of Education)
www.cobb.k12.ga.us/
~mediaservices/OnlineResources
(CCSD Online Resources)
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