Serving and Supporting SIPE - Students with Interrupted Programming in their Education

By Carly Spina

The multilingual learner umbrella consists of a large student group. Within this umbrella, we have students who have different identifiers, such as newcomer students (or students newer to their English language journey), long-term multilingual learners (or experienced multilinguals, as coined by Tan Huynh and Beth Skelton), and SLIFE (students with limited or interrupted formal education), among many others. As an educator who has served multilingual learners for almost two decades, I have found a need for an additional identifier.

While every multilingual learner is unique, it is sometimes helpful to provide ourselves and our colleagues with additional identifiers in order to have a better understanding of those we serve. This is especially helpful when providing colleagues more information about students in terms of what their instructional and social-emotional needs are when planning for learning experiences.

In the state of Illinois and beyond, our schools and districts are required by law to provide a variety of multilingual learner services, and this is typically based on our local student populations. For example, in Illinois, if you have 20 or more eligible multilingual learners who share the same heritage language, schools are required to provide learners with the opportunity to participate in Transitional Bilingual Education (TBE) services. Even within this umbrella, your district may offer this through early-exit, late-exit, one-way dual language, or two-way dual language. If your school has 19 or fewer eligible multilingual learners, you must provide at least a Transitional Program of Instruction (TPI) language services. Even within this TPI umbrella, these services are often provided through a variety of methodologies, including in-class support, out-of-class support (such as a resource period or sheltered class), or via co-teaching.

There is no doubt that from district to district, there are great variances in the programming and services offered to multilingual learners. It is not uncommon for there to be large differences in linguistic demographics from community to community. This means that when a family moves from one town to another, their child’s language support services may change drastically.

Because each of these programs have different overall language goals, this is really important for us to take note of when students transfer from one district to another. Students who were previously placed in dual language programs were generally being supported with the overall goal of biliteracy. Students who were previously placed in TPI or in many TBE programs were being supported with the overall goal of English language proficiency. Language allocations plans and translanguaging practices are often different from grade to grade—this is important information that we must be aware of when welcoming new students. If a student has moved once, twice, or more, even just to the town next door, this may have posed an interruption in the overall language support and program services they have received. This is why I have coined the phrase SIPE - Students with Interrupted Programming in their Education.

If a student was in a two-way dual language program for kindergarten and first grade with a 50/50 model and an overall goal of biliteracy and then moved to a district that only offered TPI for second and third grade, this reshaping of their biliteracy journey into a monolingual English literacy journey is important to note. Teachers serving this student may need to consider how to best support this student at the tier one of Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) level across content areas, including language arts.

Educators of multilingual learners are fantastic at getting to know the needs of their students. They are oftentimes also great detectives in their work when they welcome new students to our school communities. Educators take the time to locate previous files, receive previous scores (if available), and find out about what programs were available and offered in previous school districts. Students with Interrupted Programming in their Education (SIPE) may have had various experiences that have shaped and reshaped their language journeys and their literacy journeys.

Educators who are unsure of a student's language services over the years can review student files, research previous districts, ask families, or even talk with the front office about obtaining permission to converse with the previous school or district about what programming the student had received previously. Here are some potential questions that educators may utilize:

*What was the overall language goal of the program (biliteracy; English proficiency, etc.)?
*If the student received in-class EL support, what content areas did this include?
*Which courses, if any, were sheltered courses?
*What was the language allocation plan for the grade levels that the student attended? Additionally, as a follow up: Which subjects were taught in which language(s)?
*If the student was part of a co-teaching cohort, which subjects/courses were co-taught?

These conversations are not only important to better understand our students’ unique language and literacy journeys, they can also support team members during the MTSS and problem-solving processes as well, by gathering a stronger and more detailed linguistic background of students. By having a dialogue with the family, the previous school, or both, educators can gather more information that can help to shape our conversations around providing the best academic and instructional support for students.

Carly Spina is currently a multilingual education specialist at the Illinois Resource Center, providing professional learning opportunities and technical assistance support to educators and leaders across the state. Her first book, Moving Beyond for Multilingual Learners, was published in 2021 by EduMatch Publishing.


Serving and Supporting SIPE - Students with Interrupted Programming in their Education By Carly Spina The multilingual learner umbrella consists of a large student group. Within this umbrella, we have students who have different identifiers, such as newcomer students (or students newer to their English language journey), long-term multilingual learners (or experienced multilinguals, as coined by Tan Huynh and Beth Skelton), and SLIFE (students with limited or interrupted formal education), among many others. As an educator who has served multilingual learners for almost two decades, I have found a need for an additional identifier. While every multilingual learner is unique, it is sometimes helpful to provide ourselves and our colleagues with additional identifiers in order to have a better understanding of those we serve. This is especially helpful when providing colleagues more information about students in terms of what their instructional and social-emotional needs are when planning for learning experiences. In the state of Illinois and beyond, our schools and districts are required by law to provide a variety of multilingual learner services, and this is typically based on our local student populations. For example, in Illinois, if you have 20 or more eligible multilingual learners who share the same heritage language, schools are required to provide learners with the opportunity to participate in Transitional Bilingual Education (TBE) services. Even within this umbrella, your district may offer this through early-exit, late-exit, one-way dual language, or two-way dual language. If your school has 19 or fewer eligible multilingual learners, you must provide at least a Transitional Program of Instruction (TPI) language services. Even within this TPI umbrella, these services are often provided through a variety of methodologies, including in-class support, out-of-class support (such as a resource period or sheltered class), or via co-teaching. There is no doubt that from district to district, there are great variances in the programming and services offered to multilingual learners. It is not uncommon for there to be large differences in linguistic demographics from community to community. This means that when a family moves from one town to another, their child’s language support services may change drastically. Because each of these programs have different overall language goals, this is really important for us to take note of when students transfer from one district to another. Students who were previously placed in dual language programs were generally being supported with the overall goal of biliteracy. Students who were previously placed in TPI or in many TBE programs were being supported with the overall goal of English language proficiency. Language allocations plans and translanguaging practices are often different from grade to grade—this is important information that we must be aware of when welcoming new students. If a student has moved once, twice, or more, even just to the town next door, this may have posed an interruption in the overall language support and program services they have received. This is why I have coined the phrase SIPE - Students with Interrupted Programming in their Education. If a student was in a two-way dual language program for kindergarten and first grade with a 50/50 model and an overall goal of biliteracy and then moved to a district that only offered TPI for second and third grade, this reshaping of their biliteracy journey into a monolingual English literacy journey is important to note. Teachers serving this student may need to consider how to best support this student at the tier one of Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) level across content areas, including language arts. Educators of multilingual learners are fantastic at getting to know the needs of their students. They are oftentimes also great detectives in their work when they welcome new students to our school communities. Educators take the time to locate previous files, receive previous scores (if available), and find out about what programs were available and offered in previous school districts. Students with Interrupted Programming in their Education (SIPE) may have had various experiences that have shaped and reshaped their language journeys and their literacy journeys. Educators who are unsure of a student's language services over the years can review student files, research previous districts, ask families, or even talk with the front office about obtaining permission to converse with the previous school or district about what programming the student had received previously. Here are some potential questions that educators may utilize: What was the overall language goal of the program (biliteracy; English proficiency, etc.)? If the student received in-class EL support, what content areas did this include? Which courses, if any, were sheltered courses? What was the language allocation plan for the grade levels that the student attended? Additionally, as a follow up: Which subjects were taught in which language(s)? *If the student was part of a co-teaching cohort, which subjects/courses were co-taught? These conversations are not only important to better understand our students’ unique language and literacy journeys, they can also support team members during the MTSS and problem-solving processes as well, by gathering a stronger and more detailed linguistic background of students. By having a dialogue with the family, the previous school, or both, educators can gather more information that can help to shape our conversations around providing the best academic and instructional support for students. Carly Spina is currently a multilingual education specialist at the Illinois Resource Center, providing professional learning opportunities and technical assistance support to educators and leaders across the state. Her first book, Moving Beyond for Multilingual Learners, was published in 2021 by EduMatch Publishing.
Spring 2024 (2) - Spring 2024