Teachers often feel unprepared to address the learning needs of ELLs with limited/interrupted formal education, especially at the secondary level. To help them, we developed a checklist with criteria for the effective instruction of these students. We demonstrate our use of this checklist with ESL math and social studies teachers.

1. Preparing Educators to Teach
Students with Limited/Interrupted
Formal Education
TESOL Convention
New Orleans March 17, 2011
Andrea DeCapua
The College of New Rochelle
Helaine W. Marshall
Long Island University

2. Mutually Adaptive Learning
Paradigm – MALP©
• Instructional Model
• Transitional approach to close achievement
gap
• Elements from students’ learning paradigm
• Elements from U.S. learning paradigm
(Marshall, 1998; DeCapua & Marshall, 2011)

3. MALP©
A. Accept Conditions for Learning
B. Combine Processes for Learning
C. Focus on New Activities for Learning

4. MALP Teacher Planning Checklist ©
A. Accept Conditions for Learning
A1. I am making this lesson/project immediately relevant to my students.
A2. I am helping students develop and maintain interconnectedness.
B. Combine Processes for Learning
B1. I am incorporating both shared responsibility and individual accountability.
B2. I am scaffolding the written word through oral interaction.
C. Focus on New Activities for Learning
C1. I am focusing on tasks requiring academic ways of thinking.
C2. I am making these tasks accessible to my students with familiar language and
content.
© University of Michigan Press, 2011. DeCapua & Marshall. Breaking New Ground:
Teaching Students with Limited or Interrupted Formal Education in US Secondary Schools

5. Before MALP© Training:
Carol’s Lesson on U.S. Symbols
Objectives: Students will be able to
 describe what “symbol” means
 identify important US symbols
 explain meaning of US symbols

6. Symbols
Statue of Liberty

7. American Symbols Lesson
Carol’s Self-Assessment
She thought she was meeting their needs
 PPT presentation with images
 Focus on oral language use
 Focus on new vocabulary
 Focus on individual student participation

8. American Symbols Lesson
MALP© Assessment
For SLIFE, lesson lacked:
 familiar conditions for learning
 transition to new processes for learning
 new activities for learning

9. After MALP© Training:
Carol’s MALP© Social Studies Project
Objectives: Students will be able to:
 describe the everyday life of Civil War soldiers
 compare/contrast it with their own lives today

10. A. Accept Conditions for Learning
interconnectedness immediate relevance

11. B. Combine Processes for Learning
shared + individual responsibility oral + written

12. C. New Activities for Learning
academic tasks familiar language and content

13. And now on to math . . .

14. Gloria’s Math Class
• Mainstream math teacher
• Section of beginner ELLs with SLIFE
• MALP© training
• Shift in pedagogy to incorporate MALP©
Let’s peek into Gloria’s classroom…

15. High School MALP© Math
Classroom
 Word wall
 Calendar
 Sentence frames
 Teacher-made concept posters
 Student–produced posters

16. Word Wall

17. Class Calendar

18. Sentence Frames

19. Teacher-made Concept Poster

20. Number Line

21. Number Lines

22. Venn Diagrams

23. Like and Unlike Terms Posters

24. Bar Graph Posters

25. Gloria’s Classroom

26. ©
Mutually Adaptive Learning Paradigm – MALP
Teacher Planning Checklist
A. Accept Conditions for Learning
A1. I am making this lesson/project immediately relevant to students.
A2. I am helping students develop and maintain interconnectedness.
B. Combine Processes for Learning
B1. I am incorporating shared responsibility and individual accountability.
B2. I am scaffolding the written word through oral interaction.
C. Focus on New Activities for Learning
C1. I am focusing on tasks requiring academic ways of thinking.
C2. I am making these tasks accessible with familiar language and content.
DeCapua, A. & Marshall. H. W. (2011). Breaking new ground:Teaching English learners
with limited or interrupted formal education in US secondary schools. Ann Arbor, MI:
University of Michigan Press.

27. More about MALP©?
Our website: http://malp.pbworks.com
Andrea DeCapua adecapua@cnr.edu
Helaine W Marshall helaine.marshall@liu.edu
SlideShare Event: TESOL 2011

28. Selected References
 DeCapua, A. & Marshall, H.W. (2010b). Serving ELLs with limited or
interrupted education: Intervention that works. TESOL Journal, 1, 49-
70.
 DeCapua, A. & Marshall. H. W. (2011). Breaking new ground:Teaching
English learners with limited or interrupted formal education in US
secondary schools. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.
 DeCapua, A. & Marshall, H.W. (2011). Reaching ELLs at risk: Instruction
for students with limited/interrupted formal education. Preventing
School Failure, 55, 35-41.
 DeCapua, A., & Marshall, H. W. (2010a). Limited formally schooled
*
English language learners in U.S. classrooms. Urban Review, 42, 159-173.

29. References (cont’d)
 DeCapua, A., Smathers, W. & Tang, F. (2007). Addressing the
challenges and needs of students with interrupted formal
education (SIFE). Educational Policy & Leadership, 65, 40–46.
 Marshall, H.W. & DeCapua A. 2010). The newcomer booklet: A
Project for limited formally schooled students. ELT Journal, 64.
396-404.
 Marshall, H.W., DeCapua, A., & Antolini, C. (2010) Building
literacy for SIFE through social studies. Educator’s Voice, 3, 56-65.
 Marshall, H. W. (1998). A mutually adaptive learning paradigm
(MALP) for Hmong students. Cultural Circles, 3, 134-141.