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  Analysis of Ellevation-Supported ELL Learning at Barber Middle School

Institutional Overview

Barber Middle School is part of the Cobb County School District (CCSD). CCSD has seen an increase over the past five years in English Language Learners (ELLs). Middle schools like Barber also operate as an adult-learning institution by providing ongoing professional development for teachers through the district’s Ellevation platform. According to the website, Ellevation is a digital instructional and data system designed to enhance educators’ capacity to support multilingual learners through evidence-based strategies, compliance management, and progress monitoring.

Note: Information regarding program structure, funding sources, and implementation was obtained through direct conversations with school and district administrators, including an interview with Assistant Principal Jeannie Collins at Barber Middle School.

Funding Sources

ELL initiatives at Barber Middle School are supported through various funding sources, ranging from federal, state, and local resources. Title III funds from the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) support language-instruction programs specifically for English learners. Georgia’s ESOL funding contributes additional resources based on full-time equivalent (FTE) enrollment in ESOL programs both statewide and in local districts. Local district funding covers staffing, instructional technology, and professional learning. Cobb County also licenses the Ellevation platform through district instructional-technology and ELL-budget allocations.

Products and Services Provided

The Cobb County School District ELL program and Ellevation provide English language development courses that are aligned to the WIDA English Language Development standards. All instructional employees have access to the Ellevation platform that offers strategies and professional development for educators. The professional learning offered in ELLevation offers evidence-based strategies, utilizes a strategy library, language profiles, and growth dashboards to assist educators in adjusting instruction to accommodate diverse learners. The program offers professional development modules that are self-paced, with certification at the conclusion of each module in specific ELL instructional strategies. 

Length of Programs

Barber Middle School offers several ELL-related programs: The chart following shows the programs offered and highlights the expected timeframe.

ESOL   Language Development Courses – Full academic year 

Newcomer   Support or Sheltered ESOL Courses – Full academic year 

Ellevation   Professional Learning Modules – 3 to 6 hours per module (self-paced)  

District   ESOL Professional Development – 1-day sessions or multi-session series  

Instructional   Coaching Cycles – 6- to 12-week cycles  

Selected Program for Analysis: Ellevation Professional Learning for Teachers

This program is selected because it represents a core adult-learning initiative that impacts instructional quality and ELL academic outcomes. The Ellevation professional learning system trains teachers to interpret language data and implement targeted instructional strategies (Ellevation, 2023). Schools in the district are encouraged to access Ellevation weekly and incorporate strategies into lesson planning and unit assessments. Some schools in the district with high ELL populations use the professional learning modules during staff development days and also include ELLevation professional development in school strategic plans. 

Program Analysis

Known Issues Related to the Program

Teachers at Barber Middle School can face several challenges related to the implementation of Ellevation-supported ELL instruction. Because middle school has a varied collection of subjects, electives, and special delivery models for instruction, the training and implementation of some of the ELLevation modules can vary significantly. Depending on the school schedule and amount of time allotted to each part of the school day, there may be some unseen barriers in certain subjects to the use of the strategies. There is also a limited amount of time for training and follow-through with all the other initiatives that school districts impose on staff. A known issue is converting ACCESS scores into instructional decisions, and the inconsistent use of ELL strategies in subjects that have a lot of content, like science and social studies. A final barrier can be the comfort level that some educators have with teaching speaking and writing for other language speakers. 

Teaching, Learning, Data Procurement, and Analysis Approaches

Ellevation supports a cycle of data-informed teaching. This cycle is important because it allows educators to determine where in the cycle they may fall and how to make instructional decisions and adjustments. Educators must continue to evaluate and evolve in the education process, and this platform allows for those adjustments (Dove & Honigsfeld, 2022).

Data Procurement and Analysis  

Educators can access WIDA ACCESS scores, domain-specific results, accommodations data, and progress monitoring forms. When educators analyze listening, speaking, reading, and writing benchmarks, they can create targeted lessons. These lessons can incorporate learning targets that align with the standards being taught, and the ELLevation platform allows for the creation of assessments that allow ELL learners to participate in ways that may be more unconventional, yet still provide data needed to make instructional decisions. 

Instructional Approaches  

Barber Middle School teachers utilize Ellevation strategies that include speaking, vocabulary building, graphic organizers, scaffolded lessons, sentence frames and starters, and collaborative learning groups. The use of the Ellevation strategies is a major topic that is covered weekly in professional learning committees at both the subject and grade-level meetings, and the expectation is that these strategies are tracked and monitored in unit lesson plans. 

Adult-Learning Approaches  

The Ellevation platform is consistent with andragogy principles, engaging educators in self-paced professional learning. There are job-embedded practices that allow for the strategies to find their way into weekly lessons. There are opportunities for coaching from experienced educators as needed, and as the students grow in their language acquisition, the ELLevation strategies are easily adjusted to accommodate the ever-changing needs of these learners. 

Alignment to Readings in This Course  

The program aligns closely with andragogy (Knowles, 2012), experiential learning, and data-driven instruction (Mokhtari et al., 2020). Teachers learn by doing, applying strategies, and reflecting on the outcomes. Merriam and Bierema’s (2014) model emphasizes that adult learners seek problem-solving skills and self-direction. Ellevation’s design reflects this approach. O’Bannon and McFadden’s (2018) experiential learning concepts also align with Ellevation’s job-embedded coaching. The coaching piece in adult learning cannot be underestimated, as there must be supports in place even for adult learners. A main focus in almost all of the readings in the course was that self-paced learning is critical for adults to sense a feeling of autonomy and ownership of their learning and professional development. 

Insights, Suggestions, Strengths, and Weaknesses

Insights Obtained

           In order for ELL training to be effective, sustained training and coaching are necessary. In a district where all decisions are data-driven and clear instructional guidance is required, this platform provides an avenue for both of those requirements to be accomplished. The Ellevation platform can connect assessment data and classroom practices that allow multilingual learners to experience academic success. 

Suggestions for Strengthening the Program

Some suggestions for how to strengthen this program are increasing the protected professional learning time for educators, dedicating a coaching cycle for educators working with ELL students, integrating at least two ELL strategies from the platform in PLC meetings, providing exemplar lesson plans and concepts to model, and offering department-specific strategy training. 

Strengths of the Program

Identified strengths of the Ellevation program can be seen as educators navigate through the modules. The platform aligns with WIDA and evidence-based practices. The platform gives educators immediate access to language data and tailored, self-paced modules. Self-paced learning is the hallmark of adult learning, as research has repeatedly confirmed. The platform also supports ELL learning, which is a district-wide expectation, and the reflective and ongoing professional development allows for more educators to provide consistent ELL strategies in every school. 

Weaknesses of the Program

Even when the best programs are implemented in schools, educator buy-in is critical. Many times, there is resistance from adult learners to use these programs with fidelity. There can be an inconsistent implementation within schools and across school districts. Limited time for professional development, higher school priorities, and educator struggles to interpret and convert data to instruction can all lead to a failed program if monitoring and support are missing. 

Recommended Improvements

Finding a way to blend online and self-paced learning with on-site modeling can be a great way to ease some of the concerns educators have. Providing cross-curricular strategies and establishing routines can help alleviate anxiety over new programs and other things to do as educators. Creating accessible tools and toolkits for strategies and making coaching readily available allows for mentoring programs. Often, educators realize that these strategies are good for all students and seamlessly become part of good teaching practices. PLC meetings will find a new focus, and data will become easier to disseminate. 

Program Certification Status

The Ellevation platform can be submitted to the GAPSC for professional development credit toward renewal of teaching certificates in Georgia. A certification for completion of each module can be downloaded and sent to school district certification offices for uploading to the state PSC. School districts can use this platform in multiple ways to assist educators in instructional strategies, not just for ELL, but also for special education and RTI students. 

Teaching and Learning Approaches

Educators use Ellevation for many reasons when creating instructional plans. The modules can allow educators to adjust instruction, scaffold writing and speaking content, provide visual and modified texts, and provide for explicit vocabulary acquisition and instruction. To evaluate the status of the program and if student growth is evident, an examination of ACCESS scores, WIDA standards (WIDA, 2020), formative assessments like exit ticket and writing samples, classroom observations, and walkthrough data all contribute to an overall picture of program success. 

Learning Atmosphere

The learning culture is collaborative, reflective, and technology supported. All certified staff are expected to complete the modules by the dates communicated during pre-planning. All modules are self-paced with professional development time set aside for discussion and clarification as needed. 

References

Dove, M., & Honigsfeld, A. (2022). Co-teaching for multilingual learners: A guide to 

collaborative planning, instruction, assessment, and reflection. Corwin Press.

Ellevation. (2023). Ellevation platform overview: Supporting multilingual learners. 

Ellevation Education.

Honigsfeld, A., & Dove, M. (2019). Collaborating for English learners. Corwin Press.

Knowles, M. S., R. A. Swanson, and E. F. Holton, III. 2012. The Adult Learner: The 

Definitive Classic in Adult Education and Human Resource, Development, 7th 

ed. New York: Taylor &Francis Group

Merriam, S. B., & Bierema, L. L. (2014). Adult learning: Linking theory and practice.

Jossey-Bass.